In 43 days, this makeup remover oil achieved sales of 400,000 USD after entering TikTok and went viral overseas
Cistto (Fu Jian) brand has achieved significant success on TikTok, with sales reaching $400,000 within 43 days, primarily targeting the female market aged 25-35. The brand focuses on skincare for sensitive skin and has launched a portable makeup remover oil, successfully filling a gap in the demand in the European and American markets. Since its establishment in 2019, Cistto has rapidly expanded its influence through content marketing and online and offline channels, becoming a rising brand in overseas markets
Author: Tu Ke Chuhai
Image source | pexels
How can the female market be further expanded? It's important to focus on the "surface."
A survey targeting the European, American, and Southeast Asian markets shows that women aged 25-35 are willing to spend an average of 18%-22% of their monthly income on skincare and beauty, with this figure reaching up to 30% among high-income groups.
It is evident that those who are willing to spend money on skincare do not hold back.
The Cistto brand has captured this psychological trend, deeply cultivating the female skincare market, and has taken the small category of makeup removal to the extreme overseas.
In 2024, after entering TikTok, Cistto achieved sales of $400,000 in just 43 days, with even American star Cardi B recommending it.
Cistto: From Local Dark Horse to Overseas New Star
According to data, the Chinese skincare brand Cistto was established in Beijing in 2019, focusing on "sensitive skin effective skincare."
Just two months after its establishment, the brand entered Tmall's flagship store, and the following year established its own research center, quickly entering offline beauty chain channels.
Subsequently, Cistto leveraged content marketing on platforms like Xiaohongshu and Tmall to further expand its brand influence, gradually establishing a "sensitive skin friendly" brand image domestically. By the end of 2020, its mask products ranked in the Top 3 on Xiaohongshu's mall review list.
Image source: Xiaohongshu
However, as competition among domestic skincare brands intensified, the brand noticed the gradual decline of traffic dividends in the domestic market and the emergence of growth opportunities in overseas markets.
Based on this, in 2024, Cistto chose to use TikTok's U.S. market as a springboard, launching a disposable makeup remover oil that precisely addressed the demand gap for portable makeup removal products in the European and American markets. In just 43 days after its launch, it achieved $400,000 in sales, topping the platform's makeup removal category.
From then on, Cistto's journey overseas officially began.
Layout on TikTok, Grasping Timely Traffic
In the ecosystem of TikTok Shop, the success of a product often depends on its "content adaptability." According to platform data, best-selling products can generally be categorized into "standard mental products," "seasonal festive products," and "content characteristic products."
Cistto's disposable makeup remover oil is a typical representative of "content characteristics," with its differentiated product design (such as portable capsule packaging and plant-based formulas) presented through visual content, making it easier to attract users' attention and stimulate their purchasing desire in a short time
Source: TikTok
In the operation of TikTok, the early Cistto brand chose to quickly open up the market through "top influencer coverage + refined influencer cooperation."
When collaborating with influencers, the Cistto brand creates 5 to 10 different creative versions for the same product and analyzes the conversion rates and ROI of each version through flow testing.
Taking the Black Friday case as an example, beauty influencer @glossygurl posted a short video showcasing Cistto's makeup remover oil. This video focused on the high-conversion direction of "before and after makeup removal," combined with precise flow targeting, ultimately achieving 2.8 million views and generating over $30,000 in sales.
Source: TikTok
After initially validating the effectiveness of this type of content through influencer marketing videos, the Cistto brand decided to seize the Christmas season's traffic and confirmed a collaboration with American star Cardi B.
On December 27, 2024, Cardi B uploaded a makeup removal video. In the video, she personally experiences Cistto's makeup remover oil, demonstrating its portability and quick makeup removal features.
One week after the video was released, the views exceeded 8 million, garnering 560,000 likes.
As of today, the video has surpassed 10.4 million views, with the long-tail effect still ongoing.
Source: TikTok
In addition, to fully leverage the star's traffic effect, the brand contacted 500 KOLs and KOCs before Cardi B's video went live, asking them to post interactive videos within three days of the video release to create secondary dissemination and ignite discussions.
Source: TikTok
This operational layout ultimately allowed the #Cistto topic to exceed 37 million exposures on TikTok, while its gross merchandise volume (GMV) achieved a 120% increase compared to the peak during Black Friday
Image source: Echotik
Of course, the Cistto brand has not forgotten to create its own TikTok account matrix, with about 8 accounts opened, clearly dividing the roles of video accounts and live streaming accounts.
Currently, its main account @cistto has accumulated 30,400 followers, with an average view count of 29,400. The videos on this account mainly showcase the unique convenience of the products, aiming to highlight the differentiated image of the capsule makeup remover oil, thereby attracting traffic by leveraging the product's advantages and accurately reaching target consumers.
Image source: TikTok
Their live streaming account @CisttoLive conducts live streams at fixed times every day, having held a total of 14 live sessions so far, with an average of 2,000 participants per session, bringing stable traffic exposure to the brand.
Image source: TikTok
Industry Tailwind: Structural Opportunities in the Global Skincare Market
In addition, the success of the Cistto brand's overseas expansion is certainly also attributed to the continuous growth and structural dividends of the global skincare market.
According to data from third-party platforms, in 2023, the global skincare market size reached USD 171.25 billion, and it is expected to grow to USD 251.09 billion by 2031. Among these, the U.S. market, where the Cistto brand is deeply rooted, has always dominated, providing favorable conditions for its rapid rise in overseas markets.
Image source: DATA BRIDGE
Conclusion
From the case of the Cistto brand, it can be seen that there is still incremental space in the overseas skincare market.
At the same time, the strong demand in emerging markets and the popularity of online consumption also provide brands with a good opportunity for a leapfrog advantage.
At such a juncture, for Chinese brands to open up overseas markets, it is not only necessary to select products accurately and match channels but also to make good use of overseas social media like TikTok and play the content marketing "card" well.
The overseas market is never short of opportunities; what is lacking are Chinese brands that dare to jump out of the red ocean and impress the world with their products and stories (Note: The information in this article is compiled from various public reports and third-party data platforms, and the actual situation is subject to official releases.)
