High-end beauty brands make a strong comeback on Douyin
The Douyin platform is witnessing a major comeback of high - end beauty products.
May is the prelude to the "618" shopping festival. A large number of brands have flocked to the e - commerce platform to seize the biggest wave of growth in the first half of this year. According to the "Report on the First - stage Data of Douyin Mall's 618 in 2026", from May 15th to May 20th, the number of beauty brands with a turnover of over 100 million yuan on Douyin increased by 75% year - on - year, indicating that there is still market growth.
According to data from Qingyan Intelligence, in May 2026, the total GMV of the cosmetics category on Douyin reached 28.458 billion yuan.
However, at the same time, after sorting out the Douyin lists in May, Qingyan found that high - end beauty brands seem to be regaining the initiative in the growth of the top - tier market.
The No. 1 brand on the overall cosmetics list has changed, and Helena Rubinstein has taken the top spot
White - label brands are no longer in the forefront of the facial cleansing and care track, and it's difficult for new dark - horse brands to emerge on Douyin
Half of the top 20 brands in the makeup and perfume category are high - end international brands
Kérastase has ranked first on the shampoo and hair - care list for five consecutive months
It can be said that even on Douyin, which is regarded as a platform for new brands to break through and domestic brands to quickly increase their volume, the traffic during the 618 shopping festival still seems to be firmly controlled by domestic and international top - tier brands. High - priced, high - end, and high - quality brands are gaining more and more favor from the platform.
01 Helena Rubinstein Takes the Top Spot, and Domestic Beauty Brands "Lag Behind"
In the first few months of this year, Gu Yu, Mistine, and Han Shu took turns to top the Douyin beauty list. Although the brands were different, they had several common points - overall positioning focused on mass skin care, low customer unit price, and obvious brand recognition. This is also the characteristic of the brands that topped the Douyin beauty TOP list from last year to this year.
However, in May, the top - tier brands on Douyin are changing.
High - end brands are starting to occupy more positions in the overall Douyin cosmetics list.
According to data from Qingyan Intelligence, in May this year, the top five brands on the Douyin cosmetics (including facial cleansing and care, eye care, makeup and perfume, shampoo and hair - care categories on the Douyin platform) brand list are Helena Rubinstein, Estée Lauder, Proya, La Mer, and Han Shu. Proya and Han Shu rank first and second among domestic cosmetics brands respectively; the other brands are typical high - end foreign brands with high popularity, high customer unit price, and their main sales are supported by classic star products.
After sorting out the operation strategies of top - tier brands on Douyin, Qingyan found that there are obvious differences between foreign brands and domestic brands. For example, for Helena Rubinstein, which ranks first, the promotion by influencers accounts for 49.18% of the total GMV, and brand self - operation only accounts for 30.2%. Top - tier live - streamers such as Jia Nailiang, Hanhan Jin and Shuai Shuai Yin, Yu Hui Tong Xing, Guangdong Couple, and Dongfang Selection are all important driving forces for Helena Rubinstein's GMV. The brand self - operation GMV of Estée Lauder and La Mer only accounts for 33.61% and 31.88% of the total GMV respectively, and the rest comes from influencer promotion and product cards.
In contrast, the brand self - operation of Proya and Han Shu accounts for as high as 51.48% and 65.07% respectively. The influencer promotion of Han Shu only accounts for 10.15% of the total GMV, which is a typical brand self - operation - driven growth model. In this model, the brand has greater autonomy, but lacks a channel for a concentrated explosion of traffic during the shopping festival.
Looking at the entire list, 55% of the listed brands are high - end brands, including brands such as Lancôme, SK - II, YSL, and CPB. Among them, only three high - end brands belong to Chinese beauty groups, namely Mao Geping, Lin Qingxuan, and Collistar.
02 The Pattern of the Skin - care Track Tends to Be Fixed, and It's Difficult for Dark - Horse Brands to Emerge
Specifically in the skin - care track, the brands at the forefront of the Douyin ranking in May this year are still mainly top - tier domestic brands and high - end foreign brands. At the same time, Qingyan also noticed that the matrix of top - tier brands on Douyin is becoming more stable, and even if a few new brands are on the list, they can only be short - lived.
