This report looks at the following areas:
- China’s lip colour cosmetics market size and forecast
- The competitive landscape and new product trends
- Consumers’ preferred makeup styles
- Changes in consumers’ makeup usage, important makeup steps and makeup skill levels
- Changes in the usage of lip colour cosmetics
- Consumers’ preferences for lip makeup shades for different occasions
- Consumers’ pain points in using lip makeup products, and their habits and preferences in applying lip makeup
- Criteria for determining the lip care effects of lip makeup products
The main pain point of lip colour cosmetics is that they dry out the lips. This means that stacking lip care effects will be a key battleground in future, requiring ingredient upgrades. On the other hand, colour is all-important in lip makeup, and it is vital that brands provide personalised and professional matrix chart recommendations as a solution to consumers' shade selection issues.
Jane Chai, Senior Analyst, China Insights
Market Definitions
Lip colour cosmetics include lip colours and lip liners.
- Lip colours refers to products designed to give texture and colour definition to the lips, in any format (such as powder, gloss, stick, compacts and liquid).
- Lip liners refers to products designed to line the lips and help prevent lip colour from ‘bleeding’. They can be coloured or colourless and are traditionally in a pencil format.
Excluded:
Lip makeup-removing pencils; tinted lip balms; dual-ended packs, palettes and sets when only one product is to be used as a lip colour or lip liner, and products that are positioned for more than one purpose (ie stain for the lips and cheeks) are classified as multipurpose products.
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Executive summary
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Definition
- What you need to know
- The market
- The market size of lip colour cosmetics saw a slight decline in 2024
- Market factors: value for money and efficacy demands
- Companies and brands
- Tmall: leading brands remain stable with slight ranking changes
- Douyin: competition for the top spots is fierce; nearly half of the brands have changed
- Marketing activity trends: proving efficacy, enriching experience
- New product trends: moisturising/hydrating is mainstream, plumping claims continue to increase
- Graph 1: mainstream claims of new lip colour cosmetics launches, 2020-2024 (Jan-Jun)
- Examples of products that reflect these trends: upgraded efficacies and makeup effects
- The consumer
- Consumers are most interested in natural makeup looks
- Natural lip makeup styles remain popular, but consumers are increasingly exploring diverse options
- The importance of lip makeup is secondary to base makeup and eye/eyebrow makeup
- Graph 2: important makeup steps, 2024
- Consumers are most skilled at lip and base makeup
- Graph 3: makeup skill levels, 2024
- The usage rate of various lip makeup products remains stable, including lip mud
- Graph 4: lip makeup usage, 2022-24
- Pinks and corals are used the most, while plum/berry and blood red shades are popular for special occasions
- Graph 5: colour shade selection, by occasion, 2024
- The main pain points are transferring easily and drying out lips
- Graph 6: pain points in using lip makeup, 2024
- Ingredients provide the strongest proof of lip care benefits
- Graph 7: criteria for effective lip care, 2024
- Most consumers use lip balm before applying lip colour cosmetics and touch up their makeup throughout the day
- Graph 8: lip makeup habits, 2024
- Choosing the right shade is a challenge, while lip makeup skills are also important
- Issues and insights
- What we think
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The market
- Market size and forecast
- Amid the trend for intentional spending, the colour cosmetics market is expected to decline in 2024
- Graph 9: total value sales of colour cosmetics market, 2020-2024 (est)
- A decline in average price leads to a slight contraction of the lip colour cosmetics market
- Graph 10: total value sales of colour cosmetics market, by sub-category, 2020-2024 (est)
- Market factors
- Colour cosmetics are a lower spending priority
- Graph 11: trading up/down in skincare, personal care products and colour cosmetics, 2024
- Competition in colour cosmetics sees prices dropped to stimulate purchases
- Graph 12: volume sales of lip colour cosmetics on Douyin, by price range, 2022-24 (Jan-Jun)
- Graph 13: volume sales of lip colour cosmetics on Tmall, by price range, 2022-24 (Jan-Jun)
- Discussions about lip colour cosmetics products on social media often mention affordability and student groups
- Lip colour cosmetics usage remains relatively stable
- Lip colour cosmetics can also provide lip care solutions
- Graph 14: lip skin issues, 2024
- The rise of colour analysis helps consumers find the makeup and shade for them
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Companies and brands
- Market share
- Tmall: INTO YOU jumps to second place, while Flower Knows enters the ranking
- Douyin: competition for the top spots is fierce; the rankings of nearly half of brands have changed
- Marketing activities
- Consumer testing results demonstrate lip care benefits
- Engaging all five senses to enrich the lip makeup experience
- Focusing on female empowerment and supporting women’s growth
- Enhancing brand influence by establishing group standards for clean colour cosmetics
- New product trends
- The share of lip makeup products among new launches remains stable globally
- Graph 15: new colour cosmetics launches, by sub-category, 2020-2024 (January-June)
- The global colour cosmetics market sees significant growth in new lip makeup launches with ethical and environmental claims
- Graph 16: mainstream claims of lip colour cosmetics launches, 2020-2024 (January-June)
- Compared to other markets, there is still room for growth in lip makeup efficacy claims for the China market
- Graph 17: select claims of new lip colour cosmetics launches, 2023
- Lip makeup products in overseas markets combine moisturising/hydrating features with other efficacies
- The share of new lip makeup launches in the Chinese market rebounded in 2024, surpassing the share in the global market
- Graph 18: new colour cosmetics launches, by sub-category, 2020-2024 (Jan-Jun)
- The share of new lip makeup products with plumping claims continues to rise in the Chinese market
