Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has always had a way of making even the simplest moment feel cinematic, and her latest appearance in a new Ulta Beauty holiday campaign is no exception. The superstar, who has spent much of the past year surprising fans with new music, new ventures, and unexpected creative pivots, is now ushering in the festive season with a promotional video that blends glamour, nostalgia, family ties, and a celebration of her beauty empire. What could have been a standard announcement—Cécred hair care and Cé Lumière fragrance are now available at Ulta—became, in classic Beyoncé fashion, a charming and memorable moment that fans immediately latched onto.
The video, shared on Instagram on December 5 through a collaborative post between Cécred, Ulta Beauty, and Beyoncé Parfums, opens with Beyoncé casually—yet unmistakably confidently—walking through the aisles of an Ulta store. There’s a lightness to her presence, like she’s letting people into a behind-the-scenes moment with no stage lights or dancers, just her authentic curiosity and excitement. Dressed in a look that’s equal parts chic and understated, she glides past shelves until she stops in front of the display bearing her own products. “Here it is!” she says with a playful grin, lifting bottles and boxes as if she’s both proud creator and delighted shopper at the same time.
The excitement isn’t just about the products, though. It’s about what they represent. Beyoncé’s fans—many of whom have been following her ventures beyond music with deep interest—essentially watched the birth of Cécred in real time. The brand officially launched in early 2024, but its seeds were planted years earlier, when she began dropping hints about her desire to create a line that respected every hair type and texture. In 2023, she wrote a reflective Instagram post that resonated widely: she talked about growing up in her mother Tina Knowles’ hair salon, witnessing the emotional connection people have with their hair, and understanding how the salon space can become a sanctuary for healing, imagination, and reinvention. Watching her mother work made an impression that stayed with her long after she left her hometown, long after Destiny’s Child took off, long after the world began calling her a global icon. For Beyoncé, hair has always been more than hair—it has been an art form, a personal language, and a legacy handed down to her by her mother.
Perhaps that’s what makes Tina Knowles’ cameo in the Ulta holiday ad so touching. While the video is centered on Beyoncé and her products, the appearance of Tina’s voice—singing “five golden things” from her previous appearance in another Ulta holiday commercial—threads together their creative relationship. The moment is lighthearted, warm, and instantly recognizable to those who know their bond. The remix of Tina’s earlier commercial includes a playful line: “Well, you know it runs in the family,” a nod to the musicality that clearly flows through the Knowles lineage. It feels like a wink to the audience, reminding them that while Beyoncé may be one of the most influential artists of her generation, she’s also still her mother’s daughter, carrying forward traditions both personal and professional.
The Ulta ad capitalizes on this balance—Beyoncé the global superstar and Beyoncé the Houston-born woman shaped by a childhood in a family salon. That duality has always fueled her artistic credibility, and now it fuels her entrepreneurial ventures. Cécred is more than just a celebrity beauty line; it is a brand rooted in real experiences, cultural identity, and a desire to honor the diverse ways people care for their hair. From the beginning, the line was marketed as inclusive and intentional, designed not for a narrow audience but for a broad spectrum of textures and needs. The holiday placement in Ulta expands its reach even further, bringing the products literally within arm’s reach of everyday shoppers who might stumble upon the display the same way Beyoncé does in the video—except, rather than discovering a new aisle, they are discovering a new chapter in her growing empire.
Ulta Beauty’s caption for the collaboration, “Did somebody Cé… Holiday Happens at Ulta Beauty?” pairs its seasonal slogan with Beyoncé’s product branding in a clever wordplay. It adds to the celebratory tone: this isn’t just a standard retail rollout; it’s a moment. “Founder of Cécred and @beyonceparfums, Beyoncé popped into Ulta Beauty to shop her faves and get in on the fun everyone’s talking about!” the caption reads, encouraging followers to “stock up before they sell out.” The urgency is implied, but with Beyoncé’s name involved, the urgency might not need to be stated at all. Her fanbase is known for rallying behind her ventures, whether it’s a surprise album drop, a fashion collaboration, or a perfume launch.
