Ulta Beauty Hacks: 10 Proven Ways To Save Serious Cash

Want to save money at Ulta Beauty stores? Yes? Here are some proven Ulta Beauty hacks for savvy shoppers to save serious cash.

Ulta Beauty is the largest beauty retailer in the United States. It’s famous for its “one-stop shop” approach to the beauty industry.

Unlike other beauty retailers that either focus on high-end or affordable products, Ulta Beauty combines high-end luxury products with affordable drugstore brands in one place.

Ulta Beauty is the best place to shop for makeup, skincare, and haircare products, offering a wide range of options. As you might know, beauty products are hilariously expensive. No matter whether you’re buying from Ulta Beauty or any other store.

Fortunately, it’s possible to save money while shopping at Ulta Beauty. Many shoppers don’t realize that simple tricks and hacks can save them hundreds of dollars.

In this post, I’ll cover some of the best Ulta Beauty hacks that savvy shoppers use to save serious cash.

So, let’s get started.

Hack 1: Ulta Beauty Rewards Program

If you’re a frequent shopper at Ulta Beauty, joining the Ulta Beauty Rewards program is a must. If you don’t, you’re missing out on great deals and discount offers.

Ulta Beauty Rewards program is free to join, and you can start accumulating points right away. As a new member, you’ll earn $5 just for joining.

The rewards program has three membership levels:

Free ($0)
Platinum ($500/spend per year)
Diamond ($1,200/spend per year)

Typically, you earn one point for every dollar you spend at Ulta, Ulta.com, and Ulta at Target (you will have to link your Ulta Rewards account to your Target Circle account).

Platinum members earn 1.25 points per $1 spent, while Diamond members earn 1.5 points.

Pro Tip: Shop during Ulta’s “Point Multipliers” events when they offer 2x, 3x, 4x, or even 5x points on qualifying purchases. These multipliers don’t just add up—they multiply your earning potential dramatically.

I prefer Ulta Beauty rewards program members to shop during point multiplier events. For example, if you purchase $100 worth of products during 5x-points events, instead of earning 100 points, you’re earning 500 points in one go.

What are you going to do with Ulta Beauty rewards program points? You can redeem your points for discounts.

Point Redemption Discounts:

100 Points = $3 off
250 Points = $8 off
500 Points = $17.50 off
750 Points = $30 off
1,000 Points = $50 off
2,000 Points = $125 off

Ulta Beauty Rewards Program Birthday Gift

Ulta Beauty’s rewards program not only offers discounts in exchange for points, but you also get a birthday gift just for being a member. Moreover, you can choose your birthday gift from travel-size skincare, haircare, or makeup.

During your birthday month, you’ll receive an email that includes a coupon to redeem the gift. It’s redeemable both in-store and online. However, you can’t redeem it in an Ulta store at Target location.

If you’re a Platinum or Diamond member, you’ll receive a $10 coupon on your birthday month.

Hack 2: Ulta Beauty Sales Calendar (Save Up To 50%)

If you’re an Ulta Beauty shopper, never miss its sales calendar. Because Ulta goes big on sales events that feature one-day-only 50% off deals.

Here is the Ulta Beauty Sales calendar:

Mother’s Day Promotions (May): Member-exclusive gifts, such as a free tote or robe with any $70 fragrance purchase.

Gorgeous Hair Event (Mid-May): Expect 50% off daily “Beauty Steals” on professional hair care (Redken, Pureology, Biolage) and styling tools.

Big Summer Beauty Sale (Late June – Mid-July): It’s the replacement of the old “Jumbo Love” summer event. This event usually features weekly rotating deals up to 40% off across all categories, plus discounts on liter-sized shampoos.

National Lipstick Day (July 29): A one-day event with major “Buy One, Get One” deals or heavy discounts on top-tier lip products.

21 Days of Beauty: Fall Edition (Late August – September): It’s one of the year’s biggest sales events. Expect daily 50% off deals on prestige brands like Tarte, MAC, and Urban Decay.

Fall Haul (Late September – Early October): It focuses on “everyday favorites” and drugstore brands. You’ll typically see 25% to 40% off brands like La Roche-Posay, Cerave, and Morphe.

Gorgeous Hair Event: Fall Edition (October): It’s the repeat of the May event with 50% off daily hair care steals and tools.

Early Black Friday Deals (Early November): Weekly deals leading up to the main event.