- Graph 19: mainstream claims of new lip colour cosmetics launches, 2020-2024 (Jan-Jun)
- Lip care benefits are just as important as colour
- Ingredient upgrades enhance lip care benefits
- Enhancing lip makeup effects with the help of technology
- The share of new lip liner launches continues to rise in the Chinese market
- Graph 20: share of new lip liners among all new colour cosmetics launches, 2020-2024 (January-June)
- Lip liners are being propelled to new heights with the addition of more functions
- Multi-purpose products allow for quick application and a unified colour palette
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The consumer
- Changes in colour cosmetics usage
- Motivation for trading up is weak, interest in exploring new products remains unchanged from last year
- Natural makeup is still more popular than vibrant styles, but a rising number of consumers are undecided between the two
- Important makeup steps
- Lip makeup is considered the third most important makeup step
- Graph 21: important makeup steps, 2024
- Consumers demonstrate greater interest in lip makeup
- Graph 22: important makeup steps – first, second or third, 2023-2024
- Makeup skill levels
- Among all makeup steps, consumers are most confident in their lip and base makeup skills
- Graph 23: makeup skill levels, 2024
- Interest in makeup looks
- Consumers are most interested in natural makeup looks
- Graph 24: interest in makeup looks, 2024
- Lip makeup usage
- Lip makeup usage remains relatively stable
- Graph 25: lip makeup usage, 2022-24
- 30-39-year-olds show a marked preference for lipstick, while 18-29 year-olds use lip mud more
- Graph 26: lip makeup usage, by age group, 2024
- Women in Tier 1 cities favour lip & cheek colour and lip liner
- Graph 27: lip makeup usage, by city tier, 2024
- Colour shade selection by occasion
- Pink and orange hues are versatile, while berry and blood red hues are more suited to special occasions
- Graph 28: colour shade selection, by occasion, 2024
- There is a slight increase in the use of nude hues for everyday scenarios
- Graph 29: colour shade selection for daily occasions (g), 2022 vs 2024
- Coral, pink and plum/berry shades all see increased usage for special occasions
- Graph 30: colour shade selection for special occasions (g), 2022 vs 2024
- Women who are skilled at applying lip makeup are more likely to choose coral and berry shades
- Graph 31: colour shade selection for special occasions (h), by makeup skill level, 2024
- Graph 32: colour shade selection for daily occasions (g), by makeup skill level, 2024
- Women who prefer a matte finish choose darker tones for everyday occasions and pink shades for special scenarios
- Graph 33: colour shade selection for daily occasions (g), by preference for lip makeup effects, 2024
- Graph 34: colour shade selection for special occasions (h), by preference for lip makeup effects, 2024
- Different colour choices are used with different lip makeup techniques
- Graph 35: colour shade selection for special occasions (h), by lip makeup habits, 2024
- Graph 36: colour shade selection for daily occasions (g), by lip makeup habits, 2024
- Pain points in lip colour cosmetics usage
- The main pain points are transferring easily and drying out lips
- Graph 37: pain points in using lip makeup, 2024
- Female consumers who are skilled at applying lip makeup pay more attention to moisturising effects
- Graph 38: pain points in using lip makeup, by makeup skill level, 2024
- Women who consider lip makeup an important step face more issues with dry lips
- Graph 39: pain points in using lip makeup, by perceived importance of lip makeup, 2024
- Lip gloss users report more issues with colour transfer, while lip mud users are most concerned by dry lips
- Graph 40: pain points in using lip makeup, by lip makeup usage, 2024
- Criteria for effective lip care
- Ingredients are the most important criterion for effective lip care
- Graph 41: criteria for effective lip care, 2024
- Consumers are most convinced by hydrating and repairing ingredients added to a safe base
- Women with a monthly personal income of over RMB12,000 are more likely to be persuaded by effective ingredients
- Graph 42: criteria for effective lip care, by monthly personal income, 2024
- Women who wear makeup more frequently place greater importance on hydrating ingredients and an easy-to-spread texture
- Graph 43: criteria for effective lip care, by changes in makeup frequency, 2024
- Women who think lip makeup is important care more about hydrating ingredients
- Graph 44: criteria for effective lip care, by importance makeup steps, 2024
- Lip makeup habits
- Nearly half of women use lip balm before applying lip makeup
- Graph 45: lip makeup habits, 2024
- Improved lip makeup skills lead to a wider range of makeup steps and experimentation
- Graph 46: lip makeup habits, by lip makeup skill level, 2024
- Women who find that lip makeup dries out their lips are more willing to prime and try out different textures
- Graph 47: lip makeup habits, pain points in using lip makeup, 2024
- Usage habits and preferences for lip colour cosmetics
- Consumer attitudes are split on colour exploration
- While lip makeup is easy to apply, choosing the right shade remains a challenge
- Graph 48: usage habits and preferences for lip colour cosmetics—colour choice, by lip makeup skill level, 2024
- Most consumers change their lip makeup for different occasions
- Nearly half of consumers see lip makeup techniques as more important than choosing the right shade
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Issues and insights
- A multi-faceted approach can meet lip care needs
- Ingredients are key to upgrading lip care benefits
- Consumer test data makes for a strong endorsement of lip care benefits
- Provide solutions based on consumer lip makeup habits
- Help consumers solve the problem of choosing shades
- Combine multiple dimensions for matrix-style personalised recommendations
- Leverage colour systems to speed up the shade selection process
- Enhance consumers’ lip makeup skills to promote the use of lip colour cosmetics
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Appendix – market size and forecast, methodology and abbreviations
- Market size and forecast
- Methodology
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