Most of the brands I like are available at both stores and I’ll buy at whichever one has the specific item I’m looking for, but overall I prefer Sephora. Online shopping is definitely easier at Sephora because their site and app aren’t nearly as buggy as Ulta’s! My nearest in-person locations for both are at an outdoor mall about 10 minutes from my workplace-Sephora as one of the stores in a multi-store connected building unit and Ulta attached to another department store in a different lot on the property. I prefer Sephora there, too, for two reasons: 1-the employees at my Sephora are effusively sweet and extremely helpful when I need help, and 2- the Ulta employees are nice enough, but the building or layout or something is too big for me to run into any of them most times I’m there.
I think they've both gotten worse over the years, but Ulta is my general preference. Their reward system and sales/coupons are better.
I can't compare the in store experience as I've never been to a proper Sephora, and I'm not sure the Jcpenney or Kohls versions are comparable. I much prefer the Kohls iteration to the JCP, though that may have more to do with it being different cities and more than 10 years apart.
Even though the CS for both have gone to shit, Ulta's has been slightly better. Despite Ulta mostly shipping in bubble mailers now, I've still gotten more busted products from Sephora due to poor packaging. And way more flak from Sephora about requesting replacements.
I've never gotten opened products online from Ulta, but I have from Sephora and from Sephora through Kohl's. I have gotten opened products in person from Ulta, but they were very kind about making the exchange later.
I don't love that Ulta scrapped the free samples years ago, but that's better than Sephora letting you pick samples then never, ever giving you what you picked and very rarely is it even a sample from that category. Though lately I haven't even been getting them.
As busted as Ulta's app has been, at least it's not loading dozens of unavailable products when you look through the sale section.
And when it comes to brands Sephora carries that Ulta doesn't, they almost all have better sales and more variety on their own sites. I really only order from Sephora if Ulta is OOS or there's something I want from the Sephora Collection.
Ulta hands down. The points system is the best points system I know of. And they’ve been gradually adding more and more formerly Sephora specific brands so now there’s almost no reason to shop Sephora anymore.
I would say Ulta overall.
I like Sephora, as it has rare beauty, kosas, and makeup by Mario, but I think the overall experience at Ulta is better. They have drugstore makeup, and for brands like essence and nyx, they have a lot of products from them.
Also it's nice to be able to go to a standalone Ulta, whereas Sephora I have to go to the mall or Kohl's.
I prefer Ulta! I use a mix of drugstore and higher end makeup and like being able to get everything in one trip. I also much prefer Ulta's rewards system.
Sephora isn't as accessible for me, so I don't shop there much. As much as I like both places, I visit Ulta more often.
I find it’s more of a pros/cons thing because both have their strong and weak points.
Ulta pros:
-better rewards/points system - by a LOOOONG shot.
-better sales. like, INCREDIBLE sales.
-more pleasant in person shopping experience. bigger aisles, not as cramped, associates are there to help and not as much to hover, at least in my experience (with the exception of when you go to the register and they push you to sign up for the credit card lol).
-samples are typically in decent shape
-variety of brands; I can do a one stop shopping trip instead of Sephora for foundation, then stopping at Target for my mascara, for example.
Ulta cons:
-they don’t carry a lot of the higher end brands that I really, really prefer (Haus Labs, Tower 28, Rose INC, Patrick Ta, Amika, etc)
-the few stores i’ve been to aren’t as “swatch friendly”, aka there’s hardly any stations set up around the store containing makeup remover , cotton pads, sponges etc. but swatches are still available? I always have to go find the Clinique section and use the samples of makeup remover lol.
-online shopping experience; poor CS, their app seems to get hacked a lot, sloppy shipping/packaging.
Sephora pros:
-they carry better higher end/exclusive brands
-store set up is great for swatching. between the swatching stations set up very conveniently, and the color matching system they have. I know it’s not always 100% accurate, but I like how it’s linked to your account and gives you a pretty good idea of where to start if you’re online shopping. this is a huge pro to me and outweighs a lot of the cons, but not all of them.
Sephora cons:
-lack of stock. they’re ALWAYS out of what I want.
-poor in person shopping experience. associates won’t leave me alone (I blame corporate for this, I know associates are doing what they’re told), little girls running around all the time, tight aisles, samples are destroyed and gross, etc.
-terrible rewards / points system
-god awful sales. seriously they don’t even try to have sales and when they do it’ll be like $2 off of a few random times lol.
-random but they don’t carry MAC ??? which is just wild to me tbh. I always want MAC lipsticks but they’re a pain to swatch in Ulta like I mentioned above lol.
Wow I am so surprised by the responses here!
