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23-OCT-26 · Culture & Consumers

Fragrance for Yourself: The Mood-Scent Trend on Xiaohongshu

Searches for healing, mood and desk scents are climbing on Xiaohongshu ahead of Double 11, and incense has become a fragrance category of its own. What it tells brands about how people in China choose scent.

Scroll through fragrance content on Xiaohongshu this autumn and a pattern stands out. People talk about how a scent makes them feel: calmer at the desk, settled at home, ready for sleep. The numbers behind the platform's Double 11 planning say the same thing.

What the search data shows

Xiaohongshu's 2026 Double 11 growth guide for colour cosmetics and fragrance, summarised by the industry site 运营动脉 on 18 October, puts the shift into search terms. Searches for 疗愈香, "healing scents", rose 371%. Searches for 情绪香, "mood scents", rose 238%. Searches for 工位香, "desk scents", the fragrance people keep at their workstation, rose 156%.

The guide describes fragrance moving from a social accessory to a way of regulating mood. Use is changing with it: from one spray before going out to several moments through the day, including lighting something when you get home.

Scent moves into smaller moments

The same guide tracks fragrance spreading into new formats. Searches for scented hand cream rose 113%, fragrance mists 63%, scent for the entryway at home 49%, hair mist 37% and car fragrance 24%. Each is a small, specific moment of the day with its own product.

The notes people look for are shifting too. Tea, osmanthus and herbal notes, scents with a familiar, quieter character, are growing faster than classic commercial fragrance, according to the guide. Jing Daily's report from the Asia Perfume Show, published on 12 October, points in a similar direction, with Chinese niche brands such as Zhufu moving toward warmer, less sugary compositions.

Incense becomes a fragrance category

Incense is the clearest example. A September report by International Business Daily, republished by CCTV.com, found that the 线香, "incense sticks", topic on Xiaohongshu has passed 570 million views, with "Chinese-style aromatherapy" at 330 million and more than seven million related posts and comments. Young consumers describe using incense for sleep, focus and what they call emotional healing. According to Douyin e-commerce's 2026 fragrance report, cited in the same article, Chinese incense has become the platform's best-selling fragrance category.

Brands have noticed. Le Labo, Aesop, Jo Malone London and LOEWE all now sell incense. The Chinese fragrance house To Summer (观夏) opened an incense-only shop in Beijing where 17 scents are matched to five states of mind: sleep, waking, clarity, ease and joy. The product is organised around the moment and the feeling it is for.

People take their time

There is a practical side for brands. The Xiaohongshu guide finds that 40% of perfume purchase decisions take more than 60 days, and only about a quarter are made within a week. People explore a category, then a scene or a lifestyle, and only then a product. Content that appears only on the day of a promotion reaches the small group that has already decided.

For a brand, that means the work starts early: showing when a product fits into someone's day, what it feels like to use, and why it suits that moment, long before the shopping festival itself.

How ÉDELSKIN reads it

People in China are choosing fragrance for a moment and a feeling. The brands that grow are the ones that show that moment clearly and stay in the conversation while people take their time to decide. We see the same pattern well beyond fragrance, across skincare, body care and wellness.

At ÉDELSKIN, we help beauty, wellness and healthcare brands enter and grow in China and Asia.

Which moment of the day does your product belong to? We would be glad to hear.

About ÉDELSKIN

ÉDELSKIN is an international commercialization company helping beauty, wellness and healthcare brands enter and grow in China and selected Asian markets. edelskin.com

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