On August 20, with the release of Coty's latest financial report, all global leading cosmetic groups have delivered their H1 2026 (Jan–Jun) performance. QingYan has compiled the global beauty top 10 ranking for the first half of 2026.

So, what changes have occurred in the ranking of the world's top 10 beauty companies in H1 2026? What new patterns are emerging in the global beauty market?

7 up, 1 down

QingYan's statistics show that after stripping non-cosmetic businesses, the total sales of the global beauty top 10 in H1 2026 reached approximately ¥543.557 billion, an increase of ¥19.17 billion from ¥524.387 billion in the same period of 2025, up 3.66% year-on-year.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China's total retail sales of cosmetics from January to June this year were ¥244.245 billion. That means the total sales of the global beauty top 10 are more than double China's total cosmetics retail sales in the same period.

Overall, among the 10 companies on the list, 7 recorded year-on-year sales growth in H1 2026, 2 remained roughly flat, and 1 declined. Notably, this pattern has changed significantly from the same period last year. According to QingYan's previous analysis, 7 of the top 10 companies recorded sales declines in H1 2025, reflecting a sluggish global beauty market at that time.

As global beauty companies collectively recover, the H1 2026 ranking has also seen new shifts.

Specifically, L'Oréal remains the world's largest beauty group, with sales of ¥186.596 billion, a staggering lead of about ¥82.2 billion over second-place Unilever (¥104.379 billion).

Only L'Oréal and Unilever exceeded ¥100 billion in sales. Among companies below the ¥100 billion mark, only P&G surpassed ¥50 billion (¥52.709 billion), while Estée Lauder (¥49.334 billion) approached the ¥50 billion level. The remaining six companies – Beiersdorf, Kenvue, LVMH, Shiseido, Puig, and Coty – all had sales below ¥40 billion.

In terms of growth, P&G recorded the highest growth rate among the 7 companies with positive growth, at 8.56%. L'Oréal, Shiseido, and Estée Lauder also maintained growth above 5%. Unilever, Kenvue, and Puig posted modest growth of less than 3%. LVMH and Coty were roughly flat year-on-year. Among the 10, only Beiersdorf recorded a 5% year-on-year decline.

In addition, due to the high proportion of oral care, Colgate-Palmolive did not enter the global top 10 cosmetics ranking based solely on personal care business. Colgate's business is divided into oral, personal and home care, and pet nutrition. Its beauty and personal care business is mainly in the personal care segment. Based on its annual report, where personal care accounts for about 20%, its H1 2026 personal care sales are estimated at around ¥11.1 billion, falling short of Coty in 10th place.

Top 10 structure stabilizes

QingYan reviewed the global beauty top 10 rankings for the first half of the past five years (2022–2026). After a period of "chaos" in the middle tier and the rise of new forces, the top 10 structure has gradually stabilized, especially in H1 2026, where only two companies changed positions.

Over the past five H1 periods, L'Oréal and Unilever have firmly held the top two spots. P&G and Estée Lauder have been competing for 3rd and 4th place. In the first three years, Estée Lauder held the advantage, ranking 3rd consistently. However, in H1 2025 and H1 2026, P&G has taken the lead, ranking 3rd for two consecutive years, while Estée Lauder slipped to 4th.

Notably, Beiersdorf jumped from 7th in H1 2023 to 5th and has maintained that position for four consecutive years.

Overall, the top 5 rankings have become relatively stable. The 6th to 10th positions have seen greater changes. First, Natura&CO was knocked off the list by Puig in H1 2024 and has not reappeared since. Shiseido dropped from 6th in H1 2022 to 7th in H1 2023, and has held 8th place for the past three years.

Kenvue, spun off from Johnson & Johnson, rose from 9th in H1 2023 to 6th in H1 2026. LVMH, which had ranked 6th from H1 2023 to H1 2025, slipped to 7th this year.

Puig, which first appeared on the list in H1 2024 at 10th place, rose to 9th in H1 2025 and maintained that position this year. Coty ranked 9th in H1 2024 but has been in 10th place for the other four years.

Compared with H1 2025, only Kenvue and LVMH swapped positions, while the other companies' rankings remained unchanged. This further indicates that the global top 10 structure is gradually stabilizing.

High-end beauty & fragrance shine

Although the performance of the 10 companies varied, QingYan found that high-end beauty and fragrance businesses performed exceptionally well, becoming key growth engines.