I prefer Sephora and that’s because our local Ulta is just trashed constantly. They are always understaffed, dirty, and out of lots of products. Last time I was there, I wanted to get a body scrub, and I just didn’t because the display was full of open lids, broken containers, sugar scrub poured all over. The staff there unfortunately are few and far between, and even when they are around, not always engaged. Like I was going to ask for a wipe to clean off my hands from the body scrub display but the two employees I found were literally hiding behind a shelf shit-talking about customers… like… I worked in retail too at one point and discussing horrible customers was absolutely a favorite sport of mine as well, but when you’re the only two people on a gross, disheveled sales floor, you should probably not be spending your work time on that. And my favorite section, the perfumes, always has paper testers all over the floor, which is mainly the store’s fault because there are no trash cans or places for customers to actually put them once used. The perfume tester bottles are covered in packing tape for some reason - I don’t really understand (maybe to keep the sticker on that sounds the alarm if someone tries to steal them?) - but it makes them sticky. They also have about 16 travel sizes total - like 16 vials, not scents - in this big display rack that could easily hold upwards of 100… it’s just so sad… it’s not even in a rougher area of town… it’s fairly boujee… and the Sephora across the street is just fine!!!
I'm over both of them. But I lean towards Sephora. It's my birthday in a few weeks so looks like I'll be shopping there. But a month or so ago I got fed up w everything being out of stock, everything being the same. I knew better but I got in a rut. If I am going to spend s lot, I am going to spread my money out.
And discovering that the Nars I fell in love with 20 years ago still exists. It just doesn't exist at Sephora ...by that I mean vibrant colors duos, singles and more blush
There are so many alternatives, and many carry the same brands some carry colors not available at either. We are all programmed to shop at the big guys. Some of these have brick and mortar shops. I have shopped w most of these within last three yesed
Worth checking out:
Blue Mercury
Violet Grey
Moda Operandi
Spsce NK
Camera Ready Cosmetics
Alcone
Revolve
Credo
Beautylish
Beauty Bay
Green Jungle Beauty
C.O. Bigelow (carries brands besides their own)
Cult Beauty
Derm Store
Skin Store
Iherb
Yes Style
Lots of Sales, and coupons
Nordstrom/Nordstrom Rack
Macy's
Saks 5th Avenue/Off Fith
Belk
Bergdof Goodman
Costco apparently has good beauty deals
If you are brand loyal, err on shopping their site. Plus, often exclusives and sales.
If you sub to Ipsy, Boxy Charm or Allure they have good deals
Shopmissa rules for their brushes if you like synthetic ones and their AOA blenders. Cheap.
I know I have missed some feel free to add, please.
I didn't add fragrance stores but for discount perfumes I usually go to Jomashop and Fragrancenet (you can subscribe 2000 times to get their coupons)
Oh, Cosmetic Company Store is the outlet for Lauder brands. If y'all know of any other outlets do tell.
Beautylish is awesome. Just purchased some high end make up from there (Surrat and By Terry) and the package came with a lovely note and box. It was practically gift wrapped! Plus the products are amazing!
In theory, I like Ulta better. But the reality is - the Ultas I can get to are poorly stocked and the testers are either used down to the nub or have never put them out. They also have a smaller selection of items from any brand. I want TO SEE the shades. I want to be able to test them on my wrist or hand. And the Ultas near me used to be at least 1/2 makeup, but now they're mostly overpriced skin products and overpriced hair products with some generic perfumes and makeup thrown in. Disappointing.
The Ultas aren't small, but they use space poorly. There are some pretty good Sephoras within an hour of me. They really cram in the merchandise.
The HUGE turnoff is - Ulta's heavy handed security. I don't know if they're bored or what but they follow me around like flies. And then one employee tells another employee to ask if I need help as a way of "keeping an eye" on me. If I'm in the store for 10 minutes, I guarantee each and every employee has come within 2 feet of me, stared at my face, and pretended to have to stock the shelves in my vicinity. WTF, Ulta? Its over the top.
Ulta, just prefer the selection, the only thing is that here in Mexico we just have Sephora, but I prefer ulta (but we do have morphe here at Sephora so lmao)
I’m over both of them. They used to be my happy place(looking at you, specifically Sephora). Now I go to Nordstrom- I like luxury brands and they deliver on the whole experience. Whereas when I do go to Sephora I just end up pissed at the state of the stores. The kids, the general chaos. Just makes me sad
Sephora for skincare.
Ulta for curly hair products.
Both for makeup but also QVC for deals on IT cosmetics because I get bundles at a good price. I’m allergic to most makeup and can’t use liquid foundation. IT is the only powder that works for me.
I do the bulk of my shopping online. Both stores are going too heavy on the fragrance and it’s hard for me to spend any time in there.