Looking at the list of Douyin's facial cleansing and care category from January to May this year, although the rankings fluctuate each month, 11 brands have remained in the top 20 list for five consecutive months. Among them, there are 7 domestic brands such as Han Shu, Proya, Chando, Lin Qingxuan, Gu Yu, HBN, and Pechoin, as well as 4 foreign brands such as Helena Rubinstein, Estée Lauder, Lancôme, and L'Oréal.
From this perspective, top - tier high - end foreign brands have built a dual - path collaborative model of "influencer matrix + brand self - live - streaming", and the structure is relatively balanced. Coupled with their long - term accumulated brand recognition, they have more advantages in competing for traffic with domestic brands during the shopping festival.
In addition, 6 brands, including Marubi, Kefumei, Winona, Collistar, The History of Whoo, and La Mer, have been on the list for 4 out of 5 months, and they are also the main brands for high - frequency repurchase by Douyin consumers.
From this aspect, although the Douyin platform is often regarded as the core platform for "white - label" brands to quickly increase their volume, since this year, the "white - label" brands that can really make it onto the top 20 list on Douyin and stay on the list stably have completely disappeared. Top - tier domestic brands and foreign brands have each occupied half of the top - tier traffic on Douyin.
However, new brands and mid - tier brands have not never been on the list. From January to April this year, brands such as Xu Haili, Dr. Ling, BUV, and Creator have briefly made it onto the top 20 list, but they were only "a flash in the pan".
Screenshot from Douyin
For example, Xu Haili made it to the 16th place on the list in January this year thanks to the founder's live - streaming, but the traffic did not last, and it has not been on the list in the following months. Another example is BUV, which focuses on the facial cleansing track. It announced Cai Xukun as its global brand ambassador in April this year and made it onto the top 20 of the Douyin facial cleansing and care category. However, in May, the brand's ranking dropped by 11 places, failing to achieve continuous growth in ranking.
03 Diloviy Wins Three Consecutive Championships and Maintains the Leading Position of Domestic Makeup Brands
The matrix of top - tier brands in the makeup track is also becoming more stable. There are 16 brands that have been on the list more than 4 times this year. Among them, 10 brands, including Diloviy, YSL, Mao Geping, Caror, BABI, DPDP, Flower Knows, Huajiansong, Parylene, and Shukefu, have been on the list for five consecutive months.
However, different from the overall list and the facial cleansing and care category, domestic brands show stronger competitiveness here. For example, Diloviy, which focuses on the base makeup track, has ranked first on the Douyin makeup and perfume brand list for three consecutive months, and even ranked 14th on the overall Douyin cosmetics list, becoming the veritable number one in base makeup on Douyin.
In terms of the way of product promotion, according to data from Qingyan Intelligence, in May this year, the brand self - operation GMV of Diloviy accounted for 53.78%, mainly supported by several official brand flagship stores. At the same time, in terms of influencer - led sales, Diloviy has long - term cooperation with top - tier beauty blogger Han Meijuan and celebrity Zhang Yuqi to boost sales through influencer - led live - streaming channels.
In addition to Diloviy, among the top 10 brands in the Douyin makeup and perfume category in May this year, there are only two foreign brands, YSL and MAC. The other 8 brands, including Mao Geping, Parylene, and Caror, are all domestic brands. In last month's list, there were only three foreign brands, Mistine, YSL, and 3CE, even in the top 20 list.
However, looking at the top 20 of the Douyin makeup and perfume category in May, high - end makeup brands are also starting to gain momentum. High - end foreign brands such as CPB, Armani, NARS, Estée Lauder, Givenchy, Lancôme, and CT have almost occupied the last 10 places on the list.
It's worth noting that among the foreign high - end brands on the list this time, 5 brands, including MAC, Givenchy, NARS, CT, and Estée Lauder, are on the list for the first time this year. It can be seen that even in the makeup and perfume track where domestic brands used to have stronger competitiveness, high - end brands are making a strong comeback.
04 There are Still Opportunities in the Shampoo and Hair - care Niche Track, and Domestic Brands Break Through with Differentiated Positioning
In the shampoo and hair - care track, Kérastase has ranked first for five consecutive months and is the well - deserved "king" on the Douyin platform.
However, apart from Kérastase, different from the core tracks of skin - care and makeup, most of the brands on the top 20 list of the shampoo and hair - care category are not "top - tier" in the conventional sense. In other words, domestic brands are "re - creating