ULTA

This store used to be fun, friendly and fantastic when it first opened. Now it is shallow, stuck up and snotty:
September: I inquired about an OPI polish collection I found at a different store. Within three-​four weeks, I was given three answers to my inquiry:
«We will be getting that collection next week.»
I checked back a week or two later, only to find the item didn’t arrive as they said it would. Fine, no big deal. Their response?
«That item should be here next on the next shipment.»
By the end of September, still nothing. Their answer this time?
«I don’t think we are getting that collection. We are sorry about the confusion.»
What confusion? The store manager, Jodi, is unaware of this awful communication between salespeople and customers. What kind of store gives three different answers, instead of finding out from someone else who may know the answer?
October-​November: After the nail polish thing, I went back to the store for sunscreen. The Ulta spray sunscreen was on sale, B2G2 free. That’s four bottles for $ 20. I grab three bottles that were on the shelf and made my way to checkout, after grabbing other things I needed. I politely asked this rather snotty young lady if there were any more bottles of the sunscreen in my hand in the back. She comes back a few minutes later and tells me she doesn’t think they have any. She then changes her story to she doesn’t know if they have any, because she can’t find the box and doesn’t know what she is looking for.
Oh no. Not the thing to say to me, especially with a strong background in customer service, or any customer. Telling the customer «I don’t know» means you do know you just don’t care about the customer.
I let her know what I thought. She didn’t even bother to ask someone over the headset if they could find what I wanted. Didn’t offer a rain check. Nothing. I gave her an earful in a somewhat polite tone before letting her know Jodi’s boss would find out about what happened.
I had a conversation with the district manager, who apologized for the experiences. I not only got four bottles of sunscreen free, but a $ 50 gift card too. I personally believe the DM spoke with Jodi. Apparently the message didn’t get through.
December: I was trying on lip glosses, and asked a «makeup artist» (I use this sarcastically) about a particular brand and asked if a particular shade would look right with specific hair colors. The response?
A snooty laugh, followed with «I’ve never met anyone who coordinates their lip stick with their hair color».
What?! Aren’t you a makeup artist? Shouldn’t you know undertones and hair color with specific shades?
I was in shock. The color didn’t work for me, and I got the help I needed from another store out of state.
The funny thing? I applied for a cashier position at this store, and was told by Jodi herself that due to the fact I am not a makeup artist, blogger and I don’t live for makeup, I’m not what she is looking for in a team member. Apparently «makeup artists» are hired. That’s a contradiction, because if that was true, their makeup artists would provide more help that customers deserve. Customer service is not in this store, period.
Better customer service? Chicago area Ulta stores. Makeup artists? Sephora.

Needed a new brush to tame my new bangs, and I decided to check out the Ulta on the East side. This store was terribly disorganized and also straight up disgusting. They have an extensive selection of brushes, but absolutely nothing was in its correct spot. This is a big deal when Ulta sells multiple different brands of essentially the same brush, and the difference between brands for a basically identical product can be as much as $ 12. Having to match up tiny tags on the shelves with the brand name on each brush I looked at was a pain in the butt. Additionally, I reached into a bin to look at some nail polishes and wound up with a glob of liquid foundation all over my sleeve. Their miscellaneous bins are a total mess. When I asked a sales associate for some paper towel or something to clean up my sleeve, I told her what happened, and nobody seemed interested in cleaning up the actual bin. Whatever. This place is gross. I don’t care if I have to drive twice as far to get to the one on the other side of town — I won’t go back to this location.

Visited on 10÷28÷14 at around 3:30pm.
+ Very bright, clean, and «new» feeling.
+ Reasonably priced items (I think; I only compared them to Sephora’s stuff as I don’t regularly buy make-​up and cosmetic tools)
+ Big selection of items
+ Plenty of items to test/​sample/​try
— A bit difficult to find certain items like sponges and applicators
— Staff wasn’t readily available to assist when I was «lost»
+ Check-​out was fast and easy; person who I checked-​out with was very friendly and helpful once I got to the check-​out area
I probably don’t have much need to return here, but if I’m ever in need of cosmetic supplies for a costume or event, I won’t hesitate to visit Ulta again. I just wish they had some additional folks available to assist people like me who were wandering the aisles searching for specific items.

I am visiting from Monterey, CA, and needed a previous (awful) hair cut corrected — the store manager Jenelle cut and colored my hair last week and I just returned again 10÷2÷14 to have her do the Kerastraight smoothing treatment. She did an amazing job! After 3 bad haircuts from over-​priced salons in CA, my hair finally looks awesome!
I HIGHLY recommend Ulta’s smoothing treatment for curly haired women — I’ve had it done many times over the last decade at other salons — Ulta’s prices are very competitive and the product gave me great results.