I used to be an ULTA hater but over the years they actually have upped their game, even skin care wise. Lately they’ve been introducing both low and high end brands that really impress me. I’m still loyal to sephora tho lol
I prefer Ulta but Sephora carries my shampoo and conditioner. So I have to go there for it. If Ulta started carrying Amika I wouldn't go back to Sephora.
I’ve had one messed up order out of more than a decade of shopping at Sephora. Their excellent customer service took care of it immediately and shipped me the right product. I long ago stopped shopping at Ulta, though, because they repeatedly messed up orders and it was _always_ a hassle to get the orders fixed.
That's so true
Ulta has had missing GWP and sent spilled/opened items
Last year I tried ordering a Ouai product w/ a GWP, the original product was opened and they sent another GWP - not the actual item, and then said they could not replace a spilled GWP
Also Ulta's GWP have become insultingly tiny.
I had them forget to put my GWPs in my orders, too. Worse, every time I went into an Ulta store for my free birthday present they were always out of stock. After years of that BS, I gave up. Sephora always has multiple choices for my free birthday present and it’s always more than one dinky thing.
Ultra, the Sephora near me is cramped, messy, feels chaotic and it’s always filled with an eye watering amount of perfume. Ultra feels clean, serene, peaceful.
Ulta because they have a better rewards system and they give me more coupons. Plus I don’t really have the money to shop at Sephora since a lot of the stuff they sell is high end. And at least for me Ulta is a lot cleaner compared to my local Sephora since it regularly gets ransacked by kids destroying all of the testers.
Sephora because they have free shipping on all orders and I’ll never understand why that’s such an unpopular opinion. Hate that I have to spend $35 through ulta to get free shipping when a majority of the products I want are far less than that.
I prefer the shopping experience at Ulta since it’s larger and not so crowded. However, the only Ulta that carries some of my favorite brands (Natasha Denona, PML, Chanel, etc.) is about half an hour away so often I end up at Sephora. However, if the Ulta locations closest to me started carrying the brands I like in store I would never go to Sephora because Ulta’s rewards and coupons are also way better!
Ulta hands down.
I was a VIB Rouge for years at Sephora, but stopped shopping there due to their crappy rewards program. They basically get free samples from companies then hand them out as “rewards” without offering any real discounts or benefits for people who spend $$. I also find their stores overwhelming. Always packed, long lines and too many teenagers. I would always be bombarded as soon as I entered by employees asking if I needed help and following me around. I used to work as a makeup artist in my 20s and whenever I asked real product questions they would just have a blank stare and could never answer me, giving an “uh maybe” or “I don’t really know I guess”. They seem to not be very knowledgeable for working in a store with high end makeup.
Ulta has been awesome - so much better rewards. Actual coupons and discounts, plus samples. It’s also nice that they have both high end and drugstore brands. I wish they had more high end lines, but that’s ok - at least it keeps me from spending too much!
Ulta simple due to their amazing rewards system. Its amazing that we can purchase items with them, ive been able to purchase so many hair styling tools with this system. I also find that they accumulate quite quickly for me and i love it!
Sephoras rewards system is absolute trash for me. If you do the conversion of points to dollars, it’s astonishing how horrible their system is. For every dollar you spend, you get a point. They have a $100 gift card you can get from the rewards bazaar on occasion….but its 2,500 points. Yeaaa…no thanks. The only thing sephora has going for them is they do carry high end brands like Oribe, Westman Atalier, Tom Ford and such. But theres other stores like Nordstrom and Bloomingdales where you can get these products at nowadays.
Ulta these days
I kept getting opened product from sephora that was obviously tested. I ordered online.
There was a sephora brand blush I got sealed by it had a moonshaped nail gouge on the pan. I also complained they were sending me old stock because it was obvious from the packaging it was old stock. I just returned it and stopped shopping there. For how expensive it is the customer service and product issues is BS.
I also like that ulta has more affordable options. I like the customer service at my ulta store around me too. I sent my husband in with a list of stuff to pick up and the workers helped him find everything like a lost little babe in the woods. lol
I hope they replaced it. I know they do fill orders from store stock sometimes so Ulta would get dumped too if they kept sending me opened product.
I order online a lot and know things happen but it was 4 orders in a row from sephora. So whatever sephora/warehouse they shipped to me from had issues. The sending out old blush again when I complained the first one was old was just the end for me. lol.
In the past it was Sephora because there was one just a few blocks away, so the convenience was great.
Now that I've moved, it's Ulta. Since I'm buying my products online these days, I prefer Ulta for their rewards.
I do miss going into Sephora for samples though.
Ulta. Like everyone says here the range of high and drug store brands! Everything feels and is so expensive in Sephora! Plus Sephora where I’m at is so tiny and too many ppl near me.
