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Ulta Beauty · The Magic Starts with You
Ulta cast two pop stars who already sell their own beauty brands there
Ulta Beauty didn't just hire famous faces for its holiday ad. It picked two pop stars whose own beauty brands sit on Ulta's shelves, so the endorsement doubles as a shelf display.
4 min readOur analysis and study notes, not news reporting
The TL;DR (too long; didn't read)
- Ulta Beauty's holiday campaign 'The Magic Starts with You' brings back Mrs Claus (Sandra Gray) for a second season, now alongside Selena Gomez and Tate McRae, both of whom have founded beauty brands sold at Ulta.
- One spot features Gomez with Rare Beauty, which Ulta began carrying in February 2026 as the brand's first retail expansion beyond Sephora; another features McRae's new fragrance Tate 01, exclusive to Ulta in the US after launching at Paris Fashion Week in October.
- Created by Tamara Group and directed by Nema Vand, the campaign began rolling out on 31 October across TV, streaming, digital, social media and in-store, with no reach or sales figures reported yet.
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An endorsement with skin in the game
Gomez and McRae aren't fronting a product they have no stake in, they're each promoting a brand they founded that Ulta actually stocks, which blurs the line between celebrity endorsement and retail merchandising.
That's a different bet to a generic celebrity campaign: the star has a direct commercial reason to want the product to sell, not just an appearance fee.
Read the original reporting
- Selena Gomez and Tate McRae Bring the Magic to Ulta Beauty's Holiday Campaign ↗
Adweek · 31 Oct 2026