An Hermes lipstick brush costs 675 yuan, Chanel blush 500 yuan, and Shu Cun Xiu No. 55 foundation make-up 495 yuan... In recent years, beauty tools have been actively exploring the blue ocean market in the industry as "accessories". The reporter noticed that although the high-end market is still dominated by international brands, the domestic brands are also seizing the middle and high-end market with cost-effective products, such as Mao Geping's 280 yuan eye shadow brush and Caitang's 139 yuan non marking foundation make-up brush, all of which are among the top ten in the Tmall list of cosmetic brushes · V list.

According to data from The Economist, the average annual compound growth rate of China's beauty tool industry market size from 2017 to 2020 was 22.21%. Based on this, it is estimated that the market size of the beauty tool industry will exceed 27.5 billion yuan by 2027. According to industry insiders, in the billion dollar beauty industry, with the increasing demand for beauty tools in the domestic consumer market, products are also developing towards diversification and refinement. Compared to the mature skincare market, beauty tools may become the "dark horse" in the makeup segment.

market trend

The increase in the category of beauty tools is significant, and the emerging Chinese makeup industry is seizing the mid to high end market

In recent years, with the increasing demand for beauty in China and the development of beauty social platforms, beauty tools have developed rapidly as "small items".

According to Quantuo data, the annual sales of beauty tools category reached 10.43 billion yuan from March 2021 to February 2022. Among them, Tmall's sales revenue in the past year reached 5.07 billion yuan, accounting for 49%, making it the top online sales platform for beauty tools; Next is Taobao, with sales of 4.009 billion yuan in the past year, accounting for 38% of the total.

Beauty tools are also quite popular on social media platforms. As of September, the topic of sharing beauty tools on Xiaohongshu has been read about 190 million times, with approximately 170000 beauty tool notes published and 300000 product categories; The topic of "makeup tools" on Tiktok has been played 4.54 billion times. Business analysts have revealed that even "small items" may become "big business" due to consumer demand.

The industry believes that, based on the rapid development of the domestic beauty industry, consumers have greater demands for the delicacy and delicacy of makeup, the convenience of the makeup process, and the satisfaction of the makeup experience. Therefore, higher requirements have been put forward for the use and selection of beauty tools. At present, the high-end market for beauty tools is still dominated by foreign brands, but Chinese brands are also accelerating the expansion of the small category track, seizing the domestic mid-range market, and improving competitiveness similar to the underlying logic of the beauty category. They should first strive to maintain a stable "second place" and then actively try "first place".

Local breakout

Create a multifunctional and multi scenario application of the "Emperor Brand Set" and "Portable Device"

With the overtaking of domestic brands in the beauty industry, the competitiveness of local brands in the beauty tool market is further increasing. According to a report by the Forward Industry Research Institute, as of the end of 2022, many emerging brands such as Perfect Diary, Mao Geping, Kazilan, Mary Daijia, and Juduo have emerged, quickly occupying the mid to low end market of Chinese beauty tools and some mid to high end markets. According to the industry, domestic beauty tool brands still have large market development space under the guidance of China-Chic fashion.

In the initial stage, the transaction price of beauty tools in China was relatively low, but in the past two years, representative enterprises of Chinese cosmetics have successfully launched mid to high end products with the help of brand effect. The complete set of Perfect Diary Master series beauty tools (5 pieces) is priced at 425 yuan; The complete set of Daimo beginner tools (8 products) is priced at 328 yuan, demonstrating its strength in the mid to high end range. Guangzhou business analyst Xiao Tang stated that the emerging leaders of Chinese cosmetics are seizing the mid to high end market, which has a positive significance in driving the industry towards high-quality development.

