Flower Knows, the viral Chinese cosmetics brand known for its fairytale-inspired collections and ornate packaging, has made its beauty specialty retail debut at Ulta Beauty.
The chain is carrying an edited selection of 62 stockkeeping units from Flower Knows’ merchandise catalog of around 180. The brand says the retailer gave it the power to guide the selection, and it opted for product categories that have proven they can perform globally, including eyeshadow, blush, lip products and highly recognizable mirrors and keychain combos. Prices range from $8 for a hair clip to $45 for an eyeshadow palette. Flower Knows isn’t part of UB Marketplace, the third-party seller platform Ulta launched in October.
Gong Fang, CMO of the brand, says, “We want to make sure it’s a curated and really impactful introduction.” She mentions Ulta is slated to roll out Flower Knows collections three to four times per year to complement the cadence of its DTC releases. A year-round evergreen selection and exclusive product drops could be in store for the future.
Prior to Ulta, Flower Knows entered a six-month exclusive with Urban Outfitters in May last year for its premiere at retail in the United States. The retailer helped accelerate the brand’s recognition with American gen Zers and validate its aesthetic and prices. It’s been one of Urban Outfitters’ top five beauty brands two years running during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping periods. Along with Urban Outfitters and Ulta, the brand is available on TikTok Shop and Amazon.
The U.S. is Flower Knows’ biggest international market, accounting for 60% to 70% of its overseas business. However, its overseas business is a small fraction of its overall business, and China drives 90% of its total revenue. Flower Knows has surpassed $200 million in global revenue and registered year-over-year sales growth of over 30%. Founded in 2016 by Yang Zifeng and Zhou Tiancheng, Flower Knows began selling in the U.S. via its website in 2022.
Hangzhou-based Flower Knows is among the first Chinese brands to launch at Ulta, and the distance between its home country and Bolingbrook, Ill.-based Ulta has presented complications. Currently, the brand is shipping all products directly from China. While it’s secured a third-party logistics provider in the U.S., integration with that provider into Ulta’s systems is set to come online as the brand scales. For now, longer lead times, tariff-related constraints and cross-border logistics are part of the learning curve.
Fang says, “Both sides kept a very open and positive attitude to solve any roadblocks.”
Tariffs, in particular, have been tricky. The tariffs levied on Chinese cosmetics traveling into the U.S. could be as much as 30%. Flower Knows has considered raising prices to offset the costs of the tariffs, but decided against doing so.
“It’s important that we stay at an accessible premium price point and stay true to our mission: making everyday beauty a magical ritual,” says Fang. “The market has seen brands raise prices and that’s backfired. I think we need to be flexible to weather this kind of storm.”
Flower Knows joins Florasis in the tiny roster of Chinese beauty brands at Ulta. Its arrival hints at the early stages of a broader C-Beauty wave, paved by the consumer openness to Asian-created beauty products that fueled K-Beauty’s explosion in the U.S. Chinese conglomerates such as Proya and Yatsen Global have been developing overseas infrastructure and signaling interest in Western markets. And despite tariff-related setbacks, Shein-owned Sheglam has amassed U.S. visibility through e-commerce, indicating there’s an existing digital foothold for C-beauty in the market.
China is the world’s second-largest beauty market, and its homegrown brands have become increasingly sophisticated, with aesthetics, packaging and digital marketing strategies that resonate globally. Beauty conglomerates are beginning to make selective bets on C-Beauty. L’Oréal recently took minority stakes in the Chinese brands Lan and Chando through its venture arm BOLD, and Estée Lauder similarly acquired a minority stake in the Chinese fragrance label Melting Season through its venture arm New Incubation Ventures, a sign that global players are watching the category closely even as China’s domestic beauty market contends with growth moderation and intensifying competition.
As it’s been expanding its U.S. retail network, Flower Knows has been building cultural currency. After Lana Del Rey posted about the brand last year, Sabrina Carpenter was seen holding the Angel Collection mirror backstage during her video shoot, generating millions of impressions on YouTube. Influencers like James Charles and Mikayla Nogueira have posted about it organically. The brand has 1.7 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, plus active communities on Discord and TYB.
The offline traction has been impressive, too. The brand’s first Korean pop-up in Seoul’s Itaewon district in October broke records for traffic and sales. The line stretched blocks on opening day, with customers waiting more than 16 hours to enter. Fang says, “Korean consumers are extremely selective. To receive that level of recognition in such a competitive market was a milestone.”
Fang reports American fans have been clamoring for similar large-scale pop-ups. The brand already hosted mini versions over the past year, notably co-hosting a junk journaling event with another Urban favorite, the press-on nail brand Never Have I Ever, at the Moxy Hotel in New York City last month.
It’s also hosted campus activations at USC, UCLA and UC Irvine this year and hopes to extend its campus activations to the East Coast, specifically at NYU and Columbia University in partnership with Ulta Beauty. In September, Ulta initiated the College Glow Up Tour with Her Campus Media to bring back-to-school beauty experiences to universities.
“We don’t want people to just do makeup and take photos,” says Fang. “We want them to do something that carries their own stories and memories.”
Flower Knows aims to enter Ulta’s brick-and-mortar stores next year as it ramps up events. Fang says, “We want to present ourselves in front of the customer, let them engage with the products in person and provide them with a very experiential and very immersive, multi-touchpoint fairytale experience.”