Black Friday Sale (Nov 22 – Nov 28): Massive store-wide discounts up to 50%, fragrance samplers, and free “swag bag” gifts with qualifying purchases.

Holiday Beauty Blitz (December): New deals every week through Christmas Eve, specifically targeting gift sets and palette bundles.

If you are a savvy shopper, wait for these sales events to take advantage. A smart strategy is to combine these daily deals with your reward points.

Before you shop any of these sales, check the “Ulta Beauty Rewards” section of the app. Activating 2x, 3x, or 5x point multipliers during a sale is the fastest way to earn “Ulta cash” for future purchases.

Hack 3: Stack Coupons Like a Pro

If you’re an Ulta freak, you might know that Ulta Beauty is extremely coupon-friendly. You’ll always find coupons on its coupon page.

The most common coupon offers are:

10% off qualifying purchase when you sign up for text alerts
$3.50 off a $15+ purchase

It’s comforting for savvy shoppers to know coupons are available. Even if you don’t find the above coupon offers, there will always be something.

Did you know that Ulta accepts manufacturer coupons and that you can stack them with a store coupon? It opened the door for more savings.

You’ll find many drugstore brands like CoverGirl, Revlon, and Maybelline at Ulta. If you have manufacturer coupons for these brands, Ulta will accept them at checkout in-store. And you can combine them with an Ulta store coupon.

Note: As per Ulta’s coupon policy, you’re only allowed to use one store coupon per transaction. Therefore, you can’t stack two Ulta coupons or promo codes on top of one another.

However, some brands, like Kylie Cosmetics, are excluded from most Ulta coupons. You can see the full list of coupon-excluded brands on Ulta’s website (the list is lengthy).

Here are some call-outs:

The Salon at Ulta Beauty
All fragrance brands
Benefit Brow Bar service
Skin Bar at Ulta Beauty
CHANEL
N°1 DE CHANEL
Dyson

Hack 4: Ulta’s Clearance Section

Ulta Beauty has a clearance section for both in-store and online, but they don’t call it clearance.

In-Store Clearance Section (Last Chance Beauty)

Ulta Beauty calls its clearance section “Last Chance Beauty” in-store. Look for shelves labelled with this name.

If your store doesn’t have “Last Chance Beauty” signs, look for clearance beside the registers at the front, or on a shelf at the very back of the store.

Clearance section items are marked with either a yellow or red sticker. The yellow sticker indicates the big savings.

Decoding the price sticker colors:

Red Sticker: This indicates the product is at its first markdown. It has never been discounted before. Typically, you can get up to 50% off, depending on the product.

Yellow Sticker: It indicates the lowest price for the product during the clearance process. You can get 50% off or more.

White Sticker: You may see products with white stickers. It doesn’t indicate discounts. These products are on the clearance shelves just because they couldn’t fit in the other shelves.

Online Clearance (Sale)

The online version of the clearance section is a lot easier than the in-store version. All you need to do is visit the Ulta website and click on the “Sale” tab.

The best part of the sale section is that you can filter your search by Price (low to high). You don’t have to explore every item’s price tags to find the lowest one.

You’ll see discounts of up to 70% off on selected items. However, most items are marked down by around 50%. You can combine clearance items with coupons or reward points to lower the price even more.

Hack 5: Use the Ulta App for Hidden Perks

If you’re an Ulta Beauty shopper and not using the app, you’re leaving money on the table. The app isn’t just a convenient way to shop—it’s a hub for app-exclusive deals, personalized offers, and real-time alerts that you won’t always find elsewhere.

Ulta Beauty has an app for both Android and iOS users.

One of the biggest advantages of the Ulta Beauty app is access to app-only coupons and promotions. App-exclusive deals are tailored to your shopping habits. It means you’re more likely to see discounts on products you actually want.

Hack 6: Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) Strategy

BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up In Store) is a great way for savvy shoppers to avoid shipping costs. It not only offers convenience—it’s a strategic tool that can help you save time and money while accessing deals you might otherwise miss.

When you shop online, you can choose in-store pickup at checkout. It’ll help you to bypass shipping costs entirely while still benefiting from digital-only perks like discounts, GWPs (gifts with purchase), and bonus point multipliers.

Sometimes, items are marked as out of stock for shipping, but are still available at your local stores. BOPIS allows you to secure your favorite products without the uncertainty of restocking.

