Beauty in China via China Insight

Today, beauty in China is still dominated by standard criteria. Embodied by celebrity actresses and emulated by influencers and live-streamers, these standards dictate anything from the shape of face, nose and eyes, to what texture and shade skin should have. To achieve this ideal women use a range of beauty enhancement solutions, from the virtual to cosmetic surgery.

Beauty is instrumentalised. In a competitive, dynamic society, it is a tool to get the man, get the job, and increasingly, to look good on social media, where success is also often monetized.

Yet gradually, definitions of beauty are expanding. A few pioneer celebrities are pushing more individual, diverse looks or body proportions, and fitness is now a thing so that a toned, healthy body is becoming part of a more holistic understanding of beauty. With the advances of technology, personal appearances will soon become constructed and women will be able to hyper tailor their looks. Much of this might be geared towards anti aging as the median age in China will pass the 40 year-old mark by 2030.