Men's pursuit of beauty has given rise to a new market segment...
Girls have glowing skin thanks to their moms, while guys have a tough-guy faux natural look!
Text by Li Mengqi
Edited by Shi Hangqian
"When straight guys start wearing makeup, they're not far from..."
Guys, led by those born in the 95s and 00s, are collectively rewriting this prejudice.
The blogger "Motivated Snoopy" shared on Douyin his experience of becoming more handsome as an ordinary guy and his insights from the process of "serving the beauty industry."
From working out, taking care of his skin, learning about fashion, using hair straighteners to style his hair, to using foundation for concealer, eyebrow pencils for shaping eyebrows, and loose powder for setting makeup. "I originally thought that using a hair straightener (to style hair and change one's appearance) was already invincible, but I didn't expect foundation to be even more powerful." (The following pictures are screenshots from "Motivated Snoopy"'s video)
These "epiphany moments" on the path to becoming more handsome, in Snoopy's view, all represent a subversive leap at the cognitive level.
"Many people think guys shouldn't spend time on their appearance. This made me realize that society not only deprives girls of the 'freedom not to wear makeup,' but also deprives guys of the 'freedom to wear makeup.' But I want to say, life is your own, don't care about others' opinions."
This "evolution of straight guys' aesthetics" video received 1.15 million likes, and a series of makeup tutorials for guys shared by Snoopy also helped his account gain 1.55 million followers in one year.
Data released by Chanmofang shows that in 2023, the total sales of men's beauty and skincare products on Douyin exceeded 100 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 235.37%. Among them, sub - categories such as men's care sets, men's facial cleansers, men's facial creams, men's BB creams, and men's concealers all had high year-on-year growth rates, exceeding 100%.
On the other hand, data released by Alimama shows that in 2024, the year-on-year growth rate of the turnover of men's makeup on the Taotian platform exceeded 25%. Among them, men's blusher increased by more than 100 times, and men's powder compacts increased by more than 90% year-on-year.
However, the above data may only reflect a small part of the reality. A survey in 2020 showed that nearly half of men are willing to choose neutral or female beauty brands to pursue better product efficacy, ingredients, and formulas.
The fact is, the trend of "wearing makeup" is spreading among men at a "visibly" fast pace, giving rise to new needs and even new markets that are very different from those of female consumers. The involved sub - categories and brands are also becoming more and more diverse.
01 Guys Also Advocate "Good Looks Are Justice"
"A few years ago, I would never have thought that I would wear makeup every day before going out." Xiao L, who works in the financial industry, recalled his process of gradually accepting makeup: "I remember when I just graduated from college and went to the beach with my girlfriend, I didn't even want to apply sunscreen. Even if my face got sunburned and red, I still insisted that 'guys aren't that delicate.'"
The change happened after he officially entered the workplace. His colleagues around him were all well - dressed. Especially some senior colleagues were very particular about body management, skin care, and fashion.
Cleanliness and refinement are becoming the general pursuit of today's men, especially those born in the 95s. Among them, skin condition ranks among the top three factors affecting appearance in guys' eyes, and the other two are hair and body.
His well - off and leisure leaders would spend a lot of money on skin and body care in beauty salons and gyms. As a young "worker bee," Xiao L could only follow other colleagues and choose relatively low - cost cosmetics to cover the side effects of staying up late and working overtime - dark circles, dullness, and acne marks...
"We compete for performance at work and for self - discipline after work." Xiao L joked about himself: "In our industry, being slovenly is not allowed. No one would come to work in slippers just because they worked overtime until 4 am the night before. Moreover, we often need to meet clients. Being too sloppy will give people an unprofessional impression."
Although KPI and OKR are the main ways to measure the value of workers in the workplace, in highly competitive industries, all aspects of "competitiveness" are invisibly taken into account. "Good looks," as a potential competitiveness, have been repeatedly proven to play an important role in current society. In many industries, good looks are even more important than intelligence.
