Why China’s men are spending more on themselves

For years, China’s male spending story followed a familiar script: Valentine's Day gifts, luxury purchases tied to relationships, and consumption shaped by social expectations around being a provider. That script is being rewritten. The country’s male consumer market surpassed 6 trillion RMB ($830 billion) in 2025, with annual growth approaching 10%. Online spending per male consumer grew 11.4% YoY, outpacing women. Men now account for 69% of consumers spending above the premium price threshold — a figure that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. The scale of that growth matters less than where the money is going. Skincare, fragrance, fitness, medical aesthetics, and quality-of-life upgrades are absorbing discretionary spending once directed toward dating, gifting, and the social rituals of courtship. The shift shows up in the numbers. During 2025 Singles’ Day, Gen Z men accounted for 61.1% of consumers on major platforms, surpassing women for the first time. Male spending on skincare, fragrance, fitness equipment, and smart home products grew more than 40% across platforms including JD.com. The reallocation reveals something deeper than a spending shift. It reflects a quietly fundamental change in how Chinese men define self-worth. From relationship spending to self-investment “The yueji economy — the idea of spending to please oneself — is a big factor, especially for men,” says Ashley Dudarenok, founder of China consultancy Chozan. “Historically, male spending was heavily tied to social face and relationship maintenance: dating, gifting, treating others. Today, driven by economic caution and the pressures of hyper-competition, men are reallocating budgets inward.” Demographics are accelerating the shift. With more than 120 million people now living outside traditional family structures, delayed marriage and solo living have freed up disposable income that once went toward housing deposits, weddings, and family obligations. “This demographic shift frees up capital,” Dudarenok says. “Young men simply have more to spend — and fewer social obligations telling them how to spend it.” Social media is cementing these new norms in real time. On Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote), the hashtag “No ugly men, only lazy ones” has accumulated more than 270 million views, according to Amber Wu, a Chinese marketing expert. The slogan’s traction points to something significant: grooming is no longer coded as vanity among Chinese men. It has become a proxy for discipline. The face becomes the new resume “In Chinese workplaces, a clean, firm face has become the ‘new resume’ — a signal of self-discipline and reliability,” says Wu. “On dating apps, the three-second swipe is pushing young men toward medical aesthetics.” Appearance, in other words, has become practical. Looking polished carries professional consequences, social ones, and romantic ones — sometimes all before lunch. As a result, China’s male beauty market has expanded well beyond cleansers and shaving products. Men’s skincare alone is expected to exceed 20 billion RMB ($2.8 billion) across online and offline channels by 2026, according to the East FMCG Center. Douyin has emerged as a key engine of that growth — by April 2025, the platform’s men’s skincare segment had already grown 49% year on year. Rather than bold cosmetics or dramatic transformations, Chinese men are gravitating toward subtle correction: tinted creams, concealers, contour products, scalp treatments — products engineered to look like the absence of effort. Invisible enhancements rise “The ‘no-makeup makeup’ standard has become the dominant aspiration among young Chinese men,” Dudarenok says. “The goal isn’t to look made up — it’s to look effortlessly rested and put-together.” Wu puts it plainly. “Younger Chinese men want a fresh, clean, natural look,” she says. “Enhancement, yes — but nothing that reads as extreme or overtly feminine.” Many male consumers are entering beauty categories without identifying as beauty consumers at all. What draws them in are highly specific problems: oily skin before a morning meeting, hair thinning before 30, dark circles after a late night, uneven skin tone before a social occasion. On Douyin, the standout categories reflect exactly that pragmatism: anti-hair loss treatments, contour sticks, “no-makeup makeup” creams, and quick styling tools consistently rank among the platform’s top-performing men's skincare lines. Men shop for solutions, not lifestyles “These products succeed because they directly address everyday pain points, specific, relatable issues that men actually face,” Wu says. “They offer clear, measurable solutions, which resonate more effectively with pragmatic male consumers.” Dudarenok reaches for a telling analogy. “Men shop for solutions, not lifestyles,” she says. “They approach skincare much like tech hardware, looking for specific features to fix specific problems such as oiliness, acne, or hair thinning.” That pragmatism maps neatly onto Douyin’s content ecosystem. Short videos reward visible transformation and immediate results — a contour stick that sharpens facial structure on camera, a cream that visibly reduces shine within seconds, performs far better than broad lifestyle storytelling. The demo is the pitch. Most of these consumers are still beginners. Rather than investing in education, brands are meeting them where they are — with three-in-one products that bundle oil control, hydration, and skin correction into a single step, removing as much friction from the process as possible. Who’s talking matters as much as what they’re saying Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Bilibili have become dense with male creators offering tutorials on foundation matching, styling techniques, skincare routines, and grooming advice. On these platforms, who is talking matters as much as what they are saying. “Social media has a profound influence, particularly on younger generations,” Wu says. “South Korean pop culture and domestic short-drama aesthetics set new appearance standards. Male influencers on Douyin and Xiaohongshu normalize grooming routines, making beauty and self-presentation feel accessible and aspirational for ordinary men.” The messenger type matters, too. Male consumers tend to trust fitness influencers, dermatologists, and creators who frame products in scientific or performance terms — not the polished beauty creators who dominate women’s skincare content. Short dramas are setting a parallel visual standard. Across China’s booming short-form entertainment market, male protagonists appear polished, youthful, and carefully groomed — projecting a masculinity that is confident precisely because it is maintained. “These polished and visually flawless male leads set a new standard that everyday men increasingly aspire to match,” Dudarenok says. The next frontier extends beyond skincare Fragrance, haircare, and medical aesthetics are emerging as the categories with the most headroom, according to Wu. “Skincare serves as the entry point for male grooming,” she says. “Haircare, fragrance, and medical aesthetics also witness strong growth. Compared with Europe, the United States, Japan, and South Korea, categories like medical aesthetics remain far less prevalent in China, which suggests significant room for long-term growth.” Dudarenok points to anti-aging and aesthetics as the category with the most untapped value. “Middle-aged men increasingly turn to discreet medical aesthetic procedures, such as Botox and regenerative treatments, to maintain a competitive edge in the workplace,” she says. For brands, the challenge is not simply entering a new category — it is abandoning the instinct to market it as one. Male consumers are not buying into a beauty identity. They are buying an outcome. The deepest opportunity may be the simplest one: Chinese men are not buying beauty products. They are buying performance, confidence, and efficiency — the same logic they apply to a gym membership or a software upgrade. Brands that understand this distinction will find a market that is large, growing, and almost entirely on its own terms.

Why Chinese men want performance beauty

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag

Upgrade to Pro

Sectors

Insights

Company

Why Chinese men want performance beauty

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag