Across The Border | Young Chinese men make up larger share of country’s US$33 billion cosmetics market
One consumer analyst with Cinda Securities goes as far as saying we have entered the ‘male beauty era’, as more men increase spending to look their best
Young men, especially those born in the 1990s, are becoming the driving force behind China’s booming cosmetics market, playing almost as important a role as much as their women peers, according to analysts.
Once deemed rather too feminine for many Chinese men, with economic prosperity has come a softening in attitudes to men using skin-enhancing products previously reserved for the fairer sex.
Tao Yi Xue, a consumer analyst with Cinda Securities, even goes as far as saying we have entered the “male beauty era”, as more men spend increasing amounts on cremes, ointments, perfumes and potions to look their best.
Acne treatment, sunblock and oil-control products are the first three focuses for the average man consumer, while L’Oreal Paris, Nivea and Clinique are their three favourite brands, according to Cinda research.
But Tao added the spending gap between men and women in the consumption of cosmetics has narrowed from 26.6 yuan (US$15.1) to just 13.7 yuan last year, as more Chinese men shed their inhibitions of spending generously on their appearance.