For instance, Unilever specifically noted in its earnings report that its brand matrix high-end upgrade has yielded significant results. Ultra-premium hair care brand K18, leveraging biotechnology innovation, achieved notable double-digit growth, while Paula's Choice, Hourglass, and Tatcha performed particularly well in the second quarter.

Shiseido also stated that in Q2 2026, the high-end beauty market grew steadily, with both offline and e-commerce channels achieving double-digit growth, driven by core brands Clé de Peau Beauté and NARS.

L'Oréal's Luxe division grew 4.4% in H1 2026, up 5.4% like-for-like. L'Oréal highlighted that North Asia was the largest growth contributor to the Luxe division, "driven by double-digit growth in China, outperforming in a still challenging market."

In July, L'Oréal secured a 50-year exclusive licensing agreement with Kering Group a year early, and will take full responsibility for the creative development, research, and global distribution of Gucci's fragrance and beauty products starting July next year. This underscores the continued confidence of beauty giants in the high-end market.

In fragrances, L'Oréal stated that the fragrance category within its Luxe division continued double-digit growth, reinforcing its global leadership.

Fragrance is even more crucial for Estée Lauder. In its latest fiscal year 2026 (July 2025 – June 2026), fragrance was the fastest-growing segment, up 12% year-on-year. In Q4 2026 (Apr–Jun), the fragrance division also grew 10%, the highest among all segments.

Estée Lauder noted that all brands in the fragrance division grew in fiscal 2026, led by Le Labo, TOM FORD, and KILIAN PARIS.

Fragrance and fashion is also Puig's absolute revenue and profit pillar, with net revenue of ¥13.475 billion in H1 2026, up 3.8%. In the niche fragrance segment, the group achieved double-digit growth, significantly outperforming the market; in the high-end fragrance segment, Carolina Herrera led with double-digit growth.

China market returns to growth core

Another factor that cannot be ignored is that the China market, or the wider Asia-Pacific region, performed strongly, re-emerging as the core growth driver for global beauty companies.

Mainland China became the fastest-growing region for Estée Lauder in fiscal 2026. Net sales in mainland China reached ¥20.605 billion, up 12% year-on-year. In H1 2026, net sales in mainland China were ¥10.767 billion, an increase of 12.1% from ¥9.605 billion in the same period last year.

Estée Lauder's President and CEO Fabrizio Freda has repeatedly stated that the group's breakthrough in China comes from Douyin, which has become a core platform for acquiring new customers and driving business growth.

Beyond Estée Lauder, Shiseido's China and travel retail business achieved net sales of ¥8.189 billion in H1 2026, up 10%, with core operating profit of ¥2.038 billion, up 22.7%. Shiseido explicitly stated, "Thanks to the recovery of the Chinese market, the group achieved significant profitability improvement, and further increased market share through the 618 shopping festival."

For LVMH, Asia (excluding Japan), including China, remains a core pillar supporting growth. In H1 2026, LVMH's Asian region posted organic growth of 6%, outperforming the group's overall growth.

L'Oréal also emphasized that China was the main driver of growth in North Asia in H1 2026, benefiting from recovery in selected segments. North Asia sales reached ¥42.777 billion, up 2.3% (4.6% like-for-like and adjusted).

Puig, which grew 2.4% overall in H1 2026, saw its Asia-Pacific region grow 20.9% year-on-year, once again becoming the group's strongest growth region.

In the past two years, due to weak consumer spending in China, many international beauty groups faced a cold market and even "called out" China for poor performance. However, since last year, performance in China has gradually recovered. More importantly, the strong rebound in H1 2026 has injected a strong dose of confidence into international beauty groups.

It is foreseeable that with continued innovation and marketing strategies, the China market will continue to act as a stabilizer in H2 2026, boosting the steady growth of the global beauty industry.

Notes:

1. Sales data for the global beauty top 10 may have some errors due to exchange rate fluctuations. All figures are in RMB unless otherwise noted.

2. Unilever refers to Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care; P&G refers to Beauty segment; Beiersdorf refers to Consumer business; LVMH refers to Perfumes & Cosmetics; Kenvue refers to Skin Health & Beauty and Essential Health; others refer to total business.

3. Except for Unilever, which uses underlying sales growth (USG) for year-on-year comparison, all other companies are compared on a reported basis.

This article is from WeChat public account "QingYan", author: Cathy, republished with permission from 36Kr.