In a small - scale survey by Yibang Power, more than 80% of guys said that the main reason they started wearing makeup was to meet social needs. Besides the workplace, dating is also a frequently mentioned keyword.
KK, who just turned 30 this year, started blind - dating under the urging of his family. In a new first - tier city, he found that girls with good conditions often have higher requirements for guys' appearance. "Under the same 'hard conditions,' guys who know how to dress up themselves on a date are more likely to be favored by girls."
However, both men and women seem to have a low acceptance of guys' "overly" delicate and heavy makeup. "If a guy applies a natural - looking foundation or does some simple concealer on a date and looks clean, it will add points." A girl pointed out, but if he wears heavy makeup or applies powder unevenly, it will seem like he's "trying too hard" and be a turn - off, having the opposite effect.
In fact, guys also know this. In a user survey by a makeup brand, more than 90% of male users' primary concern when using products is not to be noticed wearing makeup. When searching for guys' makeup tutorials on Xiaohongshu, more than half of the titles or covers contain the keyword "faux natural look." "Becoming more handsome without being noticed" has become the main need of today's guys for makeup and grooming.
The keyword "faux natural look" frequently appears when searching for guys' makeup on Xiaohongshu (Source: Screenshot of Xiaohongshu topic search)
"I didn't understand what 'male gaze' was until I started wearing makeup." The stand - up comedian Jia Hao shared an interesting experience of being "caught" wearing makeup during a performance: "When a male colleague caught me secretly applying lipstick in the toilet, I instinctively put the lipstick in my mouth and pretended to be vaping."
On one hand, they wear makeup for social reasons; on the other hand, they're afraid of being noticed. These guys who love beauty seem to be trapped in a small gap. But some have already got rid of the influence of "others' opinions."
"The most important thing is not how you look, but how you feel, and this applies to guys too." A netizen told Yibang Power that he sometimes looks for new makeup tutorials on social media when he's bored. "This has nothing to do with attracting anyone. Even if I don't go out, I'll feel better - looking and more confident, and I'll be motivated to do many things, even just doing the dishes or housework."
On the contrary, another "advanced user" Tom doesn't recommend guys relying too much on makeup. In his view, the most important way for guys to get a good complexion is through exercise, diet, and skin care, and by developing good living habits to become more handsome. The more important thing is self - improvement.
"There are too many videos on the Internet teaching guys to become handsome in one second. Many people ignore the fact that those bloggers have good looks in the first place and the efforts they've made in other aspects." Tom said that small tools like eyebrow pencils and concealers for covering flaws can be used appropriately. But many "newbies" start with foundation, which puts more burden on their already poor skin. "So many people have bad makeup results, like looking fake and white or having powder caking. It may not be the product's problem but the neglect of the essence of pursuing beauty."
02 Remove the "Female" Label from Cosmetics
In the movie "A Love for the Ages," Lao Bai, a painting teacher played by Xu Zheng, was surprised and even dissatisfied with his son's behavior of applying hand cream, plucking eyebrows, and applying eyeliner. But when he met someone he liked, 50 - year - old Lao Bai also began to pay attention to and worry about his dressing and body.
Everyone has the need to pursue beauty. However, for various reasons, cosmetic brand advertisements always target female consumers, who are considered to be more beauty - conscious. For example, in past TV commercials, makeup, perfume - spraying, and other grooming behaviors were always regarded as means for women to "capture" love or attract men.
A founder of a beauty brand said that under such a narrative, cosmetics have been strongly labeled with gender and even function. As a result, men are also forced to think that cosmetics are tools for the "weaker" gender to obtain resources and attention. And as the "stronger" side, buying and using such tools can be seen as a kind of abandonment of their own power and dominant position to some extent.