The reporter found that compared to the "strategy" of international brands strongly promoting "golden items", Guozhuang is more inclined to create "imperial brand sets" and match more functional and humanized innovative designs, reflecting high cost-effectiveness. For example, the unique "triangular rounding" design can provide a comfortable grip for the brush handle when painting; A spherical powder blusher brush can not only brush powder blusher but also set makeup; The foundation make-up brush that can grasp powder strongly also has a halo dyeing ability. When purchasing high-end beauty tools, it is more about paying for the premium of their brand value, but local brands place orders for functionality. "Xiaofang, a consumer born in 1995, said that as an auxiliary product, the efficacy of beauty tools is more important than their appearance.

In addition to functionality and packaging design, the reporter also noticed that Chinese cosmetics brands are good at creating "multi scenario" and diverse tool products, such as launching "portable" and "full set" products. Industry veterans have revealed that this approach is not only for bundled marketing, but also for content marketing, outputting information about the product's functionality during the "seeding" process to increase consumer stickiness.

Beauty tools refer to auxiliary tools that use cosmetics to modify a person's face, facial features, and other parts, rather than beauty instruments that use technological means to change their own body shape or skin properties. Generally speaking, beauty tools can enhance the three-dimensional impression of the face, adjust the makeup, and achieve the overall effect of highlighting strengths and weaknesses through rendering, drawing, and organizing. From the current market perspective, beauty tools are roughly divided into base makeup tools, lip makeup tools, eye makeup tools, and makeup remover tools.

Industry analysis

Need to strengthen the supply chain of enterprises to enhance productivity and competitiveness

Although domestic cutting-edge products are actively seizing the mid to high end market, high cost-effectiveness remains the biggest advantage of domestic products. It is worth noting that the overall upgrade of the beauty tool supply chain is related to the bargaining power of products. The reporter learned that the upstream raw materials of beauty tools mainly include various plastic products, artificial hair, animal hair, etc. There are many participants among upstream enterprises, so beauty tools have strong bargaining power over upstream suppliers. A technician with over 10 years of experience in supply chain services revealed that in recent years, the upstream end of the supply chain has focused on raw material innovation, committed to breaking through the premise of high cost-effectiveness and achieving the ultimate in products. Taking makeup brushes as an example, the advantage of high density is that it is not easy to get stuck in powder, but it can lead to a relatively hard texture and a less soft skin feel when brushing. If we can achieve both density and softness, it will be difficult. Developing higher quality raw materials is one of the directions.

Industry insiders remind that regardless of the size of the product category, strengthening the supply chain of enterprises to enhance product productivity and competitiveness is the key to continuously improving bargaining power and enhancing market pricing power.

As the size of the beauty tool market continues to grow, the number of entrants is also increasing, which means that market competition will become increasingly fierce. At present, beauty tools in China are mainly sold through online channels, but no representative brand has yet been formed in this niche market. In the future, the marketing methods of the beauty industry will continue to be more diversified to cope with the increasing market size and expanded e-commerce sales channels. Therefore, beauty auxiliary products should strengthen brand building, create unique images, further seize the young market, and lay out longer-term brand strategies.

Consumer advice

Domestic products focus more on Asian facial shapes

There is no need to be overly obsessed with brand effects when it comes to beauty tools. Many domestic products are better to use than international brands at the same price. "Li Lan, who has served as a special makeup artist for Milan, Paris, and New York Fashion Weeks, said that international brands tend to focus more on the facial features of Europeans and Americans in product design, while domestic products focus more on the facial shape of Asians, creating products that are more in line with Eastern aesthetics.

A beauty tool product manager told reporters that there are currently many "three no products" on the market, with extremely cheap prices, but long-term use can cause skin allergies in consumers. The advantage of domestic brands lies not in their affordability, but in their high cost-effectiveness, and safety is a necessary option included. It is recommended that consumers choose products produced by high-quality enterprises, "said the person in charge.

Is this really an intelligence tax? "On social media, the most frequently asked question by consumers focuses on the functionality of beauty tool products.

Li Lan told reporters that good makeup tools can make the makeup process smoother and achieve twice the result with half the effort. Li Lan said that professionals do indeed have better skills in using makeup tools than ordinary consumers, but when it comes to daily makeup scenes, suitable makeup tools can help you achieve better makeup effects and save time and effort.