Retail Channels
South Korean health and beauty retailer Olive Young recently announced that its cross-border e-commerce platform saw a 70% year-on-year increase in sales and a 60% rise in order volume in the first half of the year. The U.S. market contributed over 40% of the growth, while the UK, Japan, and multiple Southeast Asian countries reported growth rates exceeding 100%.
U.S. beauty retail giant Ulta Beauty has completed its acquisition of UK premium beauty chain Space NK, with the transaction reportedly valued at over £300 million (approximately RMB 2.9 billion). Space NK, known for curating innovative beauty brands, will operate as a standalone subsidiary under Ulta Beauty’s ownership.
The "2024 China Chain Top 100" list was recently released, with Wal-Mart (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (Wal-Mart, Sam's Club) topping the rankings with RMB 158.8 billion in revenue. Notably, two-thirds of this revenue was contributed by Sam's Club, highlighting its pivotal role in the company’s performance.
Brands and Industry
The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) website disclosed that DR PLANT Cosmetics Co., Ltd. (Beijing Plant Doctor) has had its main board IPO application accepted, with a planned fundraising amount of CNY 998.28 million. The application was accepted on June 27, and the sponsor is CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. .
According to the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) website, Wuhan Healthgen Biotechnology Corp. passed the review of the Listing Review Committee on July 1, 2025, and submitted its IPO registration application on July 4 .
South Korean beauty conglomerate Amorepacific officially closed its subsidiary brand innisfree's Tmall Global flagship store, with all products removed from sale. Amorepacific stated the adjustment aims to streamline resources and build a more efficient distribution network, focusing on delivering premium services and interactive experiences for consumers.
On July 7, 2025, Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co., Ltd. completed the filing for a new cosmetic ingredient, Feruloyl Tripeptide-129 Amide, under the registration number Guozhuang Yuanbeizi 20250085 . Ferulic acid, a phenolic compound widely found in plant cell walls, is renowned for its antioxidant, soothing, and skin-whitening properties, commonly used in cosmetics. Previously, in April 2025, Shenzhen Hujia Technology Co., Ltd. also filed Bakuchiol Ferulate (Guozhuang Yuanbeizi 20250041), another ferulic acid-structured ingredient .
Global private equity giant Blackstone plans to acquire South Korean haircare brand JUNO HAIR and its parent group for over KRW 800 billion (approximately CNY 4.2 billion), according to the Korea Economic Daily, sparking significant industry attention .
Global fragrance and flavor leader Givaudan announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Brazilian perfume company Vollmens Fragrance Ltda., aiming to expand its presence in Latin America's premium fragrance market .
Starting from July 1st, 5 inspection methods including the Inspection Method for Azelaic Acid and Its Salts in Cosmetics issued by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) have been officially implemented. Azelaic acid (also known as azelaic acid in Chinese), a component with functions of inhibiting melanocytes and treating acne, is widely used in acne-fighting skincare products.
Recently, Koukouqi Biotechnology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. was penalized by the Market Supervision Bureau of Hangzhou High-tech Zone (Binjiang) for claiming that its product "AG Anti-glycation Gold Jar 3.0 Water, Emulsion and Essence" is "suitable for pregnant women" during sales promotion.
On July 2nd, acetyl gingerol ketone from Shanghai Huarun Industrial Co., Ltd. completed the filing for new cosmetic ingredients with the registration number "Guozhuang Yuanbeizi 20250084". Currently, the technical requirements have not yet been announced.
Recently, Documents, a high-end Chinese perfume brand, officially entered the Sephora channel, marking a new chapter in its brand expansion.
Recently, COSMAX announced that its new brand "itoshiro", a collaboration with Gekkeikan, a Japanese alcoholic beverage company with a 280-year history, has been launched in Japan.
On June 26th, Jinbo Bio issued an announcement stating that the company and Yangshengtang have signed the Conditionally Effective Share Subscription and Strategic Cooperation Agreement. Through introducing strategic investors, the company will issue ordinary shares to Yangshengtang, accounting for 6.24% of the total shares previously issued by Jinbo Bio, with a fundraising amount not exceeding 2 billion yuan.