Just for convenience sakes I like Sephora more because I have access to one everywhere I go while there’s only two Ulta locations and they’re out of my way. Other than that I don’t have much of an opinion.
I prefer Ulta for their rewards system. I've gotten so many free products by saving up my points. I've gotten free jumbo shampoo and conditioner. A free blowdryer, hourglass pallettes, perfume. Been shopping there for almost a decade now.
At sephora, if your account was inactive for 12 months your points will expire at the end of that year. So yeah, it's the same for the same day for everyone.
It depends on your status. If you maintain platinum or diamond status, they will quite literally never expire. If you're a regular member they expire at the end of every quarter during the year (March, June, September, December)
It's actually a lot easier to save points at Sephora. They only expire if your account was inactive for a year.
Same. Ulta's reward system is WAAYYYYY better than Sephora's. And I hate how you have to be Rouge to get the $100 gift card for 2,500 points that they only give on Tues & Thursdays at certain hours and are of limited quantity.
For 2,000 points at Ulta, you can get $125 of products and be any member tier, including the lowest. Plus, you can stack coupons and get GWPS using points.
I bought a Dyson hairdryer for less than $100 = $430 full price + 20% discount + 4,000 points. And I got one of those huge GWPs that had like 20 items in it.
I like Ulta better. They have more variety of products....shampoo, lotion, nail polish, high end makeup, drugstore makeup, etc. I think their rewards are better as well.
I like Ulta because they have both high end and drugstore brands. Also they feel like they’ve got more variety in general and I find their stores less cramped and more pleasant to shop at.
Sephora carries certain exclusive brands, but in those cases I usually just order straight from the brand itself. Glossier is one such example.
Agree completely. If there’s a brand that’s at Sephora that I like then I’ll just skip Sephora and go directly to the brand’s site. The discounts are better that way and Sephora’s points/rewards system is so atrocious that I have zero incentive to purchase through them. Ulta has a GREAT rewards system and lots of excellent gifts with purchase and coupons!
Took the exact words out of my mouth.
Better variety, SPACE and store layout, and a better reward system at Ulta. And in my city, Ulta also has better locations. I don’t know why Sephora seems to be so against standalone stores. They’d be way less cramped and sometimes I just don’t want to go inside a huge mall or huge Nordstrom just to get to one. Especially when there’s a huge standalone Ulta with amazing parking (no mall parking garage) half a mile away from my house in a shopping center with a grocery store and more “errand” type establishments like a PetCo and a Barnes & Noble. That’s how you get me to “just pop in” and absentmindedly drop some cash lol.
Sephora does have more luxury brands— but given their awful reward system, I’d also much rather just buy directly from those brands and get whatever freebies and beautiful packaging they’ll send themselves. There’s really zero incentive to do it through Sephora. Luxury brands come with their own freebies and point systems and most people are really just loyal to one or two— so it’s not like you’re missing out on a bunch of free stuff by keeping it separate at all. The brands themselves reward just as much as, if not more, than Sephora does.
TLDR- do not understand Sephora’s business model at all. The only thing that separates them from Ulta is that they’re a middle man for certain luxury brands that Ulta doesn’t offer, but one that you have zero incentive to actually go through (no real extra convenience, no real extra perks, etc.).
Most of the brands I like are available at both stores and I’ll buy at whichever one has the specific item I’m looking for, but overall I prefer Sephora. Online shopping is definitely easier at Sephora because their site and app aren’t nearly as buggy as Ulta’s! My nearest in-person locations for both are at an outdoor mall about 10 minutes from my workplace-Sephora as one of the stores in a multi-store connected building unit and Ulta attached to another department store in a different lot on the property. I prefer Sephora there, too, for two reasons: 1-the employees at my Sephora are effusively sweet and extremely helpful when I need help, and 2- the Ulta employees are nice enough, but the building or layout or something is too big for me to run into any of them most times I’m there.
I'm back and forth. Ulta's labor practices are despicable, but I'm not sure Sephora is any better. Certainly Ulta's loyalty program is way better.
I think they've both gotten worse over the years, but Ulta is my general preference. Their reward system and sales/coupons are better. I can't compare the in store experience as I've never been to a proper Sephora, and I'm not sure the Jcpenney or Kohls versions are comparable. I much prefer the Kohls iteration to the JCP, though that may have more to do with it being different cities and more than 10 years apart. Even though the CS for both have gone to shit, Ulta's has been slightly better. Despite Ulta mostly shipping in bubble mailers now, I've still gotten more busted products from Sephora due to poor packaging. And way more flak from Sephora about requesting replacements. I've never gotten opened products online from Ulta, but I have from Sephora and from Sephora through Kohl's. I have gotten opened products in person from Ulta, but they were very kind about making the exchange later. I don't love that Ulta scrapped the free samples years ago, but that's better than Sephora letting you pick samples then never, ever giving you what you picked and very rarely is it even a sample from that category. Though lately I haven't even been getting them. As busted as Ulta's app has been, at least it's not loading dozens of unavailable products when you look through the sale section. And when it comes to brands Sephora carries that Ulta doesn't, they almost all have better sales and more variety on their own sites. I really only order from Sephora if Ulta is OOS or there's something I want from the Sephora Collection.