Speaking of fragrance, the Cé Lumière perfume also makes an appearance in the video. Beyoncé picks it up with the same enthusiasm she shows for the hair care line, and understandably so. Her perfume ventures—including her more recent rebrand and expansion of Beyoncé Parfums—have become fan favorites. Cé Lumière in particular has been praised for its warm, luminous scent profile, presented as both sensual and sophisticated. In the context of the holiday season, when fragrance gifts fly off shelves, its placement in Ulta feels strategic. Beyoncé’s presence in the ad gives it an added boost. The little gesture of her lifting the perfume bottle, admiring it as though seeing it anew, is subtle but effective. It signals: this is something she stands behind, not just something she slapped her name on.
The Ulta campaign as a whole leans into the idea of holiday magic, but Beyoncé’s segment adds nuance to that magic. Instead of glitter explosions or overly staged scenes, her moment focuses on wonder grounded in everyday joy. There’s something relatable in watching her explore a beauty store, a place millions of people visit regularly. She doesn’t float in like a larger-than-life celebrity; she strolls in like someone enjoying an unbothered afternoon, discovering her own creations on the shelf the way any founder might. The excitement, the pride, the sense of accomplishment—it all feels genuine.
This authenticity ties back to her original messaging when launching Cécred. Beyoncé spoke about hair care as a deeply personal journey for her, one shaped by years of performing, experimenting, protecting, and reclaiming her natural texture. She said she learned how hair can be a mirror to emotional well-being, confidence, and self-expression. Through Cécred, she wanted to create products that reflected respect for all these dimensions. She also wanted the line to honor the women she grew up watching in her mother’s salon—women who used hair as a way to tell their stories, to transform into new versions of themselves, or to simply feel taken care of.
So when Beyoncé appears in a holiday commercial that features her own mother’s voice remixing a festive jingle, it completes a circle. It brings together their past and present connections to beauty, music, and shared creative expression. It suggests—with a wink and a smile—that this venture is not just business; it’s legacy.
Beyond the sentimental pull, there’s also the business savvy. Beyoncé knows the power of timing, and launching an Ulta partnership right before the height of holiday shopping season is astute. This is the period when customers are looking for gifts, looking to experiment with new products, and looking to indulge a little more than usual. The combination of hair care and fragrance makes Cécred and Cé Lumière natural holiday picks. Add Beyoncé herself into the promotional material, and the buzz becomes unavoidable.
The campaign also comes at a time when celebrity beauty brands are being scrutinized more than ever. Consumers are increasingly discerning and often skeptical of celebrity-driven products, especially when they don’t feel authentic or connected to the individual behind them. But Beyoncé has an advantage: her connection to hair care isn’t manufactured. It’s tied to her upbringing, her family, her personal experiences, and her long-standing influence in beauty and fashion. Fans know this, and it gives the brand a credibility that many other celebrity launches struggle to achieve.
In the larger landscape of Beyoncé’s career, this ad may look small, but in truth, it reinforces a broader pattern. Over the last decade, Beyoncé has slowly built an empire that extends beyond music—fashion, film, business ventures, philanthropy, and now beauty. Each project feels purposeful, aligned with her values, and executed with the precision and artistic integrity she’s known for. Cécred isn’t just about shampoo or conditioner; it’s about representation, culture, and reclaiming spaces historically marginalized or overlooked in the beauty industry.
The Ulta video captures that ethos in a warm, approachable way. It’s festive, but not flashy; personal, but not overly sentimental. It gives viewers a glimpse of Beyoncé the entrepreneur, Beyoncé the daughter, and Beyoncé the everyday beauty shopper enjoying her own creations. It’s a reminder that even though she’s a global phenomenon, her roots—both literally and figuratively—remain central to everything she builds.
As shoppers head into Ulta stores this season, they might encounter the Cécred display while thinking of the ad: Beyoncé smiling as she holds up a bottle, Tina Knowles singing a cheeky holiday lyric, the playful merging of brand and family history. And perhaps that’s exactly the point. Beyoncé isn’t just selling products; she’s inviting people into a story—one that started decades ago in a Houston salon and continues to grow, evolve, and inspire.
In the end, the holiday campaign is more than a promotional push. It’s a festive celebration of creativity, legacy, and the joy of self-expression. And in true Beyoncé style, it turns a simple trip to Ulta into a moment fans won’t soon forget.