Recently, according to the official website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Suzhou Jiyi Technology Co., Ltd., a beauty brand service provider, submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 18th, 2025, planning to list on the main board of Hong Kong, with CITIC Securities as the sole sponsor.
On June 30th, according to Cosmetics Business, Cosmoss, a lifestyle beauty brand, encountered liquidation difficulties with debts of nearly 3 million pounds (approximately 29.5332 million yuan). It officially entered the liquidation process in June, with AABRS Limited, an insolvency service agency, handling the liquidation.
On July 9th, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced ten typical cases of illegal advertising. Among them, in the cosmetics field, Hangzhou Xunyou Trading Co., Ltd. was fined and confiscated 175,500 yuan for promoting cosmetics as having medical effects in live e-commerce activities.
On the evening of July 7th, Tianci Materials issued an announcement stating that the company's board of directors and supervisory board have reviewed and approved the relevant proposals on issuing H-shares and listing on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company is actively discussing relevant work for this issuance with relevant intermediaries. This means that Tianci Materials will list in Hong Kong soon.
On the last day of the first half of 2025, the National Enterprise Bankruptcy Reorganization Case Information Network showed that Suzhou Aishang Cosmetics Co., Ltd. was officially declared bankrupt and its bankruptcy proceedings were concluded. This indicates that the company's three-month bankruptcy liquidation case has ended, and also means that this leading cosmetics agency enterprise is about to "disappear".
Recently, L'Oreal Group announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the professional hair care brand Color Wow.
Recently, Shanghai Liren Lizhuang Cosmetics Co., Ltd. released its 2025 semi-annual performance forecast. Shanghai Liren Lizhuang is expected to record a net profit loss of 30 million to 42.5 million yuan attributable to shareholders in the first half of 2025, and a non-net profit loss of 31 million to 44.5 million yuan after deducting non-recurring gains and losses, with performance turning from profit to loss.
Recently, BASF lowered its full-year 2025 profit forecast and released preliminary second-quarter profit and sales data, which showed a year-on-year decline. Data indicated that sales in the second quarter of 2025 fell 2.1% year-on-year to 15.77 billion euros, compared with 16.11 billion euros in the same period last year.
On July 15, the National Bureau of Statistics released June consumption data: the total retail sales of social consumer goods were about 4.23 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%; among them, the retail sales of cosmetics reached 40.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%. Extending the time to the first half of the year, the cumulative retail sales from January to June were 24.55 trillion yuan, a year-on-year expansion of 5.0%, with cosmetics contributing 229.1 billion yuan, and the growth rate narrowed to 2.9%.
Online channels continued to lead. In the first half of the year, national online retail sales reached 7.43 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%, and online sales of physical goods were 6.12 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.0%, accounting for 24.9% of total retail sales. By segment, online growth rates of food, clothing, and daily necessities were 15.7%, 1.4%, and 5.3% respectively.
On July 21, all votes at the general meeting of shareholders of Global New Materials International (06616.HK) passed a proposal to acquire Merck's global Surface Solutions business for 665 million euros (approximately 5.584 billion yuan). The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of July, setting a record for the amount of mergers and acquisitions in China's cosmetic raw materials industry. The transaction covers 7 Merck subsidiaries in Germany, the United States, and Japan, with 2024 revenue of 3.376 billion yuan, including 1.243 billion yuan from cosmetics. After completion, Global New Materials will obtain a global sales network and brand influence, enter the field of high-end cosmetic active ingredients, marking the first time that China's raw material industry has reverse-acquired core assets of an international giant.
On July 22, Givaudan released its semi-annual report. In the first half of 2025, sales reached 3.864 billion Swiss francs (approximately 32.3 billion yuan), an increase of 6.3% at constant exchange rates and 3.4% in Swiss franc terms; EBITDA reached 945 million Swiss francs (approximately 8.5 billion yuan), an increase of 4.4%; net profit was 592 million Swiss francs (approximately 5.3 billion yuan), a slight year-on-year increase of 0.7%; gross profit was 1.702 billion Swiss francs (approximately 15.3 billion yuan), an increase of 3.4%.
