Ulta Beauty

I find the bad reviews of this place baffling. I love Ulta! The staff is very knowledgeable and have always suggested differently priced products for my needs. They always have the new make up items quickly. I’ve gone in multiple times when they were super busy and the employee still spent 20 minutes with me. This place is always busy and that is likely why you might see some things out of place. I love having access to drugstore and high end products. They get 4 stars because their salon is horrible and for a little less cleanliness than what I’d like.

This place is awful, I watched the manager have a conversation with a friend for five minutes before authorizing the transaction for the associate making my return. On the same visit, I ask the lady completing the transaction for a store gift card because I was going to shop around a bit. She proceeds to put the money back on the the credit card in which I purchased the item on, but don’t have with me and makes me feel like a burden when I ask if there is any way to reverse it. For her to ask her manager took another 5 minutes only to return with a big no. So I left ulta empty handed after a nearly 20 minute visit and 20 minute drive. I would advise whoever is in charge to tech the associates how to use the computer, because they just costed you 90 $ and I will not be returning.

As a college student, it is very hard to be charged over 250.00 for a highlight and cut. I was not given this rate as an estimate prior to service. I said trim as little of the length as possible, so she «dusted the ends» and surprised me with the bill — I was charged less on prior visits. I was told I needed monthly appts. For less than $ 65, I got a better cut and highlight at Fantastic Sam’s, and began getting compliments. The master stylist was insulting, rude, and and disinterested in what I wanted.

I am giving Ulta 3 stars due to its lack of commitment to provide exceptional customer service to each and every customer. I have watched older women try to use coupons and show their ail and the gals at the front (including managers) seem to get aggravated if they have to wait a few seconds for an older woman to pull it up on a phone she didn’t grow up with! I have also had issues in the past finding help around the store. They seem to be short staffed and are quick to admit it when shuffling guests quickly.
As for the products, some are pricier than Sephora and salons. This has always been quite odd for me.
I also have had. an issue in the past with the salon manager who is racist. Some of the stylists have been profiled and put down due to their color. I have watched this just as much as I know about it through the grape vine. I am a hairstylist and word gets around.
I tend to not visit but if I am at Noodles & Company and need foundation, I will surpass the extra visit at rush hour to Oxmoor.

The worst possible scenario for Louisville: a last minute thing, need to get hair done, on a Monday. I had heard about all the fancy blow out bars in Clifton, and St Matthews, but they weren’t open for Monday. So what is a girl supposed to do?!
Simple. Check out the Ulta Salon. I was able to get an appointment at a time that worked for me, in a price range that worked for me. I got a blow out– shampoo, dry, and style– from an incredible stylist who was sweet, kind, and did an amazing job! My hair looked amazing. Ulta Salon was so easy to work with and put me at ease. They made a stressful day better by being so easy to work with and I will be forever appreciative. I can’t wait to go back regardless of what day it is for other things.

I have never received good customer service at an Ulta. The sales associates are lacking knowledge of the products and don’t seem care about your overall experience. I will order off Amazon or drive the extra distance to Sephora. (Mind you I live 3 – 5 minutes from the Paddock Shops)

Honestly, I just go here if I’m in the area. The idea of having drugstore and high end products under one roof is nice, but you can feel and see the total disconnect between the two sides of the store. More often than not, the store doesn’t look clean, and there’s been several times where I’m fixing the beauty displays on the shelves because it drives me insane when expensive makeup is just tossed on the counter! I see people working there, but there’s so few staff that they spend all their time serving clients. (I’m a self serve customer, I don’t really ask for help, but I am offered)
If Ulta didn’t carry my batiste dry shampoo (which is epic, please try it out), IT cosmetics or Mario Badescu skin care line, I probably wouldn’t ever go.

