Ulta Beauty — Local services in San Mateo

WOW!!! I RARELY shop at this store, but was WOWED beyond belief! So…two things were happening. I was shopping for Nioxin shampoo & conditioner as, the combo of the two seems to add body to thinning hair for guys like myself. So; I only found humongous sizes; which I didn’t want and so the young lady who helped me (should have looked at her name tag but was put into a trance by her eyes b/c she was drop dead beautiful) did, in fact, find smaller sizes for me. I also asked her about hair gel. Kiehl’s has a firm hold hair gel which is amazing, yet, they’ve been out of it for a long time and Nordies, who also carry’s Kiehl’s has also been out of it. This young lady recommended a gel that her Dad uses; called Crew firm hold styling gel. So I bought a 3 oz tube of it…and am hoping to get some great results when I style the hair tomorrow. I then had some questions for the young lady at the check out line, And (like the young lady helping me w shampoo & hair gel) she was kind enough & patient enough to answer all my questions. All of these young ladies at Ulta, each one more drop dead beautiful than the next, are welcoming, helpful & kind-hearted…and all of these great qualities did not go unnoticed! I...

Really disappointed with my last visit to this Ulta. I've had positive experiences at this Ulta and the staff has been really friendly, except the last time I was there. I was walking around the isles and an employee walked up to me and asked if I needed any assistance. I said no, and she just like stood there for an awkward amount of time, like staring into space like she was trying to figure out what to do, then ran off. I brushed it off and keep perusing the isles. Then the security guard walks by and starts looking at products as I'm doing the same thing. He's keeping an one isle distance from me and keeping pace with me as I walk back towards the front of the store. I knew he was following me, so I stopped and pretended to look at something longer and he did the same thing. Even when I went back to an isle I already looked at he did the same thing. Annoyed, I bought what I had, left, and I won't be going to this Ulta again. It's disappointing because Ulta's used to be a place where I didn't experience racial profiling, but I guess they can't all be good. This was the closest Ulta to me but now I understand why I never saw other black...

This beauty store engages in highly questionable business practices. If you purchase an item during their 21 day sale (for example, at 50% off) and simply need to exchange it for a different color (ie. Foundations, exact same product), they’ll refuse to honor the original price. Instead you’ll be asked to pay the price difference for the day - in other words pay the full cost price for the exchange. Thus your sale discount is completely voided just because you needed a different shade. This is not standard practice in the beauty industry- most reputable retailers allow even exchanges for the same items at the same sale price. Should you contact their corporate office, they’ll inform you of this same practice. Unlike other online retailers, sale items purchased online cannot be exchanged either. This policy feels deceptive and punishes customers for shopping during promotions. Shop...