Recently, Lafang Home Chemical Co., Ltd. released its 2025 semi-annual performance forecast. The report showed that in the first half of 2025, Lafang Home Chemical is expected to achieve a net profit of 5.7 million to 6.5 million yuan attributable to shareholders, a year-on-year decrease of 82.52% to 84.67%; the non-net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses is expected to be 1.88 million to 2.68 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 92.46% to 94.71%, with a large decline, and the operating results in the first half of the year were poor.
On July 16, Lanting Technology, a leading Shenzhen daily chemical company listed on the New Third Board, announced the termination of its three-and-a-half-year counseling for the Beijing Stock Exchange IPO, which has been confirmed by the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau. In November 2021, the company signed a counseling agreement with Guotai Haitong Securities, but its cumulative revenue from 2020 to 2024 dropped by 49.9%, and net profit turned from profit to loss, hindering the listing process.
Recently, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) announced that since the implementation of the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics in 2021, through the "registration + filing" classification management reform, as of the end of June 2025, 272 new cosmetic ingredients in China have completed registration or filing. The steady growth in the number has laid the foundation for the healthy development of the industry with equal emphasis on quality safety and product innovation.
From July 15 to 17, the NMPA intensively filed three new cosmetic ingredients: dihydroquercetin (with antioxidant effects) from Hangzhou Jiajiale (Guozhuang Yuanbeizi 20250087, INCI: European Larch Wood Extract), the beauty peptide Amino PEG-5 Acetyl Tricosapeptide-14 from Chengdu Kaijie Peptide (Guozhuang Yuanbeizi 20250088, the third peptide ingredient of the year), and the active peptide Caproyl Dipeptide-3 Norleucine from Shenzhen Weqi Technology (Guozhuang Yuanbeizi 20250089, with effects of improving the stratum corneum, moisturizing, and soothing). All three ingredients must complete safety monitoring within three years, and technical requirements are to be announced.
Recently, "Runxihe", a children's skincare brand jointly established by Bloomage Biotechnology and Yuehua Entertainment, confirmed that it will cease operations. Industrial and commercial changes show that Tianjin Yihua, a subsidiary of Yuehua, has withdrawn from the list of shareholders, and Bloomage Biotechnology has achieved 100% control of Runxihe through its wholly-owned subsidiary.
Recently, British skincare brand Faace announced that it will officially close due to the collapse of a proposed acquisition transaction.
Recently, BRANCHIC, a high-end anti-aging brand under the FANCL Group, announced that it will close its Tmall, Douyin, and JD overseas flagship stores starting from August 1, fully withdrawing from the Chinese market.
On July 14, Chenguang Biology (300138) released its 2025 semi-annual performance forecast, expecting revenue to be 3.46 billion to 3.76 billion yuan, a year-on-year change of -0.89% to 7.71%; net profit attributable to shareholders is expected to be 202 million to 232 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 102.33% to 132.38%.
On July 14, Boton Group, a leading Chinese flavor and fragrance company, issued a profit warning, expecting its first-half 2025 net profit to drop by more than 80% year-on-year. The company attributed this to declining gross profit margins due to intensified industry competition, stricter regulations, and rising R&D expenses.
On July 16, Puig announced that its second-quarter 2025 sales reached 1.09 billion euros (approximately 9 billion yuan), an increase of 7.7% at constant exchange rates, outperforming market expectations. Perfume and fashion grew by 6.7% to 788 million euros (approximately 6.5 billion yuan), cosmetics by 10.5% to 174 million euros (approximately 1.4 billion yuan), and skincare by 10.2% to 131 million euros (approximately 1 billion yuan), all exceeding analysts' estimates. First-half net sales were 2.3 billion euros (approximately 19.1 billion yuan), an increase of 7.6% at constant exchange rates, with organic growth in the Americas and Asia-Pacific reaching 10.9% and 16.5% respectively. The group maintained its full-year guidance of 6-8% growth in the high-end beauty market and an improvement in EBITDA margin, and announced that it will raise prices globally by a mid-single-digit percentage starting from August to hedge against potential tariffs.
