Don’t let the hourly wage fool you- the company is a mess. - Merchandising Manager Ulta Beauty Employee Review

1.0
6 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Hourly rate was high for me but I was lucky- most positions pay do not start as high as mine did, and the company DOES NOT reward good work with higher pay to the best of their financial ability.

Cons

Little to no training. Hours are unsustainable if your commute is over 30 minutes (my commute was 1 hour) during holiday, you could be scheduled as early as 6 am and as late as 10:30 pm, sometimes having to come in to open the next day. District manager and employees above them were classic corporate drones, more akin to robots that never learned empathy or understanding for those around them. All company jargon seems to have been created by a wordsmith attorney, designed to confuse and distract everyone from their poor practices (not budget enough hours for payroll to run the store correctly, close service tickets with zero resolution, building was in disrepair with no significant effort to improve, maintain little to no communication with warehouses and truck drivers to prepare for shipment deliveries). Not once did truck arrive as scheduled in my time as MM at Ulta. It didn’t matter what I did to get my responsibilities done, how much effort I put in, who I emailed, or how many service tickets I submitted- nothing improved. The company continued to make money despite themselves. Leaving Ulta improved my life tenfold and I would advise everyone to look for employment just about anywhere else.

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.

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