Festival season has arrived. And perhaps the music festival that started it all, Coachella, will brings scores of beauty-consuming millennials to the desert of Southern California over the next two weeks. While Coachella has been a hotbed for beauty brand pop-ups in years past, 2019 marks the second year of decline in physical spaces designated for brand promotion. According to an online report, well-known brands such as Urban Decay, Too Faced, Kiehl's and Maybelline pulled the plug on VIP events for their influencers last year. Instead, beauty brands are relying on more organic promotions that comes directly from genuine brand enthusiasts wearing and sharing about product. “There’s definitely been a decline in activations, especially larger-branded experiences,” said Conor Begley, cofounder of digital analytics firm Tribe Dynamics. “If you think about the brands that have done well at Coachella, like Anastasia Beverly Hills in 2018, it wasn’t because they did a big event but because people were just wearing the product and organically repping the brand. It’s similar to what we see at fashion weeks: Brands think runway shows are garnering all the coverage, but it is what people are wearing to the shows that drives engagement,” Begley told Glossy.com. Sephora had major activations in previous years. However, this year, the global specialty beauty retailer will play a minimal part sponsoring Zoeasis, a festival event hosted by Rachel Zoe and The Zoe Report.