On March 4, Alibaba’s Tmall released a beauty products report, showing that in 2018, beauty consumers on Tmall exceeded 300 million, including more than 50 million “post-95” consumers.

Lipstick is still the best seller in the cosmetics category, with an average of 3.3 lipsticks bought per person per year on the Tmall platform. New consumption trends have also emerged; for example, men are now buying cosmetics for their own beauty regimes.

The data demonstrates that an increasing number of people are willing to invest in a beauty routine. The sales of Tmall beauty products in 2018 increased by more than 60 percent year-on-year. Among them, women accounted for 67.7 percent, while “post-90s” buyers accounted for 50.8 percent.

Shanghai consumers are the leading force in Tmall's beauty consumption. Beijing and Guangzhou rank second and third, followed by Shenzhen, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuhan, and Xi'an. Consumers in these 10 cities bought about a quarter of all cosmetics sold on Tmall.

As men got more familiar with cosmetics, their attitude towards beauty products has also become more positive, with many trying entry-level beauty items such as foundation and lipstick.

The growth in consumption of cosmetics among men is rapid. Sales of aftershave increased by 55 percent, antiperspirants increased by 78 percent, eyebrow pencils increased by 214 percent, and lipstick increased by 278 percent.

Men's grooming is an emerging market, with consumption of beauty products growing by more than 50 percent for two consecutive years.

Sales of men's brands have grown by 56 percent year-on-year. Cosmetics companies have developed special facial skin care kits, cleansers, lotions and creams targeting male consumers. Among them, sales of facial cleansers for men increased by 51 percent, and face masks for men grew by 58 percent.

Compared with facial skin care, body care, aftershave, hair care, and oral hygiene, makeup for men saw the fastest year-on-year growth, at 89 percent.