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Bloomberg Published December 18, 2024 Reading time
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Ulta is selling toys to hook kids as young as six on make-up

By
Bloomberg Published
December 18, 2024

In a bid to capture a younger customer than ever, makeup retailer Ulta Beauty Inc. is peddling an alluring new collection: toys.

For $10 a pop, it’s selling plastic mystery balls containing tiny replicas of some of Ulta’s most popular products, including butt polish and wake-up eye gel. They don’t contain any real cosmetics – but they’re convincing fakes.

Kym Robinson’s 10-year-old daughter, Skyla, came home from a playdate with one of the mystery balls. After playing with the toy version, now she’s keen on buying real Caffeine Energizing Hydrogel Eye Patches.

That’s precisely the point.