When I saw that Ulta was opening, I was ecstatic. I have shopped there numerous times since opening and only once have I had a good experience with an associate who seemed genuine in helping my needs.
There are a TON of different products to choose from, both high end products and more budget friendly ones. It could be the one-​stop beauty shop for most. They have a reward program that their computer system tracks, and I often get emails/​mailings with coupons and deals.
Their customer service leaves me feeling angry and frustrated as I walk out the door. Working in retail management for years, maybe I’m expecting too much at stores, but rarely do I even get acknowledged when I walk in, let alone when I’m wandering the aisles. I’ve even had associates look at me and leave the area without seeing if I need help — which half the time, I do. I am not the type of shopper to really seek out customer assistance if I can’t figure it out on my own, and I especially won’t if I feel unwelcome. I will however, spend money, a lot of money, on beauty products that I believe in.
I don’t know how many sales they have lost due to poor customer service, or lack thereof. When I have been assisted, the knowledge wasn’t there or the helpfulness wasn’t true. I really want to like Ulta, and have given many chances. But I would rather, and now will continue, travel to the other side of town for my beauty needs.

As someone who resides on the East side of Madison, before Ulta opened, we didn’t have any other cosmetic and beauty store in the area. I was forced to drive on the West side of town if I wanted to shop for new makeup. Thank goodness Ulta opened saving me some gas!
Ulta offers so much variety of beauty supplies, it’s almost overwhelming. They practically have every kind of beauty product from false eyelashes, to manicure sets to hair products that typically only professionals can purchase (or sold in salons) like KeraCare, Chi, Biosilk, etc. Prices are typically reasonable as well. The staff is beyond friendly and are always willing to help you locate products. They also seem knowledgeable of the products they sell from my experience shopping there.
I was so happy to learn that they sale my favorite mascara, «They’re Real!» by Benefit in full size. The only size I’ve been able to get my hands on without ordering online were the half sizes. Let me just stop and say that this is by far the best mascara I’ve ever used and I’ve gone through at least 10 different brands.
A nice perk they offer are free (amazing) samples every time you make a purchase of a certain dollar amount. It’s been because of these free samples that I’ve been able to expand my cosmetic bag. You can also sign up for an Ulta Beauty Cards at no cost and start gaining points for your purchases.
Ulta is a great place to shop for beauty products. They also have a salon so you can schedule to hair appointments. I’ve yet to try that out because I prefer my other stylist and to do my hair myself but at least it’s offered.
You’ll fall in love with this store.

This really is an excellent one-​stop shop for beauty products. I have naturally wavy, borderline curly hair and when growing it long one must take good care of their mane in order for it to look good and remain healthy. Ulta has supplied my favorite products, of which were unheard of in Madison before they set up shop.
Among us curly and wavy haired connossierus there are usually two camps: Moroccan oil vs Macadamia oil. The coveted Argan oil is found in both products, but the Macadamia oil mixed with Argan makes for a lighter product.
Ulta sells Macadamia natural hair oil products. Probably the most fantastic smelling product on earth, I’ve bought their hair oil healing treatment for everyday use, and their deep repair masque for once weekly deep conditioning that us curly girls are well aware of needing. If you are reading this and have hair like mine, the coarse, thick, anything but straight hair that needs a wide tooth comb and NEVER a brush — check out Macadamia products.
Ulta also sells Ouidad products! The holy grail for fabulous wavy and curly tresses, I snatched up their «wave create» that again smells heavenly and does exactly what it says it will do. No false advertising here, of course it’s also not exactly cheap — but it is worth every penny. My hair has never been happier, nor smelled nicer and felt softer. Wave create defines the natural texture and smoothes any signs of frizz. The result is über wavy tresses that requires no more effort than spraying it on damp hair and blow drying with a diffuser. Nothing high maintenance, no long hours slaving away in front of the mirror, no crunchy or untouchable hair, just natural and healthy locks. The Ouidad product and Macadamia oil complement each other well. Apply the wave create all over your damp hair and then apply the macadamia to your ends. That’s it!
Diffusers? Yes! They sell diffusers! Perfumes, colognes, makeup, lotions, just about any product found in a nice salon can be found at Ulta.
They also offer a rewards card and send coupons and free offers quite often. Stop straightening your hair, like I did for so many years before I decided to go natural. Work with what nature gave you, Ulta will give you what you need to make your natural texture, whatever it may be, beautiful.

As a member of the beauty industry and a firm believer in salon products, the mix ULTA offers did confuse me at first.
I have been here twice both times the staff was helpful and friendly. I know my fair share of beauty information so when I say «help» I mean leading me to the brand I was looking for or having a conversation that compares a product I have use to one I’m thinking of trying.
Although I am not exactly thrilled they offer «box color» — I do think providing affordable alternatives to higher end products is smart marketing. But what matters to me is they offer the brands I like close to where I live so I can stop driving to the west side for my make-​up needs.
ULTA will be seeing a lot more of me.

I’d never heard of this chain until it recently opened in Madison. I love it! It even smells new. :-)
As someone who finally said «no more» to spending money at professional nail salons, I walked into ULTA needing manicure products, but not sure exactly what. The staff was very helpful in showing me the selections of nail care products and what pieces I would need to do a manicure myself.
I’ve gone back again to shop more since I had a good first experience. I would recommend this store.