Our Beauty Brand Activation With tarte at Sephora

I've worked a lot of events. I had never been upstaged by concealer. Then tarte threw a beauty brand activation inside a Sephora, and a person-sized tube of Shape Tape walked in wearing purple boots and took all my fans.

Windandsea Coconuts is a San Diego company serving fresh Nam Hom coconuts hot-stamped with a logo or design and opened in front of guests by our staff. On Saturday, February 28, 2026, we set up a coconut cart inside a Sephora store for tarte's "Shape Tape at Sephora" event, from about 9:30am to 12:15pm, with coconuts stamped "tarte #trippinwithtarte".

a beauty brand activation at 9:30 on a Saturday

We were set up by about 9:30 in the morning. I don't know what you were doing at 9:30 that Saturday. Our coconuts were already lying on green leaves wearing orchids.

So picture this. A white cart under a big white fringed umbrella, parked on the white tile floor of a Sephora. Our neighbors were the Dior Backstage displays and the Beauty Studio. We looked like we took a wrong turn off the beach and just kept rolling.

The cart said "tarte #trippinwithtarte" in lavender. Every coconut got a straw, a purple orchid, and a paper cocktail umbrella in pink, yellow, blue or orange. Dressed better than me. Not a high bar.

Right next to us was a light-up pink marquee that said SHAPETAPE AT SEPHORA. Somewhere in the store a DJ in headphones was on actual decks, spinning for a makeup store before noon. Love that. I can't even talk before noon.

what does the stamp look like up close?

It says "tarte" on top and "#trippinwithtarte" underneath, hot-stamped in brown right onto the shell. Clean letters, orchid on top, like the coconut has dinner plans.

People call these engraved coconuts. It's actually a hot stamp, but sure. Call it whatever you want while you're holding one.

my coworker, the concealer

And then there was the concealer.

A Shape Tape contour concealer the size of an entire person. Brown body, purple-and-gold zigzag cap, cartoon face with eyelashes, purple arms, white gloves, purple boots. It waved at people. It posed with guests, including a kid. Nobody has ever waved at me like that, and I'm the one handing out coconuts.

At one point it parked itself right next to our cart. Like it worked there. Later it was holding the marquee sign. So now the tube has a sign, a fanbase, and my spot. I've been doing this since 2021. I started with a breakfast sandwich cart on the Pacific Beach boardwalk. This thing started that morning.

I'm not bitter. I'm a little bitter.

in store activation ideas, all in one Sephora

If you're hunting for in store activation ideas, this Sephora event was basically the whole list. There was a prize wheel with a Shape Tape character on it and slices that said "try again", "surprise", "deluxe" and "swag".

"Try again" was on that wheel more than once. I respect a wheel that manages expectations.

The backdrop was lavender tarte ♥ Sephora on purple carpet, with lavender tarte beach balls and inflatables piled around it. People kept ending up there grinning with a stamped coconut, Sephora striped bags hanging off their arms. A few got interviewed with a microphone, coconut still in hand, which is how every interview should go.

One guest had a coconut in one hand and a tarte beach ball in the other. That's the most beach anyone has ever been inside a makeup store.

Somebody else was holding a coconut and a plush Shape Tape toy. So the concealer has merch now. Of course it does. I don't have merch. I have a cooler I sit on.

and then the dogs

This is where I lost the room for good.

A fluffy golden puppy in a little denim harness got a stamped coconut held out to it. It went in nose first and gave the thing a long, serious sniff. Full inspection. As far as I know it didn't drink any. It just wanted to make sure we were legit.

Dog number two was a black dog sitting on the purple carpet, with two women in caps kneeling next to it holding coconuts. It sat there like their security detail.

Final scoreboard: concealer 1, puppy 1, the other dog 1, guy with the coconuts 0.

We wrapped around 12:15. Pretty sure the concealer was still waving.

If you want branded coconuts for events like this one, here's how we do activations. Bring your own mascot. I'll try very hard not to take it personally.