Qixi beauty 2025: Romance meets self-care

As China’s Qixi Festival edges closer, luxury beauty brands are elevating the art of gifting into immersive storytelling and ritual. From Perfect Diary’s chocolate-infused sweetness to Prada’s poetic love letters, beauty activations this year are competing not just for attention, but for emotional resonance. What was once about limited editions and celebrity campaigns has transformed into a sophisticated contest of experience, symbolism, and storytelling. For Chinese Valentine’s Day 2025, brands are no longer content with glossy ad shoots. They are crafting immersive, emotionally charged experiences that resonate with a generation that views consumption less as acquisition and more as self-expression. Here are the beauty brands genuinely winning consumers’ hearts. From gifting to self-pleasing For a new wave of consumers, Qixi is no longer just about coupledom. According to Lisa Zheng, luxury strategist and operations director at WB Immersive, which specializes in exhibition experience design and large opening events, such as the Paris Olympics, a mindset shift has occurred. Today, celebration of self takes precedence. “We have witnessed too many similar Qixi scripts — limited editions, celebrity endorsements, heart-shaped boxes. But 2025 is different,” she tells Jing Daily. “New generation consumers are turning Qixi from a day of pleasing others into a private, dazzling celebration of self. This is not a fleeting trend; it’s a survival philosophy.” Luxury, Zheng says, is no longer defined by logos or price tags, but by the orchestration of meaningful rituals. For young Chinese consumers, particularly those navigating a hyper-digitalized landscape, the ritual of beauty is about carving out an “identity anchor.” It’s less about what they buy and more about the emotion and sense of self their purchase unlocks. “Brands that understand this shift,” she says, “know they are no longer just product suppliers. They are dream curators, memory makers.” Immersive experiences redefine Qixi No brand exemplified this shift more vividly than La Mer. This Qixi, the luxury skincare brand staged “Miracle Cinema,” an open-air riverside installation along Shanghai’s iconic Bund. Guests reclined in vintage convertible cars as a romantic film played against the city’s twilight skyline, with curated displays of La Mer gift sets blending seamlessly into the tableau. For Ludovic Bacque, former China product director at Adidas and Decathlon and an observer of retail innovations, La Mer’s move exemplified the next stage in the evolution of luxury marketing. “They went beyond the typical photo-driven setup to create a real cinematic moment,” Bacque says. “It’s story-living, not just storytelling. Visitors didn’t just take photos, they stepped into the narrative. It elevated prestige skincare from try-and-buy to feel-and-remember.” Bacque points to Xiaohongshu posts, where one attendee wrote: “Watching an open-air movie is the right way to unlock Qixi romance.” Another attendee commented, “La Mer’s mastery is in turning fleeting romance into something eternal.” YSL Beauté, too, leaned into cultural immersion with its YSL 442 Bar on Shanghai’s Julu Road. The temporary nightlife venue fused cocktails and cosmetics, inviting visitors to match lipstick shades to signature drinks, unlock curated playlists through NFC-enabled vinyls, and receive professional makeup touch-ups before a night out. “It’s nightlife, beauty, and digital culture combined in one space,” says Bacque. “From makeup transformation to drinks and music, it created a lifestyle context that extended far beyond a retail counter. Playful gamification turned the experience into a cultural hangout.” Both installations captured what today’s consumers crave: cinematic, shareable experiences that are not just marketing activations but moments worth remembering. How Qixi rituals take shape The heightened focus on ritual explains why brands from Prada to Tom Ford are updating their Qixi playbooks. Prada’s limited edition Love’s Diary gift box wraps its perfumes and lipsticks in a blush-pink diary, tapping into the nostalgia of handwritten love notes while offering an intimate, highly photogenic experience. Meanwhile, SK-II invites fans to celebrate love through its “SurprisING” (晶喜ing) campaign with brand partner Taiwanese rock band Mayday. Available on JD.com, the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence bouquet comes with a limited edition keychain, offering a small keepsake of affection. At the label’s pop-up in Beijing, visitors can create personalized bouquets, unlock surprise gifts, and try to win the Maydayland capsule toy (gashapon), for SK-II rewards, turning everyday moments into a shared celebration of love and care. Tom Ford, on the other hand, injected high-octane glamour into its Qixi offering with the “Love on A Line” set. Classic red and nude lipsticks paired with shimmering eye palettes come nestled in a Lalique-inspired evening pochette, a collectible accessory that delivers tangible value beyond the product. Beauty and cosmetics are usually thought of as entry price point products, and handbags seen as expensive. Partnership is the medium of innovation for Estée Lauder. Its collaboration with Rui Zhou produced a “Heart’s Openness” gift set that marries beauty with fashion sensibilities. Inside, the brand’s star anti-aging duo, the Advanced Night Repair serum and eye cream, are packaged together in vacation-ready woven bags, alongside Y2K-inspired nail sets, and stylish bag charms. Louis Vuitton’s beauty debut ahead of Qixi Louis Vuitton chose August 20, just days before Qixi Festival, to debut its newest offering, La Beauté, in Nanjing Deji Plaza, China ahead of its worldwide launch. The brand’s new beauty line, under the creative direction of makeup visionary Pat McGrath, launched with a 55-shade lipstick collection and collectible art-grade packaging that draws on Louis Vuitton’s storied design codes. Louis Vuitton’s timing could not have been sharper. Qixi is a moment when Chinese consumers are primed to spend more and experiment more — and La Beauté delivers on both counts. Similarly, Miu Miu is showcasing the power of opportune timing with its return to beauty through the launch of a new perfume, “Miutine,” starring global ambassador Emma Corrin. Described as “a rebel’s spirit bottled,” the $172 floral scent is available on Miu Miu’s official site and at Sephora, Macy’s, Ulta, and select retailers. Both brands demonstrate how carefully timed launches can tap into seasonal consumer behavior and maximize engagement. C-beauty Perfect Diary taps into the food While luxury giants staged cinematic experiences, domestic darling Perfect Diary turned to playful serendipity. Together with Ferrero Rocher, the renowned chocolatier, it created a whimsical crossover between cosmetics and confections, complete with pop-up “dessert stations” in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Visitors sampled chocolates, unlocked interactive games, and posed with exclusive packaging. The posts from attendees flooded Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote) in the lead up to the festival, which this year falls on August 29. The Qixi takeaways The winners of Qixi 2025 are businesses that understood three key consumer desires, says WB Immersive strategist Zheng: cinematic experiences that make consumers feel like they are starring in a personal film, intimate moments that turn beauty into self-care rituals, and symbolic value that enables products to express identity. “Young consumers aren’t just buying lipstick or a serum,” she adds. “They are buying the certainty of a more exquisite, more lovable self — and a moment worth sharing.” Technology, from AI to AR, is no longer just a buzzword but a means to amplify emotion, transforming routine purchases into experiences imbued with meaning. The brands that excel are those that direct the scene, script the emotion, and stage a finale worthy of reposting.

Qixi beauty 2025: Romance meets selfcare

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Qixi beauty 2025: Romance meets selfcare