Don't work in the salon! - Esthetician Ulta Beauty Employee Review

1.0
Feb 19, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You get a 25% discount on product. It's a nice discount and can be combined with an buy one get one offers or the like. I'm not sure if you can use coupons or not. I didn't work there long enough to find out.

Cons

I started working at Ulta thinking it would be a full time position as an Esthetician. The manager told me the salon was extremely busy and I would be busy in no time. They started me off at minimum wage and I thought that would be okay, because I would be making commission in no time. Well, I wasn't busy. I went the first 2 weeks without any services. The next week I got about one a week. I never made commission and was only working 20 hours, not 40. I had to walk around the store educating people about the salon. Whenever they discount or give services for free, you don't get commission if it's free. If it's discounted, you commission off that. It's hard to build a clientele because people don't want to pay full price for the services. The room was not set up for properly for a relaxing service. The way my store was put together, put the facial room right next to the storage room door, which was constantly slamming during my services. The towel cabby was on the other side of the room. The sink sprayed everywhere and the room was freezing. I gave a client a nice service and all she remembered afterward was how cold she was. I had asked the DM to get me a bed warmer, but you know how slow things move with corporate. One day I got to work and was immediately asked to clean the bathroom. I'm not above cleaning bathrooms, but don't wait for me to get to work. I was also told that my off white cardigan was not white enough to be worn to work, but the girl with pink hair and 5 lip piercings was fine. The company is extremely suspicious of employees and customers. Its true that you get patted down after work everyday. I suppose it's not that big of a deal, but it didn't make me trust them. The DM was new and she was really sweet, she seemed smart and willing to listen to her employees. The store manager played faves. And the salon manager was just a tard. She proceeded to tell me than an autoclave and UV sanitizer were the exact same thing. I think Ulta is a good job if you're looking for part time work while you're in college. The hours aren't dependable enough for full time, unless you work in the salon for a while and build up your clientele. Also, if you want to start working in makeup, it might be worth a try. I have worked at the counters at Macy's and preferred that, but to each his own. I ended up leaving Ulta after a month because I wasn't making any money. I was sad to leave because I liked the girls I worked with, but relieved that I wasn't going to have to go to work to just stand around and not make any money!

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Pros

Indoor facilities, no extreme weathet

Cons

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2.0
May 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

good benefits for full time employees from what I hear. hourly pay if commission goal isn't met which is nice for those building clientele

Cons

this could just be the case for my store, especially because it's a very high volume store, but as a stylist I don't feel valued at all. I expected this to some degree coming to a huge corporate salon, but the biggest issue is that they try to pretend they care about you. but at the end of the day, if you're not meeting the sales they want/growing quickly enough, they don't care about you as a stylist. if you don't already have an established clientele, business is highly unreliable as there is no late cancellation/no show policy. many services are underpriced in my opinion, making it hard to meet their sales goals as an entry level part-time stylist unless fully booked every day. all they care about is getting as many clients in and out and quickly and possible and they hire more stylists than there are chairs, making every day inconsistent and chaotic. the relative stability of hourly pay is commission threshold isn't met seems enticing for stylists still building a clientele, but the hourly pay is wildly inconsistent between stylists, even those of the same tier. as a stylist of over 3 years who moved and is starting over with no clientele, I make over $2 less per hour than a fellow stylist who just got her license a few months ago and started taking clients for the first time last week. you're better off working at a place like Great Clips or Hair Cuttery because at least they're honest about what they are.

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