Who buys a $2,220 beauty device on livestream? Xiaohongshu users do

What happened As growth in mass-market livestreaming flattens on Douyin and Taobao, a different kind of hundred-million-RMB session is taking shape on Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote). On December 9, the platform achieved a new livestream commerce milestone. Actress Karena Ng (Wu Qianyu) generated more than 140 million RMB ($19.7 million) in gross merchandise value (GMV) in a single session — the first livestream on Xiaohongshu to cross the 100 million RMB mark outside the large shopping festival period. According to third-party data from Pinguan, the session attracted 1.64 million viewers, with an average concurrent audience of 15,400 and a 13.2% conversion rate. Estimated sales volume exceeded 210,000 units, with an average order value of 646.60 RMB ($92). Beauty and personal care anchored the results. Skincare, makeup, and personal care products collectively accounted for 45% of total GMV — roughly 62.8 million RMB ($8.9 million) — spanning more than 10 categories. What sold in Karena Ng’s livestreaming session The livestream featured 191 product links. Of these, skincare, makeup, and personal care made up just 61 SKUs, or 32% of listings, yet delivered 45% of GMV, Pinguan data shows. Skincare generated the largest share at 32.7 million RMB ($4.6 million), followed by personal care and cleaning at 15.6 million RMB ($2.2 million), and makeup at 13.3 million RMB ($1.9 million). High-priced items dominated performance. Products priced above 500 RMB ($70) represented 31% of beauty and personal care SKUs but contributed 60% of category GMV, underscoring the purchasing power of the audience — concentrated primarily in tier-one cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. The top-selling item across the entire session was Yoseido’s water-light beauty device, priced at 15,800 RMB ($2,220), which generated more than 18 million RMB ($2.5 million) in GMV, outperforming premium skincare brands such as Augustinus Bader and Pier Augé. In total, 12 beauty and personal care products exceeded 1 million RMB ($140,000) in GMV. What makes celebrity hosts successful on Xiaohongshu Ng’s breakout performance was not an overnight phenomenon. Unlike celebrity livestreamers who parachute in for short-term monetization, Ng spent years building a lifestyle narrative that aligns closely with Xiaohongshu’s core users — urban, affluent women with sophisticated tastes, who prioritise self-care and long-horizon consumption, rather than impulse buying. She has been active on the platform since 2018, publishing more than 600 posts centered on skincare routines, fashion choices, travel, fitness, and everyday rituals. Over time, her content established a consistent image: aesthetically disciplined, emotionally stable, and grounded in lived experience. By the time she entered livestreaming, she was not selling products so much as curating a way of life — one her followers already trusted. That trajectory mirrors earlier Xiaohongshu successes. Dong Jie, who broke out in early 2023, framed her livestreams around the idea of “being the steward of one’s own life,” favoring slow pacing and elevated basics over aggressive selling. Zhang Xiaohui followed with her “Rose Room” livestreams, where eloquence, design literacy, and long-form explanation turned premium beauty and personal care into repeat bestsellers. In each case, commercial success followed sustained content credibility — not the other way around. The common denominator is not celebrity status alone. It is aesthetic consistency, low-frequency livestreaming, and an ability to translate personal experience into judgments about products. Xiaohongshu’s most effective hosts sell selectively, explain patiently, and treat livestreaming as an extension of their content — not a departure from it. This helps explain why high-ticket products perform so well on the platform. Xiaohongshu users are willing to pay premium prices, but only when the host can articulate why — through ingredient logic, usage scenarios, or emotional payoff. The host’s lifestyle becomes the proof point. 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.

Why Karena Ng can sell $2,220 beauty devices via Xiaohongshu livestream

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Why Karena Ng can sell $2,220 beauty devices via Xiaohongshu livestream