Salon gets 1 star!
I got a color and cut… asked for a junior stylist and not a senior/​master bc i wanted to pay less. I didn’t realize this girl was practically straight out of beauty school! The lady guiding her told her to dye my hair a darker color which i didn’t want. this wasn’t even explained to me, she just said «we are making ur hair all one color and it will be beautiful» like HELLO what does that mean? What color? Finally while she was mixing the colors I told her i was hesitant and she reassured me it would look great. My hair is softer and more hydrated but i do not like the color… This was the worst hair appointment of my life! My hair was being yanked and pulled in all directions and HURT. cut is choppy! and like i said i’m not pleased with the color.
3 STARS for the rest of the Ulta store, I love the concept of high-​end makeup and drugstore products under one roof, BUT they are constantly out of products! Who does inventory? Everytime I’m there something I want is sold out. And i drive far to get here :(boooo
There marketing is great and they keep me coming back for sure but salon needs help and inventory needs to be stocked more!

went to my local ulta salon at the summit for a cut/​style. was shocked when i was done and they handed me my receipt. on it was a charge of $ 11.00 xtra for the use of a flat iron. are you kidding me…
now my hair is short to begin with, and all my years of having gone to several salons in my 40 yrs. NEVER was i ever charged for the use of a flat iron. it’s part of the styling process.
this is part of the style. this is pure B.S. on their part. the entire bill was $ 64.00. just for a cut and style.
lets just say, i have no plans to return.

This store is located close to where I live so do shop there quite often. It is great if you know specifically what you are looking for. I have asked about specific products and never get a satisfactory answer. I was looking for a new mascara and asked the girl there if she could recommend a mascara for volume. I had a mascara in my hand and she looked at it and said «yeah that is a good one». when I asked if she could recommend another one she just said no that one is good. she was more interested in talking to the guy consultant who worked there putting on his makeup in the store mirror. The two of them were just laughing it up. Usually when I go there there is a guy and a girl (not always the same two) they are always talking among themselves and rarely even ask if I need help. There was another occasion where I saw a consultant applying makeup on herself in the store mirror. I have decided to no longer shop there because I usually spend a lot of money there on makeup and tired of listening to these consultants having conversations with each other while I select my makeup. I never have this problem at sephora where the consultants are actually knowledgable about products! Also Ulta coupons can only be used on a small amount of products so usually go there to use a 20percent off coupon only to get to the register and be told me coupon dosen’t work on what I am buying! I am now a SEPHORA only customer! They are way more willing to help, know products and are not laughing and socializing with the guy consultants that work there. NO I will not miss ULTA!!!

I’ve shopped here several times in the past and overall I’ve been happy with my experience. Sometimes employees will ask me if I need help or I have to ask them, but always they’re friendly when I need help. I was very pleased when I called ahead to see if they had an advertised item in stock. She happily went to look for it and asked if I wanted it to be held behind the counter.
As with Sephora, I always tend to spend more than I should when I go in. Sometimes I get good deals — like the time I used their nail polish sale of buy 2 get 1 free + points + coupon to get 3 China Glaze polishes for only $ 7 total. Sometimes nothing is on sale, and sometimes like my recent experience an item is ~$ 4 cheaper than marked.
You have to watch with their coupons because most makeup (because it’s considered a première product) cannot be used on those 3.50 off coupons which makes me sad. As far as I can tell, you can cash in your points for a discount on those items.
Overall, I’m happy with shopping there. I wish they had more sales and that you could use the coupons on more items — that’s the sole reason for not giving them 5 stars.

This review is for everything except the salon, which I did not use.
If you do not like or need to be helped by salespeople while browsing the store, this is the store for you. The store personnel stay out of sight until you need them. As much as I love shopping at Sephora, I have gotten a bit annoyed by the constant presence of the «beauty consultants».
This Ulta carries just about everything Sephora carries and more. Ulta has a seemingly endless selection of blow dryers, flat irons and curling irons in every price range. They also carry some drugstore brand cosmetics which Sephora does not. And with the specials, the prices beat the drugstores. Now I am a fan of Ulta!

