It’s Giving Clay, Camp, and Cuteness: Inside e.l.f. Cosmetics’ New Holiday Campaign

These days, AI can whip up an entire holiday campaign in the time it takes you to find your favorite lip gloss at the bottom of your purse. But we are yearning for some actual making of said magic. The kind that requires human hands, dope imaginations, and a whole lot of patience.Well, e.l.f. Cosmetics understood the assignment. And then decided to do it the hard way. On purpose.For e.l.f.’s first-ever stop-motion holiday campaign Made to Stand Out, the beauty powerhouse traded digital shortcuts for handcrafted clay characters, intricate miniature sets, and painstaking frame-by-frame animation. It’s a nostalgic, delightfully quirky holiday tale that feels refreshingly, well, real.The story follows three besties—Echo, Kit, and Cleo—returning home for the holidays, where old insecurities start bubbling up. But with a little help from their favorite e.l.f. beauty essentials, the trio discovers that the very things they once tried to hide are actually what make them extraordinary.The campaign was created by Burbank-based indie stop-motion studio Apartment D Films, with cofounder Cami Kwan as the director. In an industry historically dominated by men, Kwan is helping rewrite that narrative. Women make up a whopping 90 percent of the studio’s puppet team and 100 percent of its animation team.elf cosmeticsAnd because no fabulously unconventional holiday story is complete without a little Hollywood pizzazz, enter Emmy- and Tony-winning actor and The Traitors host Alan Cumming. His unmistakable Scottish voice and deliciously camp sensibility bring an extra element of joy to the project—and some giggles (”They ate! No crumbs”)!We caught up with Alan to ask him about the project and what his greatest difference is and to dish on his favorite e.l.f. products.What was it like partnering with e.l.f. on this project?It’s really lovely to partner with a brand that you genuinely align with, especially in terms of being vegan and cruelty-free. Obviously, those things are really important to me. The campaign is so authentic and artistic and really the absolute antithesis of where so much of advertising and marketing seems to be going these days. It’s lovely to be able to embrace everything a brand is saying and agree with it utterly. That doesn’t always happen.I love this anti-AI vibe as well! The stop motion is so cool. For me, stop-motion animation is the absolute antithesis of this generic AI way we’re going. I’ve always been a fan of the art form. My friend Caroline Thompson wrote The Nightmare Before Christmas. I've known of her and her work, and the team at Apartment D and SHADOW, who worked on this campaign, were so excited that I knew Caroline and that I’d worked with her. I am so happy that every element of this project is handcrafted and created with such care and detail.Nicky J SimsWhat personal difference is your gift, and how do you overcome any anxiety around it?My greatest gift is my openness. I feel like I understand my differences, and I embrace them. I’m also very open to new experiences and to new people. That’s why I love this campaign message: realizing that what makes you different is what also makes you special.People have a pretty good sense of who I am because I’ve always been so open about it. And there’s something really freeing about that. I feel seen and heard, and I think it makes people more comfortable around me, too. They know I’m approaching the world with openness and curiosity rather than a bad attitude.Any advice for others? I’ve somehow managed to avoid having shame in my life, and I think that’s a great gift, because it can be crippling for so many people. That’s something really lovely about this campaign. We all get little boosts of confidence from things that make us feel good, but ultimately, it’s what we believe about ourselves and our ability to embrace who we are that makes us truly great.Do you ever run into your high school friends over the holidays? It must be fun since you’re a big star, right? Yes and no. The thing is, I do run into people over the years. But when you’re famous, people see you all the time, but you don’t always see them.It’s interesting because people from your past feel like they still know you, and in many ways they do. But they also expect you to remember them as clearly as you did all those years ago. I’ve actually reconnected with quite a lot of school friends I probably wouldn’t have if I weren’t well known. One of the lovely things about getting older and being in the public eye is that people reach out. And I’ve really, really enjoyed catching up and getting to know them in a different light.Here’s a rundown of Alan’s holy grail e.l.f products (and why he loves them):“I use this every day. I love how it feels on the skin. Other serums can feel sort of gloopy and a bit medicinal, but this feels really like you’re putting on some sort of magical cloak. I love it!”“This stick is great! Everyone should have more sparkle in their lives. I think everyone should dress up more!”“I keep these in my gym bag ’cause I’m butch AF! I like moisturizing products that, again, don’t feel like you’re lathering on loads of gloopy fluid. It’s nice and light and hydrating.”“I also love this before applying makeup. I swear nothing makes your look last longer!”This interview was edited for length and clarity.Julee Wilson is Beauty Editor at Large at Cosmopolitan. Previously, Julee was Beauty Director at Cosmo and Global Beauty Director at Essence and has held various editorial positions at Huffington Post and Real Simple. She counts herself lucky AF that she gets to play with beauty products for a living and tell dope stories. And if you’re as obsessed with beauty as she is, make sure to follow her on Instagram for plenty of product recs, natural hair inspo, skincare testing, and Black girl magic shenanigans.