Southeast Asia’s beauty market is booming, but ad spend alone won’t cut it. Here’s how leading brands combine the strengths of both platforms to drive measurable growth.

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Southeast Asia’s (SEA) beauty and personal care market is projected to reach US$37.7 billion¹, driven by a young, mobile-first population and one of the deepest social commerce cultures in the world.

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But scaling in the region is no longer a question of how much brands spend, but how intelligently they combine creators, content, and commerce. Two platforms now sit at the centre of that equation: TikTok and Xiaohongshu (RED).

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This guide walks through the three strategies that consistently drive growth for beauty brands in SEA, illustrated with a real campaign we ran for global fashion e-commerce platform REVOLVE.
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Build a creator ecosystem, not a creator campaign

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Beauty is the most trust-driven category in e-commerce. Consumers don’t buy because a brand says a product works, they buy because a person they trust has shown in working on real skin, in real light, with real results.

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That is why the beauty strategies driving the highest ROI in SEA now treat creators as an ecosystem instead of a campaign line item. The formats that reliably drive engagement and conversion include:

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• Get ready with me (GRWM) routines that show the product in context
• Step-by-step product tutorials
• Ingredient breakdowns, especially for skincare claims
• Before-and-after demonstrations
• Honest, unscripted product reviews

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TikTok amplifies these formats through algorithmic discovery, with a single strong hook able to put a product in front of a sizeable audience within 24 hours. Xiaohongshu, by contrast, behaves like a social search engine where shoppers actively type in queries about products before committing.
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Used together, the two platforms solve for reach and reassurance – the two biggest friction points in beauty purchases.

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Make short-form video the core growth engine

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Short-form video has become the default discovery medium for beauty. TikTok collapses discovery, creator collaboration, and paid amplification into one ecosystem. This shortens the path from product discovery to purchase dramatically.

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Successful beauty creatives usually follow a simple formula:

• Hook viewers within the first 2–3 seconds with a visual pattern break, unexpected claim, or problem statement
• Demonstrate product efficacy visually – texture, application or a clear transformation
• Surface a key benefits or hero ingredient
• Close with a specific, platform-native CTA

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Xiaohongshu plays a complementary role. Where TikTok wins with velocity, Xiaohongshu wins with depth. Longer notes, ingredient-level discussion, photo reviews, and saveable content that users can return to during the consideration stage.

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Run a full-funnel strategy, not just bottom-funnel ads

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Most beauty brands over-invest in conversion ads and under-invest in demand creation. That works until the retargeting pool dries up.

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A full-funnel model keeps the pipeline full:

• Discovery: TikTok creator content and short-form video campaigns that introduce products to net-new audiences
• Consideration: XIaohongshu notes, tutorials, and community discussion that help shoppers evaluate the product on ingredients, claims and social proof.
• Conversion: Performance ads, TikTok Shop activations, promotions and retargeting that close the loop.

The point is not to spread the budget evenly, but to move each shopper from discovery, trust and purchase as efficiently as possible.

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Case study: How we scaled performance for REVOLVE with a creator + paid media strategy

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For global fashion e-commerce platform REVOLVE, we built a campaign that combined influencer-led content with performance media optimisation. The model rested on three pillars:

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• Tiered creator distribution: micro creators for authentic engagement, mid-tier creators for credibility and niche reach, and larger creators for scale.
• Paid amplification: the best-performing creator assets were boosted via TikTok in-feed video ads and Spark Ads, keeping the native look-and-feel that drives performance.
• Continuous creative testing: multiple hooks, angles, and CTAs were tested in parallel, with budgets reallocated to winners in near-real time.

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The takeaway: combining creator ecosystems with performance advertising doesn’t just drive awareness or sales. It drives both, and it compounds over time as creative and audience data improve.

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Frequently asked questions

Why is Xiaohongshu important for beauty brands in Southeast Asia?

Xiaohongshu is a search- and community-driven platform where shoppers actively research beauty products before buying. It is especially influential among Mandarin-speaking users, making it a high-trust consideration layer among audiences in Singapore and Malaysia.

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How does TikTok Shop fit into a beauty marketing strategy?

TikTok Shop collapses discovery and purchase into a single flow and is particularly powerful in markets where it is available and fastest growing. Beauty brands use it alongside creator content and live commerce for measurable, closed-loop performance.

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What does full-funnel performance marketing mean for beauty?

It means continuously feeding the pipeline by using the best-suited platform for discovery, consideration and conversion, rather than relying solely on bottom-funnel conversion ads.

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Sources:

1.  Statista: Southeast Asia’s beauty and personal care market size 2026.

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Looking to scale your e-commerce business on Southeast Asia’s top platforms? Speak to us here.

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