Jiang Chenglan shows where beauty livestreaming still works

What happened After a three-year absence from social media, Chinese beauty creator Cheng Shi’an (程十安) returned to livestream commerce under her real name, Jiang Chenglan (姜乘澜), drawing more than 10.68 million views during her first post-comeback Douyin session on September 15 and immediately topping both the platform’s overall commerce ranking and beauty ranking. The three-hour broadcast peaked at more than 230,000 concurrent viewers, while a second livestream on Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote) two days later placed Jiang at the top of the platform’s buyer livestream chart. Across the two sessions, a self-curated beginner makeup kit emerged as the breakout product, combining nine items from brands including Timage, Carslan, Kato, Red Chamber and Bioderma. Priced at 286 RMB ($40), compared with a combined suggested retail value of 889 RMB ($125), the kit repeatedly sold out and reportedly moved more than 100,000 units across the two livestreams, generating close to 30 million RMB ($4.2 million) in GMV. Resale prices on secondhand platforms climbed above 350 RMB ($52) as buyers struggled to secure stock. The comeback came amid legal and financial pressures. On September 8, Jiang and her studio were subjected to consumption restrictions after failing to meet an 11.19 million RMB ($1.57 million) court-ordered payment obligation stemming from a long-running management contract dispute with her former company. The case also involved ownership of the “Cheng Shi’an” accounts, which the court ordered Jiang’s studio to transfer to her former management company following the termination of their contract. Jiang has said she will not evade responsibility and intends to pay the debt. Commercial interest has nevertheless returned quickly. Since announcing her comeback in May, Jiang’s new Douyin account has accumulated more than 19 million followers. Estée Lauder tapped her as a lipstick content partner in July, Bioderma subsequently named her a repair ambassador, and she has also published recent collaborations with L’Oréal Paris. The Jing Take Jiang’s return comes as beauty brands are reducing their reliance on influencer-led livestreaming, as rising commissions, placement fees, discounts and product subsidies are making the channel increasingly difficult to justify against the greater control offered by brand-owned stores and livestream rooms. In the first quarter of 2026, 85% of Douyin’s top 20 beauty brands saw the share of sales generated through influencer promotion decline year on year, with the steepest drop approaching 20 percentage points. Meanwhile, the 2025 Live Commerce Industry White Paper found that leading streamers accounted for just 10.66% of livestream GMV, down from 26.66% in 2022, while small and mid-sized creators accounted for 89.34%. Jiang’s first broadcast suggests that the creators retaining leverage are not necessarily those with the largest traffic pools, but those capable of reducing the consumer’s decision-making burden through selection and expertise. Her beginner kit was built around that idea. Rather than assembling products solely around discounts, Jiang explained the selection process in pre-livestream tutorials, discussed individual shortcomings and deliberately excluded foundation because differences in skin tone, finish and formula preference made it too difficult to recommend universally. The resulting bundle targeted consumers who wanted an entire makeup routine without having to compare dozens of products themselves. For participating brands, the format also offers a way to trade margin for concentrated exposure without visibly resetting prices across their own channels. Heavy discounts can be contained within a creator-led bundle, while the influencer handles much of the merchandizing, education and product discovery. That model, however, is difficult to scale. Coordinating nine brands requires considerable negotiating power, margins are limited, and a consumer buying a near-complete makeup wardrobe is unlikely to repurchase the same categories quickly. Few creators also possess enough trust to persuade shoppers to accept a cross-brand assortment largely on their recommendation. Jiang’s comeback therefore sits within a narrower version of China’s creator-commerce economy, in which the most valuable influencers increasingly resemble curators rather than traffic brokers. Their commercial strength comes from knowing what to include, what to leave out and how to simplify increasingly complicated purchase decisions. The longer-term test will be whether that credibility can withstand repeated monetization without turning the trusted recommendation itself into another sales device. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

Jiang Chenglan shows where beauty livestreaming still works

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Jiang Chenglan shows where beauty livestreaming still works

How 2026 welcomed ‘Too Cool’ back