Lipstick sales are the power behind the growth in China's coloured cosmetics sales, according to the latest research by Mintel.
The marketing intelligence company's 'Color Cosmetics China 2022' report has found that lip colour's share of China's makeup sales increased from 15 per cent in 2022 to 22 percent last year – and appears set to continue to develop further as 63 percent of Chinese women believe that it is the most important colour cosmetic product.
Mintel associate beauty director Jessica Jin said lipstick use is now “nearly universal in China with 95 % of urban Chinese female consumers having used lipstick/lip gloss previously six months”.
“There is robust consensus across China that using make-up is really a useful method to boost confidence, and also at the same time, show respect for other people,” she said.
“Sixty-two percent of urban Chinese women claim they wear makeup nearly every day, up from 38 percent of surveyed women who said exactly the same in 2022.”
She said the company's research has also identified the growing popularity of 'natural' and 'make-up-free' beauty trends among Chinese colour cosmetics consumers.
“It is simple to determine that 'natural' and good, healthy looking skin are currently the large trends in makeup, surpassing the overall goal of being 'beautiful',” she said.
“Chinese women's ideal make-up look centres on 'natural' (41 percent), followed by 'fresh' (17 %), 'light makeup' (12 %) and 'nude makeup/no makeup' (12 percent), indicating a clear desire to have good, healthy skin.
“This is particularly true among women aged 20-24 who have a significantly stronger desire to have a fresh-face look.”
The report also found that Chinese individuals are showing more love towards Chinese beauty brands because they are selected by more than A quarter of makeup wearers.
“In recent years, we have seen the growth of Chinese brands, not just in the color cosmetics category, but across beauty and personal care categories,” said Jin.
“What Chinese brands can sell is not patriotism, but instead increasing product quality and inherited brand equity and technology.”
“[Although both have under 10 % of the total market] Chinese brands Carslan and Marie Dalgar and South Korean brand, Amore Pacific, would be the companies gaining share of the market with all of them positioned in the masstige price level.
“Meanwhile, international players, like L'Oreal and LVMH, are increasingly under competitive pressure as newcomers join the market.”
Mintel estimates that China's colour cosmetics market will grow at a CAGR of 10.2 percent in the next five years to reach RMB 49,662 million by 2022.
