Ulta and Sephora have been around for as long as anyone can remember. They are both large beauty, makeup, health, and wellness brands that promote beauty on the inside and outside for women, featuring makeup products galore. So what’s the difference between the two?

SEPHORA

Sephora’s retail sales in 2020 were a whopping $5.01 billion. So as you can see, Sephora is making big bucks off of their products. Not only because they are good, but because of their incredible marketing skills. Sephora has a way of putting out ads/products that catch people’s eyes, especially teenage girls. It is very rare to walk into a Sephora and not be ambushed by a group of teen girls. Pretty much every day on social media a new skin care/make up product is trending. Make up and skin care has always been fun, but Sephora has been the one to feed into this make up culture and make it even more enjoyable for people to shop there. The main reason why they are so successful is because they target a young audience, and not only do they have an amazing variety of products, but they also carry hair care products, tools, and brands that are safe and inclusive.

SEPHORA VS. ULTA

You’re probably thinking, isn’t Ulta the same thing? In the product sense, yes. Sephora and Ulta sell many of the same products but Ulta does not have as strong of a marketing team as Sephora. Ulta Beauty’s revenue was $6.152 billion, a 16.84% decline from 2020. This definitely has a lot to do with the pandemic as many makeup companies suffered immensely during this time. The beauty industry was not able to have people test out products or come in the store and smell the fragrance that they wanted to purchase. Although Ulta does not have the best marketing, they target influencers to promote for their campaigns. Their motto is to empower all beauty via creative content, podcasts, promote mental health support, and cultural influencers. The brand recently launched a limited edition T-shirt collection made from recycled materials, and partnered with the New York Times, best selling author, Meena Harris (founder of the Women Action Campaign in Chicago where they created a unique T-shirt design).

SHOPPING AT SEPHORA AND ULTA

Although Sephora and Ulta have many similarities, everyone agrees that it is all about shopping preference. Sephora has a more modern and showy feel to their stores as opposed to Ulta which offers a more relaxed and laid-back store. They can be found in strip malls or as part of a larger mall. Sephora is typically found in malls, and are always very large and crowded. If you are into a more calm, economic, and faster shopping experience, Ulta is a great pick. If you like to take your time shopping, and like a variety of options, Sephora has an endless number of possibilities and products to try.