{"id":12768,"date":"2023-07-17T06:30:39","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T06:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=12768"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:08:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:08:00","slug":"can-chinese-beauty-brands-succeed-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/can-chinese-beauty-brands-succeed-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Chinese beauty brands succeed abroad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A trending social media makeup style is achieving the level of international soft-power cultural influence that decades of political manoeuvring never could. As Tong Global<\/strong> <\/a>explain in an article originally published in their latest market analysis paper, STYLE \u5bb9<\/a><\/span>, \u2018Douyin Makeup\u2019 has a lot to teach us about the international expansion of Chinese beauty brands<\/h2>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, but what is this?\u201d \u2013 so goes the catchphrase of Mirta Miler, also known as Mimiermakeup, a top international beauty influencer who shares snappy one-minute videos showcasing various makeup trends to her 17.5 million TikTok followers. In this particular post, the 25-year-old Croatian content creator gestures in mock disbelief to a beautifully lit selfie of a young Chinese woman\u2019s impeccably made-up face. \u201cIt\u2019s a work of art!\u201d she exclaims, with the overdramatic flair that has made her a celebrity of the global BeautyTok community, \u201cI just need to try it on my face!\u201d A series of subsequent quickly-cut clips depict the many products and steps being applied. \u201cThe Douyin makeup girlies\u2019 skin is always super glowy,\u201d she observes while patting her cheeks with a dewy moisturising primer from SheGlam \u2013 a cosmetics brand launched by globalised Chinese e-commerce giant Shein<\/a> \u2013 to emulate the look.<\/p>\n

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This is the first C-Beauty trend to go viral overseas. C-Beauty stands for Chinese Beauty, and its growth follows a wave of interest in J-Beauty (Japanese) and K-Beauty (Korean) brands over the past 10 years or so. Sales of C-Beauty brands grew by 51% between 2017 and 2022 according to <\/span>Euromonitor International, o<\/span>utperforming the 42% growth in the market overall. C-beauty brands accounted for 28% of retail sales among the top 20 brands sold in China last year, increasing from 14% in 2017. Popular C-Beauty brands include Florasis, Proya and Perfect Diary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u2018Douyin Makeup\u2019 trend offers the world a window into China\u2019s evolving style culture and its realm of self-expression. Derived from styles popularised by live streamers on Douyin (the domestic Chinese version of TikTok, both owned by Bytedance), this distinctive makeup look is characterised by dramatic eye contouring techniques, glittery luminescent eye-shadow, softly blurred lip colour, generous cheekbone highlighter, and doll-like clusters of long individual false lashes.<\/p>\n