Don’t go shopping at Ulta until you read this

If you’re not sold on the store brand, don’t sweat it: You have about 499 other brands to choose from. Whether your budget is big or small, you have seemingly limitless options. You can find inexpensive brands like NYX Professional Makeup, CoverGirl, L’Oréal, and even the classic Wet ‘n’ Wild. Walk down a few more aisles, and you can also pick up your luxury staples from Dior and MAC.

It’s this combination of high-end products — which Ulta calls “prestige” — and inexpensive items — i.e. “mass makeup” — that not only sets Ulta apart from other beauty retailers, but also mirrors consumers’ shopping habits. “The fact that Ulta sells both categories in one location is a differentiator in the marketplace — it’s how we shop today,” retail analyst Jane Hali of Jane Hali & Associates, told Digiday. 

Monica Arnaudo, senior vice president of merchandising at Ulta Beauty, told the publication, “In mass cosmetics, it’s been really interesting to watch, because you can see that what was transpiring on the prestige side has started to happen on the mass side. The industry is moving very fast, because the customer is moving very fast.” And Ulta isn’t falling behind.