But today, brands related to women have begun to truly empathize with users, shifting from "pleasing others" in marketing content and product functions to focusing on "pleasing oneself" and emphasizing self - feelings. However, the narrative of men's "becoming more beautiful" is still lacking in the consumer goods market.
The good news is that some brands have taken the lead in making changes.
The online consumption report of men's makeup previously released by CBNData shows that different from the long - tail trend of the overall makeup market, the men's makeup market is highly concentrated. The market contribution of the top 10 brands far exceeds that of the overall men's makeup market. More than half of these brands are international brands, including Tom Ford, Chanel, Shiseido, and L'Oréal. But with the rapid growth of domestic related brands, this concentrated situation has been gradually broken in recent years.
Among them, the domestic men's grooming brand "Lvsuo," which was launched in June 2024 and is positioned as "invisible facial grooming," found that international brands have made almost no localization and youth - oriented improvements in product efficacy and marketing content for domestic users. "Almost all brand images are about the ocean, beaches, and muscular men," and "almost most products are still focusing on oil control."
In the view of Lvsuo's founder William, the aesthetics of young men are becoming more diverse. Facing such a single brand image, consumers can't resonate with it. "Although guys seem more tough and make choices more boldly, they actually look forward to the emergence of platforms and brands that understand them and are touched by content that truly empathizes with them."
Therefore, although mainly targeting male consumers, Lvsuo doesn't define itself as a "men - only" makeup brand. Correspondingly, since Lvsuo noticed that guys' common problem is "being afraid of trouble," it re - defines its target group as "refined and lazy." It makes looking good equal to being simple, so it also attracts some female consumers. It emphasizes the core experience values of products such as "invisibility" more in product design and marketing, aiming to make consumers feel nothing on their skin, during use, and in social situations.
"The leap from skin care to makeup reflects the transformation of people's consumption concepts, cultural concepts, and image concepts." A market director of an international beauty brand said:
It's only in recent years that under the influence of the gender - neutral trend and the awakening of women's self - awareness, self - centeredness and self - pleasing concepts have been seen in more beauty brands. While these expressions liberate women, they also relieve men from the pressure of external scrutiny. The new generation of male consumers is gradually getting rid of traditional gender positioning and stereotypes, and the younger they are, the more obvious this leap is.
However, apart from those male "pioneer" consumers who have broken through the shackles, most male users are still rather single - minded and cautious when choosing makeup and products.
In William's view, the "faux natural look" and even "blemished skin" are still the primary concerns of men when using cosmetics. Therefore, Lvsuo's first product is the "Original Skin - Perfecting Lotion" targeting this group and their needs. William introduced that the "skin - perfecting lotion" is a new category developed around the concepts of "invisibility" and "refined and lazy." Its formula system is different from traditional foundation and natural - looking foundation. Compared with natural - looking foundation, it has better concealer power, and compared with foundation, it's more natural and easier to apply.
Lvsuo's Original Skin - Perfecting Lotion
Guys are not very sensitive to the efficacy differences of different products, but they can understand them more easily when related to specific scenarios. Yuli, the founder of the men's personal care brand Lanxi, pointed out that this is also the main reason why some men can't fully adapt to female cosmetics and the need for brands specifically targeting male users.
Lanxi also found that compared with single - function products, multi - functional products are more popular among male users. As the post - pandemic high - end beauty market insight report released by Ipsos shows, 65% of men hope to simplify their skin - care steps.
Lanxi's Centella Asiatica Single - Use Natural - Looking Foundation (Source: Lanxi's Tmall flagship store)
Based on the above insights, Lanxi has specially strengthened the portable, easy - to - use, and multi - functional scenario - based design in several of its main products. For example, to meet guys' makeup needs, Lanxi launched the "Centella Asiatica Essence Single - Use Natural - Looking Foundation," which can meet guys' immediate makeup and touch - up needs in specific scenarios and achieve both skin - care and makeup effects.