On July 24, British consumer goods giant Reckitt released its first-half 2025 financial report. Data showed that in the first half of this year, Reckitt's net revenue was 6.981 billion pounds (approximately 67.679 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 1.5%. Among them, core business net revenue was 5.006 billion pounds (approximately 48.532 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 4.2%, with sales volume growing by 1.2%.
Specifically, Reckitt's core businesses include personal care, disinfection protection, home care, and intimate health. In the first half of 2025, net revenue from the personal care business was 1.553 billion pounds (approximately 15.056 billion yuan), a year-on-year decrease of 1.7%; net revenue from the home care business was 1.103 billion pounds (approximately 10.693 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 1.7%; net revenue from the intimate health business was 774 million pounds (approximately 7.504 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 13.5%.
Recently, Bawang Group released a performance forecast. In the first half of 2025, the group is expected to record a net loss of approximately 4.9 million yuan, compared with a net profit of approximately 1.2 million yuan in the same period of 2024. However, compared with the first half of 2024, Bawang Group's turnover increased by approximately 11% in the first half of 2025, reaching 122 million yuan.
According to forecast data from Global Market Insight and Statista, the global acne-prone skin care market is showing a differentiated growth trajectory. The acne-fighting skincare segment will continue to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 5.3%, with its scale steadily increasing from $5.9 billion (42.421 billion yuan) in 2023 to $9.2 billion (66.148 billion yuan) by 2032.
Bobbi Brown launched the new "Light Velvet Black Tube", a product with an ultra-light lamb velvet texture that incorporates micron-level velvety fibers, enabling smooth spread without tightness and hiding and reducing lip lines. The "Light Velvet Black Tube" offers a long-lasting color lock experience with no patchiness or dryness. The new color numbers in this launch adopt a series of low-saturation soft colors, suitable for both light application and multiple layers of overlay, which can show color without appearing dull or fluorescent, making it ideal for creating a sophisticated and intellectual makeup look.
Laura Mercier launched the new Flawless Radiance Dual-Color Cushion. This cushion, the brand's first dual-color cushion, can be used in combination with the brand's primer series, lightweight flawless concealer, and loose powder products. The Flawless Radiance Dual-Color Cushion contains brightening diamond particles and is blended with a rose pink tone, delivering an even and radiant complexion effect. The product features a dual-effect inner and outer ring design: the outer ring can be used to hide blemishes, while the inner ring corrects yellowness and brightens, creating a three-dimensional layered makeup effect. The formula contains white water lily extract and moisturizing factors, with a lightweight and hydrating texture and dual film-forming technology, achieving instant hydration upon application, long-lasting makeup and color retention, and SPF50+ PA+++ sun protection.
Hourglass launched a new four-color eyeshadow palette, covering six color schemes with multiple textures that can be freely layered and easily blended, enabling the creation of multi-dimensional three-dimensional eye makeup. Each palette features carefully selected color schemes with different themes, integrating diverse texture effects to unlock various eye makeup possibilities. This series of eyeshadow palettes boasts rich colors and fine powder, contains no talc, applies smoothly and blends easily, and can be layered freely without heaviness, meeting various makeup needs. The finishes include matte, satin, shimmer, and pearlescent, allowing the makeup effect to be freely layered from natural and sheer to rich and full.
international conglomerate
On July 1st, Henkel's Consumer Brands Division announced that it has officially taken over the overall operation and management of Schwarzkopf's hair care business in the Greater China region, covering shampoos, conditioners, styling and treatment products. This move aims to redefine Asia's future aesthetics with an industry-leading image, continuously promote the all-round upgrading of the brand in terms of products, channels and other aspects, and inject new vitality and innovative momentum into the hairdressing industry.
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