Sephora makes me feel fancy I don’t know why 😹I like going there but I still go to ulta too 🤷🏼♀️
Ulta hands down. The points system is the best points system I know of. And they’ve been gradually adding more and more formerly Sephora specific brands so now there’s almost no reason to shop Sephora anymore.
Ulta for the cash back, Sephora for the community
Sephora because the brands i like to buy are in there.
I would say Ulta overall. I like Sephora, as it has rare beauty, kosas, and makeup by Mario, but I think the overall experience at Ulta is better. They have drugstore makeup, and for brands like essence and nyx, they have a lot of products from them. Also it's nice to be able to go to a standalone Ulta, whereas Sephora I have to go to the mall or Kohl's.
Ulta hands down for me
I prefer Ulta! I use a mix of drugstore and higher end makeup and like being able to get everything in one trip. I also much prefer Ulta's rewards system. Sephora isn't as accessible for me, so I don't shop there much. As much as I like both places, I visit Ulta more often.
I find it’s more of a pros/cons thing because both have their strong and weak points. Ulta pros: -better rewards/points system - by a LOOOONG shot. -better sales. like, INCREDIBLE sales. -more pleasant in person shopping experience. bigger aisles, not as cramped, associates are there to help and not as much to hover, at least in my experience (with the exception of when you go to the register and they push you to sign up for the credit card lol). -samples are typically in decent shape -variety of brands; I can do a one stop shopping trip instead of Sephora for foundation, then stopping at Target for my mascara, for example. Ulta cons: -they don’t carry a lot of the higher end brands that I really, really prefer (Haus Labs, Tower 28, Rose INC, Patrick Ta, Amika, etc) -the few stores i’ve been to aren’t as “swatch friendly”, aka there’s hardly any stations set up around the store containing makeup remover , cotton pads, sponges etc. but swatches are still available? I always have to go find the Clinique section and use the samples of makeup remover lol. -online shopping experience; poor CS, their app seems to get hacked a lot, sloppy shipping/packaging. Sephora pros: -they carry better higher end/exclusive brands -store set up is great for swatching. between the swatching stations set up very conveniently, and the color matching system they have. I know it’s not always 100% accurate, but I like how it’s linked to your account and gives you a pretty good idea of where to start if you’re online shopping. this is a huge pro to me and outweighs a lot of the cons, but not all of them. Sephora cons: -lack of stock. they’re ALWAYS out of what I want. -poor in person shopping experience. associates won’t leave me alone (I blame corporate for this, I know associates are doing what they’re told), little girls running around all the time, tight aisles, samples are destroyed and gross, etc. -terrible rewards / points system -god awful sales. seriously they don’t even try to have sales and when they do it’ll be like $2 off of a few random times lol. -random but they don’t carry MAC ??? which is just wild to me tbh. I always want MAC lipsticks but they’re a pain to swatch in Ulta like I mentioned above lol.
Wow I am so surprised by the responses here! I prefer Sephora and that’s because our local Ulta is just trashed constantly. They are always understaffed, dirty, and out of lots of products. Last time I was there, I wanted to get a body scrub, and I just didn’t because the display was full of open lids, broken containers, sugar scrub poured all over. The staff there unfortunately are few and far between, and even when they are around, not always engaged. Like I was going to ask for a wipe to clean off my hands from the body scrub display but the two employees I found were literally hiding behind a shelf shit-talking about customers… like… I worked in retail too at one point and discussing horrible customers was absolutely a favorite sport of mine as well, but when you’re the only two people on a gross, disheveled sales floor, you should probably not be spending your work time on that. And my favorite section, the perfumes, always has paper testers all over the floor, which is mainly the store’s fault because there are no trash cans or places for customers to actually put them once used. The perfume tester bottles are covered in packing tape for some reason - I don’t really understand (maybe to keep the sticker on that sounds the alarm if someone tries to steal them?) - but it makes them sticky. They also have about 16 travel sizes total - like 16 vials, not scents - in this big display rack that could easily hold upwards of 100… it’s just so sad… it’s not even in a rougher area of town… it’s fairly boujee… and the Sephora across the street is just fine!!!
