Ulta Beauty Reviews

Pros

Nice atmosphere and people were nice

Cons

Pay is my biggest con after being there

Pros

The only few good things about this job are gratis, employee discount and learning about beauty products

Cons

Where to start? Managers are usually the worst people there. They play favorites and don’t care about your schedule at all. Customers are rude and impatient. We’re forced to harass customers to buy stuff and sign up them up for the store credit card, if we don’t we get less hours. Pay is terrible and each store hires multiple people they don’t need just to give them each less than 10 hours a week. Managers keep all the gratis to themselves and there’s nothing you can do about it. Don’t think about going to HR if something bad happens because they don’t care. Working hard and showing up doesn’t matter, they don’t promote within the store. Don’t even think about a raise because you’re not getting it. There are sales goals to be met every hour and most of them are unrealistic. Employees get searched every day before leaving while strangers are allowed to steal from the stores with no problem. The only people who would enjoy this job are college students with no bills to pay and just want to kill some time. Ulta is a vicious company that only cares about one thing and it’s making money.

Pros

You get to be creative with your makeup, watch videos on brands for free products, this location let you wear company colors in addition to black or white

Cons

It seems very clique-y among the team- people who have been there longer have more freedom with dress choice and hours compared to new hires; you have to work early morning stocking shifts despite applying/getting hired to work the sales floor with customers

Pros

Good bonus structure Great benefits Weekly pay The culture is different in every store, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good company values

Cons

The directive from senior management is not always clear. Sometimes, there is a disconnect because they don’t actually know what it takes to make it work at a store level. The push credit and loyalty, which we understand is great for long term business but it ends up making you feel like you have done nothing else right or that your job depends on meeting that goal. Company values don’t always trickle down into stores, which has a lot to do with who is promoted, why, and culture.

Pros

The employee discount is 25% products and 50% salon services. The register is really easy to work and it’s easy to catch on how to stock products. It’s easy to request time off. Every shift begins with a “chat in” so everyone is up to date on info. Ulta is definitely better than most other retail places.

Cons

I don’t believe the pay is fair based on the amount of work required during the shift. Employees are required to run the register, stock and clean the store, complete online orders, help the extremely needy guests, watch an average of 8 trainings videos each week, capture loyalty information and sign guests up for credit cards, and more. It gets really overwhelming. You are not technically punished when your loyalty and credit stats are low but when management has to cut hours your hours will be cut if your numbers are bad. All retail is hard and it’s difficult dealing with the general public but for some reason Ulta’s demographic especially rude. Coupons don’t work on 70% of product in the store and guests often start arguments about that. My location is always busy and corporate wants us to cut hours during the week to stack them on saturday’s which leaves staff spread really thin and overwhelmed during the week.

Pros

I struggle to find a lot of pros for this place, you did get an employee discount which was nice.

Cons

The salon I worked at was not very clean. The other ladies in the salon we also not all that nice to work with. The way they break down the pay with commission makes it sound like you’re going to make a lot more than what you really well, especially if you’re just starting out in the business. A lot of clients also view the salon as not a true salon because it’s in a beauty store which made it really difficult. And overall because of it we were treated poorly by staff and clients.

Pros

I built a great clientele in just 10 months. Great for new stylists. Hit and miss with managers.

Cons

Cattiness among employees. The base pay was soooooo low. You’re expected for work the sales floor with no training. You’re expected to help with truck in between clients. Cleaning chores are not evenly distributed among stylists. Favoritism is real. I was hired as full time, and coded at part time. So I didn’t get benefits for MONTHS. and then they made it seem like it was my fault.

Pros

The job itself is big but rewarding! I had a great team and it pays well with proper experience. If you have a passion for the beauty industry it can be a great place to work depending on management.

Cons

Some managers can be power hungry to the point of you walking away. The way they push sales is a little uncomfortable. They want us to have full on conversations to push sales with EVERY person you come across so if you see a shopper that wants to be left alone and you know that, they still expect you to sell. Yes it’s a business, but Ulta shouldn’t have to try THAT hard. There’s also hardly any work life balance with how many calls and texts you answer outside of work. Shifts are usually whole day consuming such as 11-7 without including the commute time. That’s your whole day.

Pros

Occasionally get to choose a piece of gratis from a box (selection usually wasn't good) if you sell a lot of credit cards that day. The stuff is often travel sized and close to expiring though. 25% employee discount but you end up spending more on makeup you don't need than if you didn't have the job

Cons

I especially hated how much management would constantly be on you to sell credit cards and capture data and customers who would get angry when you asked. I don't know if I disliked the pushy management or the annoying customers more. If you have to work retail do it somewhere that doesn't have their own credit card. Also a lot of the new hires would get hired making more than the people who had worked there for years (they never give raises besides a 50cent raise for becoming lead cashier, which doesn't make up for always having to be on the register).

Pros

Only pro was the people I worked with directly.

Cons

Company policies that should be illegal, such as denying a doctor’s note for a day off. Time that I spent in the hospital for an illness was not excused and was the reason I was forced to leave. Honestly never felt so devalued and worthless by my employer even though I put my heart into my work. So disappointing to be treated that way after going through an uncontrollable illness. Also do not expect to get any time off for a holiday even if you request it months ahead time. I wish I never gave my time and effort to a company that doesn’t value it’s employees. Their point based attendance/write up system for reprimanding employees is predatory and not based on the individual’s circumstances. No empathy towards employees and could be considered discriminatory towards anyone with health issues.