Ulta

Ulta is one of those stores that I never generally go into if my wife isn’t with me as its geared more towards women.
They do have a men’s section which I look at every time I go to Ulta which consists of Jack Black, American Crew, and some Kiehl’s. i recently purchased the American Crew Pre-​Shave Ultra-​Gliding Oil which changed my life. It is cheaper than most of the other pre shave oils and works 100 times better.
All in all, my wife loves Ulta, especially with the palettes that they carry. I just wish their Men;s section was a little bit bigger.

Since discovering Ulta I’ve pretty much stopped shopping at Sephora. And I LOVED Sephora. This Ulta specifically is the main reason I’m an Ulta fan now, and I rarely shop at Sephora anymore.
The ladies at the store are always super friendly, asking you if you need help with anything or could get you a bag for your items. They usually always have a good sale on their drug store products (buy one get one half off on NYX, Loreal, Revlon, etc.)
And they HAVE everything. Drugstore + Sephora = Ulta. How awesome is that?
They have a FULL Benefit makeup counter. Prestige brands that I love such as: naked, urban decay, too faced, smash box, lorac, AND anastasia brow products (my favorite!). They usually always have stuff in stock here, which I love.
Once I got the last limited edition summer makeup palette from too faced here, and it was sold out everywhere! I think maybe since it’s kind of tucked away in Council Bluffs, not a lot of people from the Omaha area shop here? Eh I don’t want to bring up politics but, there’s a reason CB’s nickname is council-tucky…anyways!
While I’ve never utilized the salon services they do have them available, haircuts and blowouts, etc. They also have dermalogica facials here which is nice because dermalogica products are awesome. #truth In terms of other skincare lines they sell brands such as: Mario Badescu, Peter Thomas Roth, Elizabeth Arden, Bliss, Clarisonic, etc. most of the stuff Sephora has basically.
Hair care products are also amazing here too. Ojon, Paul Mitchell, Not Your Mother’s, Livingproof, TIGI, Chi. ANYTHING a girl could want basically. Their hair tools are a plenty as well, they’re nicely displayed and hooked up to electricity so you can actually turn on the blow dryers to see if you like them.
So why shop at Ulta? Because of the Beauty Rewards cards. LADIES! GET THIS CARD. I spend so much money at sephora anyways and rack up points getting small samples that I usually end up throwing away. Boo.
At Ulta, I get coupons for $ off my next purchase! I’d take that any day over crappy samples. Sometimes they run promotions for 20% off entire purchase and I combine this with $ 3.50 off any $ 10 purchase. Best. Deal. Ever.
Hands down I save the most money shopping at Ulta. Most of all they actually have sales on GOOD products ie. in March when they had their 21 days of makeup promotion, I got a full sized smashbox photo finish primer for $ 18 which usually retails for $ 36. Now that’s a steal. (Then to top things off they were giving away full sized bottles of «It’s a 10» with keratin leave-​in conditioner with any purchase over $ 10).
There are just so maaaany good things to say about Ulta. I literally cannot stop raving. LOL. Go check it out for yourself!

Thank goodness for ulta being here! They carry bliss skin care line and No. 7 skin care line! The store is easily accessible and nice location.
When I first walked in I couldn’t find what I was looking for and no one offered to help so I had to hunt someone down. After asking for help they were nothing but helpful! I was about to purchase a basic carry on bag for my new skin care items when the girl at the counter offered me a cuter one at the same price. She also threw in extra goodies (samples) and updated my membership information for me! Overall this is the place I would stop!

The Ulta Beauty at Metro crossing houses a beauty salon, a Benefit Brow Counter, drug store and high end makeup, hair styling product and hot tools, skin care, and makeup artists. Though I am not sure they are referred to as makeup artists.
I like coming to Ulta, though I prefer Sephora for their coupons, sales, and the fact that they sale NYX (which can’t be found anywhere else in Council Bluffs). Most drug store makeup is on BOGO sale weekly. Customers can also get a $ 3.50 off a $ 10 purchase purchase. If a person signs up for a Ulta Rewards Card (FREE!), the person can get reward points for every dollar the person spends. Reward card holder also get a special treat for their birthday.
NYX is one of my favorite drug store makeup brands. Lipstick especially. Check this brand out for a very inexpensive, but great product.
Staff is friendly, though I’ve ran into a couple pushy people are the Brow Bar and some employees weren’t product knowledgable. A couple instances, employees didn’t look work-​ready. I would think that employees would be hair and makeup ready, since those are the products being sold.
I cannot say anything about Ulta’s brand of makeup, because i haven’t, and most likely won’t try it.
Before getting married, I came to the conclusion that I would do my own makeup. I went to Ulta and wanted them to use the makeup that I already owned and do my makeup, so I could replicate it. Great strategy, right? My assumption was that the girl who did my makeup had no prior experience to working with hooded eyes, and when I hesitated to respond to ‚“do you like this?” I was snapped at. The girl working the floor had to help her, but was then scolded by her boss for applying makeup to me. $ 30 later, I didn’t even want to pay, but did.
Though I’ve had a couple of mediocre experiences, Ulta’s a really good all-​in-​one stop shop for beauty products.