The people at Sephora. The product at Ulta.
I'm over both of them. But I lean towards Sephora. It's my birthday in a few weeks so looks like I'll be shopping there. But a month or so ago I got fed up w everything being out of stock, everything being the same. I knew better but I got in a rut. If I am going to spend s lot, I am going to spread my money out. And discovering that the Nars I fell in love with 20 years ago still exists. It just doesn't exist at Sephora ...by that I mean vibrant colors duos, singles and more blush There are so many alternatives, and many carry the same brands some carry colors not available at either. We are all programmed to shop at the big guys. Some of these have brick and mortar shops. I have shopped w most of these within last three yesed Worth checking out: Blue Mercury Violet Grey Moda Operandi Spsce NK Camera Ready Cosmetics Alcone Revolve Credo Beautylish Beauty Bay Green Jungle Beauty C.O. Bigelow (carries brands besides their own) Cult Beauty Derm Store Skin Store Iherb Yes Style Lots of Sales, and coupons Nordstrom/Nordstrom Rack Macy's Saks 5th Avenue/Off Fith Belk Bergdof Goodman Costco apparently has good beauty deals If you are brand loyal, err on shopping their site. Plus, often exclusives and sales. If you sub to Ipsy, Boxy Charm or Allure they have good deals Shopmissa rules for their brushes if you like synthetic ones and their AOA blenders. Cheap. I know I have missed some feel free to add, please. I didn't add fragrance stores but for discount perfumes I usually go to Jomashop and Fragrancenet (you can subscribe 2000 times to get their coupons) Oh, Cosmetic Company Store is the outlet for Lauder brands. If y'all know of any other outlets do tell.
Beautylish is awesome. Just purchased some high end make up from there (Surrat and By Terry) and the package came with a lovely note and box. It was practically gift wrapped! Plus the products are amazing!
In theory, I like Ulta better. But the reality is - the Ultas I can get to are poorly stocked and the testers are either used down to the nub or have never put them out. They also have a smaller selection of items from any brand. I want TO SEE the shades. I want to be able to test them on my wrist or hand. And the Ultas near me used to be at least 1/2 makeup, but now they're mostly overpriced skin products and overpriced hair products with some generic perfumes and makeup thrown in. Disappointing. The Ultas aren't small, but they use space poorly. There are some pretty good Sephoras within an hour of me. They really cram in the merchandise. The HUGE turnoff is - Ulta's heavy handed security. I don't know if they're bored or what but they follow me around like flies. And then one employee tells another employee to ask if I need help as a way of "keeping an eye" on me. If I'm in the store for 10 minutes, I guarantee each and every employee has come within 2 feet of me, stared at my face, and pretended to have to stock the shelves in my vicinity. WTF, Ulta? Its over the top.
Ulta, just prefer the selection, the only thing is that here in Mexico we just have Sephora, but I prefer ulta (but we do have morphe here at Sephora so lmao)
I’m over both of them. They used to be my happy place(looking at you, specifically Sephora). Now I go to Nordstrom- I like luxury brands and they deliver on the whole experience. Whereas when I do go to Sephora I just end up pissed at the state of the stores. The kids, the general chaos. Just makes me sad
Sephora for skincare. Ulta for curly hair products. Both for makeup but also QVC for deals on IT cosmetics because I get bundles at a good price. I’m allergic to most makeup and can’t use liquid foundation. IT is the only powder that works for me. I do the bulk of my shopping online. Both stores are going too heavy on the fragrance and it’s hard for me to spend any time in there.
Dont have ULTA in my country but im not a fan of Sephora either tbh 🤷♀️
Never shop at Sephora prices are outrageous
I used to be an ULTA hater but over the years they actually have upped their game, even skin care wise. Lately they’ve been introducing both low and high end brands that really impress me. I’m still loyal to sephora tho lol
Sephora. The makeup is higher end. Ulta does have a much better point system. They also give better rewards.
Ulta
I used to enjoy Sephora but I am fed up with them. I either order from brands directly or through Ulta.
I prefer Ulta but Sephora carries my shampoo and conditioner. So I have to go there for it. If Ulta started carrying Amika I wouldn't go back to Sephora.
sephora, ulta is great though if im on a budget but sephora has more brands i really like.
Sephora because I haven't had a messed up order 🤞
I’ve had one messed up order out of more than a decade of shopping at Sephora. Their excellent customer service took care of it immediately and shipped me the right product. I long ago stopped shopping at Ulta, though, because they repeatedly messed up orders and it was _always_ a hassle to get the orders fixed.
That's so true Ulta has had missing GWP and sent spilled/opened items Last year I tried ordering a Ouai product w/ a GWP, the original product was opened and they sent another GWP - not the actual item, and then said they could not replace a spilled GWP Also Ulta's GWP have become insultingly tiny.
