In the recent 618 Shopping Festival, C-Beauty poster child Perfect Diary was crowned as the No. 1 cosmetics brand across various platforms, including Tmall and JD.com, per ASKCI Consulting. But the strong momentum from C-Beauty goes beyond just one brand, as Forward Industry Research Institute reported, the industry will be worth over $70 billion (500 billion yuan) by 2022.
Here, Jing Daily has handpicked five newcomers in the C-Beauty field which are beloved by young Chinese consumers:
Kaleidos (万花镜)
Named after the optical instrument that gives colorful reflection, the Shanghai-based company is known for its bold color palettes and the quirky packaging of its products. The brand’s best-seller “Space Age” highlighters (89 yuan), comes in a cute metal box that reminds many people of childhood mint candies. The direct-to-consumer brand, founded in late 2017, has a product range from eye shadows to makeup brushes with an affordable price range between 48 yuan and 266 yuan.
One of brand’s bestselling highlighter “Diamond Dasher” comes in a cute metal box that reminds many people of childhood mint candies. Photo: Kaleidos’ Weibo
Girlcult
Girlcult sees itself as a design company, said Founder Ma Jiawei in an interview with local Chinese media Sansheng this May. Since opening in July 2018, Girlcult has launched a beauty series called “The Classic of Mountains and Seas,” a Chinese classic about mythic beasts. It’s also collaborated with Kobitos, a strangely cute Japanese cartoon character whose Chinese nickname means “ass peach.” Girlcult’s blush from the series has sold a whopping 570 thousand units since dropping. Hinging on three key words for product design: romantic, vintage and adventurous, the brand has received tens of millions of yuan in the A round of investment from IDG capital.
After “Ass Peach,” Girlcult recently released a space-inspired series, including mascaras in the shape of test tubes. Photo: Girlcult’s Weibo
Judydoll (橘朵)
Judydoll positions itself as a cosmetics brand that takes care of both your personality and everyday beauty needs. It’s also a leader in color trends. One of their bestselling products resembles a watercolor paint palette. Also, as opposed to working with a single brand, Judydoll joined hands with the British Museum and Hello Kitty this past March to create a narrative with Hello Kitty going on an adventure to Egypt. In a similar vein, much like Nike’s NikeLab, it launched a Judy Color Lab in 2019 particularly for collaborations with fashion designers and artists.
A recent collaboration of Judy Color Lab (Judydoll’s second line) with Chinese artist Santu Song. Photo: Judy Color Lab’s Weibo
Rainology (雨辑)
Rainology is the Kinfolk magazine of C-Beauty: it exudes a warm Scandinavian feel and it wants nothing to do with hype. “‘-ology’ in the brand’s name connotes subjects like biology, philosophy and psychology,” the Founder Rain Xiao wrote in the brand’s introduction. As a Singaporean-Chinese, she has designed storefronts for Shiseido and L’Oréal Luxe while founding Rainology in 2018. Beyond cosmetics , like Rainology’s eye shadows (139 yuan or $20), it also sells makeup brushes in warm, earth tone colors, which drew inspiration from China’s Terracotta Warriors.
Rainology’s makeup brushes drew inspiration from China’s Terracotta Warriors. Photo: Rainology’s Weibo
TICK & LICK (笛珂梨)
Currently, TICK & LICK only has a handful SKUs for now, but as the creator of 3D animal highlighters, it has great potential to carry the social volume over to future products. The 3D animal highlighters come individually at 78 yuan ($11) or 368 yuan ($52) in a gift set. Placed in capsules, as if they were Japanese capsule toys, the highlighters are modelled as a pink pig, purple cat, golden bear, brown dog, and silver fox. The set was promoted during the past 520 (Chinese’s new Valentine’s Day) and Chinese Children’s Day on June 1 as the perfect gift for girlfriends.
Tick & Lick’s 3D animal highlighters has been promoted as the perfect gift set for girlfriends. Photo: Tick & Lick’s Weibo
