Ulta is TERRIBLE - Lead/Task Ulta Beauty Employee Review

1.0
30 Aug 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I loved the discount (of course) and I also enjoyed that when I was promoted to lead I was able to talk my manager into giving me more flexibility with my schedule.

Cons

Ulta says they won't work part time employees more than 20 hours a week, but then I would get scheduled for 30-40 (when I was going to school full time). This might not suck, if I hadn't had to work crazy shifts like opening at 5 and then closing until 11 right after. In addition, the pay sucks. I was promoted and received NO RAISE! Eventually, I was given a paltry raise, which was sadly more than most people in the store. Communication between corporate and the stores is terrible, but we get in trouble if we don't do things the "corporate" way. At my store, the schedule was NEVER written before Thursday or Friday the week before. As in, if you worked on Sunday, you wouldn't know it until the Thursday or Friday right before. Try making any sort of plans for appointments with that schedule. Management expects all employees to have 100% availability, which is ridiculous for a part time minimum wage job. They also don't "believe" associates about school schedules, and get mad when students "can't skip school." Get real! In short, Ulta asks for a lot from hourly employees but gives nothing back. I wish I had started at a different store so I could have made more.

Explore other reviews about Ulta Beauty

5.0
17 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fun place to work, fast pace and always newness

Cons

Very demanding of all levels of management

2.0
4 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

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.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All