Hack 7: Get Free Samples at Ulta Beauty

If you’re someone who loves to try new products, you could get free samples at Ulta Beauty.

Ulta Beauty is a retailer that hosts various skincare, makeup, and haircare brands. When a brand launches a new product, they usually offer a free sample. At checkout, Ulta often allows you to select free samples.

Samples can range from skincare sachets to fragrance vials, and while they may seem tiny, they’re perfect for testing compatibility with your skin or preferences.

If you’re shopping in-store, don’t hesitate to ask employees if samples are available for specific products. While samples are not available for all brands, many stores are willing to provide small sizes, especially for foundation, skincare, or fragrance.

Hack 8: Ulta’s Generous 60-day Return Policy

Ulta Beauty cares about its customers. If you buy a product you don’t love, you can return the product within 60 days for a full refund. It’s more generous than competitors.

You can only apply for a full refund if you have original receipts. For an Ulta Beauty Rewards member, the process is very easy. They can track your purchases using your rewards member ID or phone number.

Ulta Beauty wants its customers to cherish their purchases. For this reason, they have a generous return policy in the market. They will even accept returns on gently used products for a full refund.

Ulta’s Return Policy: They will accept new or gently used products within 30 days of the original purchase date for a refund to the original form of payment. However, returns made from 31-60 days of the original purchase date are eligible for a merchandise credit. Returns must include all original components.

Hack 9: “Gifts with Purchase” Offers

You can access Ulta’s “Gifts with Purchase” page to see which products you can get with purchases. Every few weeks, Ulta lists new items on that page.

There are usually 50-80 free gifts available with purchase at any time. You’re likely to find a gift with a purchase you already want.

This “gift with purchase” can lead you to impulse buying. When deciding whether or not a gift is worth buying, consider the following factors:

Free full-size product offers
Travel-size or deluxe samples
Free gifts available in-store (many are online-only)
Gifts with no minimum total threshold

Do you have to return your free gift at Ulta?

What if you don’t like the product you buy from “gift with purchase” offers? Ulta’s return policy states that you can return the product for a full refund on a purchase that included a free gift, without returning the free gift.

Can you apply coupons to “gift with purchase” offers?

As we’ve mentioned above, Ulta Beauty is very generous to its customers.

Ulta Beauty applies a coupon after you reach a minimum spend, not before. Let’s say you’re trying to snag a “spend $40 and get a free gift with your purchase” promotion, but you also have the $3.50 off coupon.

Ulta will calculate the amount to see whether you’re fulfilling the threshold and hand you a free gift. Later, they will apply your coupon. At checkout, you’d pay $36.50 for a free gift with purchase, instead of $40.

Hack 10: Buy Discounted Ulta Gift Cards

Ulta gift cards can be used for buying your favorite products at Ulta Beauty. You can purchase Ulta gift cards at a discounted price.

Here are some popular marketplaces to buy discounted Ulta gift cards:

At GCX, you can save up to 11.8% for Ulta Beauty gift cards. At that discount, you could receive a $50 Ulta gift card for only $44.10.

FAQs

Here are some common questions asked about Ulta Beauty.

Do Ulta coupons work at Target?

Sadly, you can’t use an Ulta coupon at Target locations. Also, you can’t pick up your Ulta birthday gift from an Ulta at Target.

Do Ulta Beauty rewards points expire?

Points will expire for free members at the end of the quarter, one year after the date they were earned. However, points don’t expire while you’re a Diamond or Platinum Member.

Can I use multiple coupons in one transaction?

You can’t use two store coupons per transaction as per Ulta’s coupon policy. However, you can combine it with manufacturer coupons and rewards points.

When is the best time to shop at Ulta Beauty?

If you’re a savvy shopper, major sales events are the best time to shop at Ulta Beauty. If you’re an Ulta Beauty rewards member, shop during 5x point multipliers.

Can I return an item without a receipt?

Ulta requires an original receipt for all returns and exchanges. However, if you used your Member ID for the purchase, the store can look it up for you. In this matter, you don’t need a receipt.

Final Thoughts

Ulta Beauty is a great place to shop for makeup, skincare, and haircare products. It also offers many ways to save money. All you need to know is how to navigate it.

From mastering the rewards program to stacking coupons and leveraging major sales events, each hack adds another layer of value to your shopping experience.

What do you think about these Ulta Beauty hacks? Let me know in the comments.

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