03 "Category Innovation" Is More Important Than Focusing on Gender
"It's actually very difficult to estimate the exact market size and development prospects of the domestic men's makeup market." A brand - related person in charge admitted. The reason is that men's makeup is often grouped，into men's skin care or makeup categories without further segmentation. Meanwhile, many male users buy products from neutral or female makeup brands, and such purchase behaviors are not easily identified as "men - related makeup consumption."
Some male consumers on social media are still using and recommending cosmetics from neutral or female brands
However, some institutions have given an estimated range - in recent years, the domestic men's makeup market size is between 5 - 10 billion yuan, with a growth rate significantly higher than that of the female makeup market, but the base is still small.
Related reports further show that the domestic men's makeup market is still in the cultivation stage, mainly driven by lightweight products such as sunscreen and concealer. Consumption is concentrated among young people in first - and second - tier cities, but the overall public acceptance and usage frequency are relatively low, and brand education and aesthetic concepts are still gradually taking shape.
Moreover, in terms of demand, some industry insiders believe that apart from the differences in concealer power and ease of application in facial base makeup between men and women, there aren't significant differences in the demand for makeup in areas such as eye and lip makeup, where the demand has increased more significantly in recent years.
It's reported that domestic brands such as FAN BEAUTY, Perfect Diary, and Xiukefu have launched color numbers, products, or advertising concepts suitable for men, using the "gender - neutral" or "diverse aesthetics" strategy to capture the market share that should belong to male - exclusive brands.
Those makeup brands focusing on men, in addition to being more convenient for gender differentiation in packaging aesthetics and marketing strategies, still inevitably have to compete directly with traditional female brands.
One "solution" for some brands is to capture users' minds with multiple categories on a large scale. Instead of finding further sub - segments in the sub - market, they gradually expand the user base with multi - dimensional product combinations.
The men's personal care brand Liran, established in 2019, has a product line covering multiple sub - categories such as facial care, body wash, hair and beard grooming, body fragrance, and makeup, basically covering all usage scenarios of men from skin care to bathing and makeup, as well as different age groups. In their view, this minimizes the selection process for men when purchasing, making the purchase process simpler and faster.
Part of Liran's product line (Source: Liran's official website)
"The men's personal care market is a 'difficult - at - first - then - easy' thing. It requires long - term investment in product R & D and building brand awareness." Huang Weiqiang, the founder of Liran, once said that the brand needs to meet the needs of the new - era male population from various dimensions such as actual needs and user scenarios, and also needs to be agile in iteration and patient in the awakening trend of men's aesthetic awareness.
Some other brands simply break away from the idea of "only targeting men" and start from "new categories," emphasizing the differences in scenarios, functions, and aesthetics and ignoring gender boundaries.
It's reported that Lvsuo will continue to focus on the "skin - perfecting lotion" category in the future, meeting the needs of more "refined and lazy" users by launching sub - products for different scenarios and skin tones. On this basis, it will gradually expand more SKUs to meet users' one - stop makeup needs before and after makeup, effectively expanding the brand's consumer group through category innovation.
Lvsuo proposed the product concept of "Too Lazy to Pretend" to meet the "refined and lazy" needs of young users
In fact, there are already many women in Lvsuo's product details and reviews. The brand breaks through gender stereotypes and attracts a wider range of consumers with more inclusive visual language. After attracting the first batch of female users, Lvsuo quickly updated product color numbers more suitable for women's skin tones. According to William, the proportion of Lvsuo's female users has now reached 30%.
"Rather than confining itself to a specific track, a brand should create an independent new category to meet the specific needs of a specific group in specific scenarios."
Lvsuo's Original Skin - Perfecting Lotion and Lanxi's Single - Use Natural - Looking Foundation are both innovative products that have received good reviews from both men and women. Especially in the current active makeup market, this kind of category innovation and even "creating" new categories is the key for new brands to break into the market.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Yibang Power". Author: Li Mengqi. Republished with permission.
