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New faces dominate this month’s WeArisma’s Beauty Leaderboards tracker*, which assesses brands’ performance on China’s social media platforms.
Pat McGrath Labs entered the top three in the international rankings, while Chinese body care label Watercome came out ahead in the local rankings. How did these two labels stand out from the competition?
From March 1 to 25, Nars ceded the top spot to La Mer, which dropped to third place on the international leaderboard, while Pat McGrath Labs secured the second position, earning $496,200 (3.5 million RMB) in media value (MV).
La Mer and Nars earned $762,600 and $490,000 in MV, respectively, followed by Guerlain and SK-II, which claimed fifth and fourth positions.
La Mer ($762,600 MV)#
This month, American premium skincare brand La Mer claimed the title of the top-performing brand largely thanks to its new “Beyond the Surface” campaign, directed by the acclaimed Gondry brothers from France (Michel and Olivier Gondry) and featuring the brand’s ambassador, renowned South Korean actress Jun Ji Hyun.
Notably, Chinese lifestyle influencer @Haruru played a pivotal role in driving media value for La Mer. The blogger posted about the campaign launch event on Weibo to his 4.9 million followers, generating an MV of $107,500 (775,720 RMB).
Campaigns featuring well-known celebrities often lead to substantial engagement for brands, by not only generating buzz within the beauty industry, but also among the fanbases of the celebrities involved. This amplifies brand mentions and creates talking points that boost brand impact.
Pat McGrath Labs ($496,200 MV)#
This month marked a significant milestone for Pat McGrath Labs – it secured a spot in the top three international brands for the first time this year. This achievement was largely attributed to Chinese model Liu Wen (刘雯, 6.1 million Instagram followers), whose four Instagram posts thanking the Pat McGrath Labs founder generated an MV of $413,500 (2.98 million RMB). Her impact on social media was pivotal, contributing to the majority of the brand’s MV.
During Paris Fashion Week, Liu featured in runway shows for several maisons, including Loewe, Miu Miu, Schiaparelli, and The Row. The beauty looks for these appearances were all curated by Pat McGrath, a long time friend and collaborator of the supermodel. (Liu is Chanel's exclusive global beauty ambassador).
These collaborations underscore the significant impact of global events like Fashion Week in elevating a brand’s share of voice in China.
Nars ($490,000 MV)#
Thirty-two influencers mentioned Nars in China this month. Each of these mentions generated an MV of $15,000 (108,240 RMB) on average.
Notably, popular Chinese beauty influencer Yuhan Hannah (@予涵Hannah), who boasts 3.3 million followers on Weibo, emerged as the top performer for Nars, generating MV of $40,800 (294,412 RMB) with just one post.
In the post on Douyin, where she boasts 1.5 million followers, she introduced the Nars’ Natural Radiant Longwear Cushion Foundation.
Additionally, another beauty influencer known as Duoshougongzhu (@剁手公主), who has a follower base of 5.6 million on Weibo, featured Nars as her favorite foundation choice on the microblogging platform.
C-beauty winners#
From March 1 to 25, local beauty brands outperformed their international rivals, with the top three labels each exceeding $1 million in MV.
For the second month in a row, homegrown skincare brand Proya topped WeArisma’s tracker, generating $1.5 million (10.8 million RMB) in MV. Surprisingly, a new name leapfrogged Florasis: Chinese body care label Watercome (水之蔻) secured the second position with $1.2 million (8.65 million RMB) in MV, while Florasis generated $1 million (7.2 million RMB). Winona and Colorkey followed closely behind.
Proya ($1.5 million MV)#
Despite the controversy over its recent International Women’s Day campaign, Proya still emerged as the top-performing Chinese beauty brand in March. This month, the domestic skincare label focused its marketing efforts on enticing customers with special offers and discounts and by deploying the influence of KOLs to promote key products.
Chinese lifestyle influencer Yuantuma (@原图妈, 10.9 million followers on Weibo) proved to be the brand’s most effective KOL this month. She shared two posts promoting Proya, highlighting its product discounts.
Additionally, “grass-rooting” (influencing consumers’ purchase decisions on a range of products) KOL Zhongcao Xiaoxingxing (@种草小星星) contributed significantly to Proya’s MV, generating a media value of $117,500 (847,880 RMB) from three posts on Weibo in which she shared info on Proya’s products with her 5.4 million followers. For instance, she promoted the brand’s “buy one full-size Proya product and get another for free” offer, further amplifying the brand’s impact and stoking consumer interest.
Nonetheless, brands that heavily discount dilute their value over the long term. If used frequently, consumers will no longer be willing to purchase the product at full price.
Watercome ($1.2 million MV)#
This month, Watercome debuted among the top performing brands on the WeArisma Local Beauty Leaderboard tracker.
Its success is largely attributable to the Chen SanFei Family (@陈三废), a prominent account on Douyin with a following of 39.8 million. A video posted on the account featuring Watercome’s Gentle Hair Removing Cream quickly caught netizens’ attention. What set this short video apart was its seamless product placement. The videomaker demonstrated the cream’s application on both males and females in a natural and engaging way.
The post contributed 83.33% of the brand’s total MV of $1.2 million (8.65 million RMB).
Florasis ($1 million MV)#
Florasis stood out in March, thanks again to Chinese lifestyle KOL Yanzheninky (@言真inky), who boasts 5.8 million followers on Douyin.
She played a pivotal role in the brand’s success, generating an MV of $956,300 (6.9 million RMB), versus the brand’s total MV of $1 million. Yanzheninky featured Florasis in six short videos on Douyin.
Her consistent support of Florasis throughout the year underscores the significance of establishing lasting relationships with local KOLs. Such partnerships not only enhance brand visibility, but also foster trust among audience members, as repeated mentions reinforce brand credibility and reliability.
* Jing Daily’s monthly Beauty Leaderboards tracker analyzes the media value and social media buzz of beauty brands across Chinese social media platforms. Data provided by analytics company WeArisma can help brands measure and optimize their earned media and influencer marketing ROI.