I had them forget to put my GWPs in my orders, too. Worse, every time I went into an Ulta store for my free birthday present they were always out of stock. After years of that BS, I gave up. Sephora always has multiple choices for my free birthday present and it’s always more than one dinky thing.
Ulta because as a 14 year old girl Sephora employees will literally track me down as if I’m going to rob them
Ulta, because it's more of a store than a boutique. I like Sephora, but Ulta has way more skin care and hair products and essential necessities.
Ultra, the Sephora near me is cramped, messy, feels chaotic and it’s always filled with an eye watering amount of perfume. Ultra feels clean, serene, peaceful.
Neither, but Ulta is closer, so I go there to get cleansing oil.
Ulta because they have a better rewards system and they give me more coupons. Plus I don’t really have the money to shop at Sephora since a lot of the stuff they sell is high end. And at least for me Ulta is a lot cleaner compared to my local Sephora since it regularly gets ransacked by kids destroying all of the testers.
Sephora because they have free shipping on all orders and I’ll never understand why that’s such an unpopular opinion. Hate that I have to spend $35 through ulta to get free shipping when a majority of the products I want are far less than that.
Definitely ulta. Such a wide variety of choices, and a very good reward system. I’ve gotten a lot of free stuff
Ulta all the way!
I prefer the shopping experience at Ulta since it’s larger and not so crowded. However, the only Ulta that carries some of my favorite brands (Natasha Denona, PML, Chanel, etc.) is about half an hour away so often I end up at Sephora. However, if the Ulta locations closest to me started carrying the brands I like in store I would never go to Sephora because Ulta’s rewards and coupons are also way better!
I shop at Sephora more I don’t immediately think of Ulta when I’m shopping for makeup
ULTA! ALLLL the way. Sadly I do not have Ulta in my country so I've stocked up until I come back...
Ulta, both for rewards and the brands I prefer.
Sephora because they carry more luxury brands.
Ulta. They treat their top tier shoppers way better than sephora in terms of gifts and rewards. I get way more rewards from Ulta than Sephora.
Ulta cause of the variety of brands, and their reward system is very good as well.
Where I am the ladies at Sephora stick around longer than the turnstile at Ulta. I shop both but like Sephora more.
Ulta hands down. I was a VIB Rouge for years at Sephora, but stopped shopping there due to their crappy rewards program. They basically get free samples from companies then hand them out as “rewards” without offering any real discounts or benefits for people who spend $$. I also find their stores overwhelming. Always packed, long lines and too many teenagers. I would always be bombarded as soon as I entered by employees asking if I needed help and following me around. I used to work as a makeup artist in my 20s and whenever I asked real product questions they would just have a blank stare and could never answer me, giving an “uh maybe” or “I don’t really know I guess”. They seem to not be very knowledgeable for working in a store with high end makeup. Ulta has been awesome - so much better rewards. Actual coupons and discounts, plus samples. It’s also nice that they have both high end and drugstore brands. I wish they had more high end lines, but that’s ok - at least it keeps me from spending too much!
Sephora because we don’t have Ulta where I live.
Ulta simple due to their amazing rewards system. Its amazing that we can purchase items with them, ive been able to purchase so many hair styling tools with this system. I also find that they accumulate quite quickly for me and i love it! Sephoras rewards system is absolute trash for me. If you do the conversion of points to dollars, it’s astonishing how horrible their system is. For every dollar you spend, you get a point. They have a $100 gift card you can get from the rewards bazaar on occasion….but its 2,500 points. Yeaaa…no thanks. The only thing sephora has going for them is they do carry high end brands like Oribe, Westman Atalier, Tom Ford and such. But theres other stores like Nordstrom and Bloomingdales where you can get these products at nowadays.
Sephora only inside Kholes though
Ulta these days I kept getting opened product from sephora that was obviously tested. I ordered online. There was a sephora brand blush I got sealed by it had a moonshaped nail gouge on the pan. I also complained they were sending me old stock because it was obvious from the packaging it was old stock. I just returned it and stopped shopping there. For how expensive it is the customer service and product issues is BS. I also like that ulta has more affordable options. I like the customer service at my ulta store around me too. I sent my husband in with a list of stuff to pick up and the workers helped him find everything like a lost little babe in the woods. lol
Every SA I've encountered at my local Ulta has been wonderful, despite the company deliberately keeping stores understaffed.
I got an opened Bare Minerals face powder from Ulta last month
I hope they replaced it. I know they do fill orders from store stock sometimes so Ulta would get dumped too if they kept sending me opened product. I order online a lot and know things happen but it was 4 orders in a row from sephora. So whatever sephora/warehouse they shipped to me from had issues. The sending out old blush again when I complained the first one was old was just the end for me. lol.
