Over the past few years, Chinese consumers have become increasingly focused on the functions, cost-effectiveness, and ingredients of cosmetic products, as opposed to brand names and celebrity endorsements. This trend has given rise to a new tribe of ingredient-oriented skincare consumers referred to as ingredient pursuer (“cheng fen dang” in Chinese Pinyin) who thoroughly research products before purchasing.

Due to consumers’ focus on ingredients and their functions, functional skincare products are incredibly popular in China. According to Frost & Sullivan, the market size of functional skincare products in China reached RMB 56.7 billion in 2021, with a growth rate of 33.6%. It is estimated to maintain a growth rate of over 30% and come up to RMB 175.7 billion in 2025.

Yanantang released the top 20 ingredients of the products purchased by ingredient pursuer on the Double 11 Shopping Festival in 2022, which includes anti-aging ingredients like pro-xylane, retinol, peptides, ergothioneine; skin-brightening ingredients such as vitamin C, niacinamide, salicylic acid, phenylethyl resorcinol; and skin-soothing ingredients like ceramide, squalane, centella asiatica, portulaca oleracea, etc. Market analyses of some of these popular ingredients were conducted by ChemLinked.

Pro-xylane

L’ Oréal’s originally patented raw material, pro-xylane, topped the list, with the functions of improving skin elasticity, relieving wrinkles, and increasing skin compactness. Early since September 2006, L’ Oréal has extensively applied pro-xylane into the group’s diverse brands, such as Helena Rubinstein (HR), Kiehl’s, SkinCeuticals, etc. Currently, the company has forged a “pro-xylane matrix” covering nearly the entire price range of skincare products.

After the expiration of L’ Oréal’s patents, Chinese domestic brands participated in the pro-xylane track one after another. The statistics from the National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA) indicated that there have been more than 6,000 pro-xylane-related notifications, from 2,000 plus enterprises. Chinese domestic brands such as MIXX, MedRepair, Dr. Alva, etc., are actively adding pro-xylane as an anti-ageing ingredient into their products.

Comparing the products with the same concentration rate on the Tmall platform, L’ Oréal’s pro-xylane products have higher prices but more monthly sales in their Tmall flagship stores than Chinese domestic brands, indicating the company's leading position in the pro-xylane market.

In addition, Chinese domestic brands focus primarily on the concentration rate of their pro-xylane products. For example, the concentration rate of Diary’s pro-xylane product even exceeded 50%. But L'Oréal asserts that the key factor in pro-xylane's anti-aging function is its skin absorption rate. The higher the rate, the better its anti-aging function. The company has developed an exclusive formula that can improve the skin absorption rate of pro-xylane to 20.9 times.

Retinol

As a derivative of vitamin A, retinol has the functions of ironing out wrinkles, firming and brightening skin, anti-acne, etc. Given its efficient function in anti-ageing and other practical functions in skincare, brands are active in developing products characterised by retinol.

In the past, the retinol market was dominated by international brands such as Neutrogena and Murad. Neutrogena, which has been specializing in retinol for three decades, offers a wide range of retinol products, including serums, eye cream, and face cream. Murad is a top high-end retinol brand in America, whose retinol cream has been continuously on the top-selling list of Tmall’s imported night cream.

In recent years, Chinese domestic brands have also launched successful retinol products, attracting many online Chinese consumers. Brands like HBN and Proya have excellent monthly sales in their Tmall flagship stores. HBN has millions of retinol users, exceeding the market size of some international brands. Proya's retinol essence was the second-best on the Tmall anti-wrinkle essence repurchase list and the third-best on the positive review list of anti-wrinkle essence  during the Double 11 Shopping Festival in 2022.

Niacinamide

As vitamin B3’s derivative, the functions of niacinamide contain diluting pigment precipitation, repairing skin, and enhancing skin resistance. Therefore, it is used as an absorbing ingredient for skin brightening. In addition, it is favoured by its low cost and easiness to be applied into cosmetics. It has a wide range of products covering many categories, such as serums, face creams, masks, body care, etc., with the serum as the most common product type. Diverse brands have rolled out serums in different price ranges on the market.

P&G has taken the lead in using niacinamide in its skincare brands, such as Olay. The niacinamide-related products have helped the brand out of depression and regain its market size. Olay's spot fading essence, for instance, has sold over 6.8 million units as of February 28, 2023. In November 2022, the product ranked first in the sales of spot lightening essence on Tmall. Domestic brands like Proya and OSM have also launched their own niacinamide essences and have respectively acquired 1,000 plus and 2,000 plus unit monthly sales on the Tmall platform.

Centella Asiatica Extract

Centella asiatica extract mainly contains four active ingredients, asiaticoside, asiatic acid, madecassoside and madecassic acid, which can promote the synthesis of type I and type III collagen, inhibit various inflammatory factors, as well as soothe and repair skin.

On account of its effective repairing function, many brands have launched products containing this extract. According to the statistics of Beauty Evolution, an app offering skincare solutions, 30,000 plus brands are using centella asiatica extract among the current effective product notifications and the commodity containing this extract is over 150,000. The soothing repairing balm of La Roche-Posay and the repair masque of Comfy are the hot-selling ones containing this extract on Tmall, with monthly sales of 90,000 and 10,000 at their Tmall flagship stores, respectively.

Corresponding Webinar & Services

ChemLinked recently hosted a webinar titled “Uncovering the Popular Cosmetic Ingredients and Trends in China” on June 20, 2023. The webinar provided market analyses of more popular cosmetic ingredients in anti-aging, whitening and sensitive skincare products, and introduced five cosmetic trends in China.

In addition to webinars, ChemLinked provides comprehensive market research reports to assist global companies in making informed decisions when introducing new ingredients in China. The research covers various aspects, including Ingredient Market Size, Pricing Information, Competitive Landscape, Application Status, Company Preferences, Distributors' Data, and Regulatory Requirements, among others. For more detailed information, please contact ChemLinked at contact@chemlinked.com.