I don’t normally write reviews but I was so frustrated and annoyed with my experience here I needed to share it with other prospective customers. The redhead older «Master» stylist was ridiculously rude and made for a very uncomfortable experience. So here is my experience…
I made an appointment here for an updo for my sister’s wedding. I live out of town and was told the salon was close so thought I would give it a try. Made an appointment for 1:00 and was told it would be with a man there. So I arrived at 1:03 to the salon and went to the desk to check in. The woman who came over was nice but she looked a little confused and walked around to whisper to some other stylists before coming back and telling me that a female stylist would be with me shortly. I waited for 10 minutes and noticed the only male working in the salon was finally done with his client. I walked over to the older redhead master stylist and very nicely said that when I called I was told a man would be doing my hair. She said that because I was late (3 minutes!!!) that they were trying to fit me in. Well there’s some great customer service! I was finally hooked up with a stylist and she was friendly and overall my hair was okay. No major complaints. But while I sat there, that dang master stylist was SO rude to one of the other stylists working there, ragging on everything she did it made it very uncomfortable. I also heard her scheduling walk-​in appointments for the stylists who were completing clients but not waiting for scheduled clients to get there so that the scheduled clients had to wait 10 to 15 minutes for a stylist. Very unprofessional. Overall, although my hair was okay I would NEVER recommend this salon to any of my friends and family in Louisville.

I called Ulta and scheduled an appt for a wedding style the day before I needed it. The receptionist was very accommodating and told me I would have a 1:15 appt and it would be $ 30 for the style. On the wedding day I arrived to my appt but there was no reception desk anywhere — no where to check in. I finally broached THEM and asked if they were ready for me — which was backwards to begin with, shouldn’t they be welcoming customers? They told me yes, absolutely, I had time to run to the restroom and have a seat, which I did. And I sat. And I sat… and because I was in the wedding and helping the bride, I had very little time to spare. I finally asked again if there was a stylist for me and was told «you arrived late, so we started on another customer» — a customer who I might add, was sitting right in front of me and was now involved in this showdown. I told them I had not arrived late but rather there was no where to check in, and I had very little time to spare for this style. The master stylist then told me I should have scheduled more time and that I had cut myself short! Now we are talking across the salon as I told her I hadn’t cut myself short, actually, I just needed the appt to be on time as the day was very busy. Her response was very uncomfortable and very unprofessional, and not welcoming at all. This «lead lady», who seemed to be scheduling, styling, and overseeing the other stylists, apparently finished with her other customer quickly and had me in the seat 5 minutes later. Overall, the stylist did a good job — but when I got the bill it was $ 70!!! I was quoted at $ 30, but as it was my friend’s wedding day I didn’t have time nor energy to take this woman to task, so I paid it and tipped her accordingly, even though really she swindled me — I was scheduled for a $ 30 style — the fact that they had not scheduled accordingly, and that I was not advised that the bill would be more than double what I was quoted, is unacceptable.
Overall, the scheduling at this salon is non-​existent, the stylists are not friendly, and this was not a pleasant experience at all. I am still steamed that I had to pay so much for a quick style of short hair. Don’t go here unless you confirm three times your appt, get the name of the stylist, and refuse to pay more than you were quoted. Otherwise you will be disappointed.

I love coming to Ulta for all of my beauty needs. Drugstore brand cosmetics are easy to find here, and they are very affordable if you buy them when they are on special, especially with an Ulta coupon from the Sunday circular. I prefer this place to Sephora for most things, unless I am looking for a brand that only Sephora carries.
The salon is nice, I’ve had several haircuts here that have looked good as soon as I leave and grow out well before my next trim. I’d actually recommend going with one of the lower-​level stylists if you come here and can get an appointment with them; in general some of the master stylists cut and style my hair in a way that I can’t replicate quite as well and I spend the next month willing my hair to grow faster so I can get it re-​shaped at my next haircut.
Overall, I am a fan!

Remodeled last holiday, this Ulta has a great selection of designer cosmetics including my favorite, Benefit. They even do complimentary eyebrow waxing on your birthday. The salon is completely renovated, and the cosmetics selection is the best in the city. Hair products galore, as well. So much better than to the mall or a department store.