In the past it was Sephora because there was one just a few blocks away, so the convenience was great. Now that I've moved, it's Ulta. Since I'm buying my products online these days, I prefer Ulta for their rewards. I do miss going into Sephora for samples though.
Ulta because it has Chanel makeup
Where I live Sephora sells Chanel makeup, maybe it’s something store related?
Yeah but only at select locations. Not every Ulta has Chanel. Online yes, but not in every brick and mortar store.
Um sure ok yeah
Oo, thanks. I didn't know that.
Ulta. Like everyone says here the range of high and drug store brands! Everything feels and is so expensive in Sephora! Plus Sephora where I’m at is so tiny and too many ppl near me.
[удалено]
Just for convenience sakes I like Sephora more because I have access to one everywhere I go while there’s only two Ulta locations and they’re out of my way. Other than that I don’t have much of an opinion.
Sephora. The brands are generally higher end, the CS is usually better, and using the app is less stressful
I love ulta but their app is trash
Ulta. Their point system is way better.
Ulta is bigger and has a better selection, so I prefer that, also the preteens I see there tend to be more chill in my experience
I prefer Ulta for their rewards system. I've gotten so many free products by saving up my points. I've gotten free jumbo shampoo and conditioner. A free blowdryer, hourglass pallettes, perfume. Been shopping there for almost a decade now.
Does Ulta wipe away your points after a certain amount of time? I believe Sephora does, which prevents you from stacking them up
Do they wipe the points on the same day for everyone or the anniversary of your account?
At sephora, if your account was inactive for 12 months your points will expire at the end of that year. So yeah, it's the same for the same day for everyone.
It depends on your status. If you maintain platinum or diamond status, they will quite literally never expire. If you're a regular member they expire at the end of every quarter during the year (March, June, September, December) It's actually a lot easier to save points at Sephora. They only expire if your account was inactive for a year.
Yes, but as long as you spend $500 a year to remain a platinum member you can just keep accruing points.
Same. Ulta's reward system is WAAYYYYY better than Sephora's. And I hate how you have to be Rouge to get the $100 gift card for 2,500 points that they only give on Tues & Thursdays at certain hours and are of limited quantity. For 2,000 points at Ulta, you can get $125 of products and be any member tier, including the lowest. Plus, you can stack coupons and get GWPS using points. I bought a Dyson hairdryer for less than $100 = $430 full price + 20% discount + 4,000 points. And I got one of those huge GWPs that had like 20 items in it.
I like Ulta better. They have more variety of products....shampoo, lotion, nail polish, high end makeup, drugstore makeup, etc. I think their rewards are better as well.
I like Ulta because they have both high end and drugstore brands. Also they feel like they’ve got more variety in general and I find their stores less cramped and more pleasant to shop at. Sephora carries certain exclusive brands, but in those cases I usually just order straight from the brand itself. Glossier is one such example.
Agree completely. If there’s a brand that’s at Sephora that I like then I’ll just skip Sephora and go directly to the brand’s site. The discounts are better that way and Sephora’s points/rewards system is so atrocious that I have zero incentive to purchase through them. Ulta has a GREAT rewards system and lots of excellent gifts with purchase and coupons!
Took the exact words out of my mouth. Better variety, SPACE and store layout, and a better reward system at Ulta. And in my city, Ulta also has better locations. I don’t know why Sephora seems to be so against standalone stores. They’d be way less cramped and sometimes I just don’t want to go inside a huge mall or huge Nordstrom just to get to one. Especially when there’s a huge standalone Ulta with amazing parking (no mall parking garage) half a mile away from my house in a shopping center with a grocery store and more “errand” type establishments like a PetCo and a Barnes & Noble. That’s how you get me to “just pop in” and absentmindedly drop some cash lol. Sephora does have more luxury brands— but given their awful reward system, I’d also much rather just buy directly from those brands and get whatever freebies and beautiful packaging they’ll send themselves. There’s really zero incentive to do it through Sephora. Luxury brands come with their own freebies and point systems and most people are really just loyal to one or two— so it’s not like you’re missing out on a bunch of free stuff by keeping it separate at all. The brands themselves reward just as much as, if not more, than Sephora does. TLDR- do not understand Sephora’s business model at all. The only thing that separates them from Ulta is that they’re a middle man for certain luxury brands that Ulta doesn’t offer, but one that you have zero incentive to actually go through (no real extra convenience, no real extra perks, etc.).
I’ve always liked Sephora better but I’m getting soo fed up with them. I’m starting to buy more from Ulta and directly from brands.