For the holiday beauty shopper who keeps making lists for everyone else, Ulta Beauty has a familiar message: save a little of the magic for yourself. The idea is easy to recognize when the shopping cart holds gifts for friends and family, but the lipstick, brow gel or fragrance you wanted keeps getting put back.
This year, that feeling comes with some seriously recognizable faces. Selena Gomez and Tate McRae join Ulta’s returning Mrs. Claus in a campaign called “The Magic Starts with You.” The first look shared by VaynerX and Tamara Group introduces the new cast, but the more interesting detail is that both performers have beauty products shoppers can find at Ulta.
Table of contents
Jump to each section:
- Why the pop stars fit the beauty wish list
- Mrs. Claus returns to the gifting workshop
- Two beauty brands make the campaign shoppable
- What marketers can learn from the holiday pairing
Why the pop stars fit the beauty wish list
Putting a pop star in a beauty ad is hardly new. Giving that star a product they helped create is a different proposition. For people who follow Gomez through her music, acting and Rare Beauty, the brand represents more than a cameo. It is the beauty business she founded with a public emphasis on individuality and self-acceptance.
That connection matters to the creative. Rather than asking viewers to accept an unfamiliar celebrity as a holiday shopping expert, Ulta can let the performer and the product arrive together. The gift in the scene is not an abstract promise about looking glamorous. It is a specific Rare Beauty brow gel set, held by the founder herself.
McRae brings a parallel, newer chapter. The Canadian pop musician’s TATE 01 fragrance debuted in October and is available exclusively through Ulta in the U.S. The holiday spot puts her in the same category as Gomez: an artist whose personal name and beauty product can travel together from an ad into a wish list. The campaign does not establish how many fans will buy either product, but it makes the connection unusually literal.
Mrs. Claus returns to the gifting workshop
Mrs. Claus is doing the gift-giving legwork again. Played by Sandra Gray, she returns for the second season of Ulta’s holiday advertising, now with two different pop stars helping make the seasonal shopping problem feel solvable.
One spot begins in the Ulta Beauty Holiday Workshop. Mrs. Claus needs a present for her niece, and the scene cuts to Gomez presenting a neatly wrapped Rare Beauty brow gel set. Another spot centers McRae’s Tate 01 perfume. The campaign was created by Tamara Group and directed by Nema Vand.
The official campaign Reel offers a closer look at how the familiar holiday character and this year’s talent appear together:
The returning character gives the new work some continuity. In 2025, the Mrs. Claus holiday campaign featured Paris Hilton, Khloé Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. This year’s casting narrows the focus to performers whose own beauty brands are part of the retailer’s assortment.
That distinction shows up in the proposition. A celebrity appearance can get a shopper to watch. A celebrity-linked product, visibly offered as a gift, supplies an answer to what they might actually buy. Ulta is keeping the make-believe of Santa’s workshop, but making the gift suggestions concrete.
Two beauty brands make the campaign shoppable
For Gomez, the retail story predates the holiday film. Rare Beauty’s January announcement confirmed that its products would enter Ulta stores and the retailer’s website in February 2026. It was Rare Beauty’s first expansion into another major U.S. beauty retailer after its earlier Sephora relationship.
That makes a Rare Beauty gift set in an Ulta holiday commercial part of a broader retail relationship, not just a festive product placement. Ulta is using the celebrity founder to remind viewers where to find a brand that became available in its stores earlier this year.
McRae’s product occupies a different position in the assortment. Ulta’s TATE 01 listing marks the fragrance as exclusive to the retailer. The singer’s role connects the ad to an item whose U.S. retail availability is itself a reason to shop at Ulta.
The campaign also extends beyond the individual films. Starting October 31, the work was set to run across television, streaming, digital channels, social media and stores, with an Instagram component tied to Ulta’s “Pink Bag Energy” theme. Its holiday assortment includes the retailer’s first 25 Days of Beauty Advent Calendar, providing another giftable format alongside the celebrity-owned products.
Chief marketing officer Kelly Mahoney described the casting in personal terms: “Both Selena and Tate connect with our guests in ways that feel deeply authentic and personal.” The practical point is that both connections have a physical product waiting at checkout.
What marketers can learn from the holiday pairing
This campaign is not trying to reinvent the holiday ad. It is trying to make a familiar beauty-shopping ritual feel more personal, with recognizable artists and gifts that do not require much explanation.
- Cast for product relevance, not star power alone. Both performers have products on Ulta’s shelves. That gives their appearances a direct relationship to the retailer rather than relying on their fame to carry the whole story.
- Give returning characters room to evolve. Bringing Mrs. Claus back provides a seasonal thread from 2025, while the different guest stars change what the holiday workshop can recommend.
- Keep the emotional message close to the purchase. The line “The Magic Starts with You” invites shoppers to remember themselves during the gifting rush. A brow product or fragrance becomes a small, specific expression of that idea.
- Connect social creative with the store. The campaign spans screens and shop floors, while the products shown are available to buy. The journey from cultural familiarity to checkout is visible without claiming that a viral post caused a sale.
There is also a useful distinction between the two stars. Gomez helps Ulta keep an established celebrity beauty label in view after a major distribution expansion. McRae gives a newer fragrance a holiday setting while reinforcing its retail exclusivity. Those are different business stories, even if they share the same Mrs. Claus universe.
Holiday advertising often asks people to create memorable moments for others. Ulta’s version leaves room for another person on the list: the shopper. Whether that message ultimately moves products is a question for results that have not been disclosed, but the creative neatly connects who people follow, what they might want, and where they can find it.
