Make the Most of Your Ulta Rewards

Have you ever signed up for a rewards program and then completely forgot about it? And then 8 months later you’re really getting to the nity gritty shopping and could really use some sort of discount? Or have you ever gone shopping one day, only to get a 20% off coupon the very next day for the exact thing you’ve already bought? I’ve done all of these things!

But in recent years I’ve become more of a savvy shopper. I check my email for coupons BEFORE I go to a store, I only shop when I have coupons or sales are going on, I also evaluate how much I actually want/need something. Do I need it immediately that I’m going to have to pay full price for it? (i.e. a new pair of jeans because the only pair I own have ripped and it’s November vs. another cute over sized cozy sweater.) If not, I should wait and save some money on it.

Overall tip for any store: SIGN UP FOR THE EMAILS!!!! Even if you don’t open them, just do it. Even if you set up a rule in your email so they go to a folder and you never see them, do it. Even if you have to set up a coupon/ads/rewards specific email address, do it. This will be the absolute number one way to save no matter where or how often you shop.

1. Join the rewards program.
   • We should start there, just in case you haven’t already. Sign up for the emails, see tip above.
   • If not nothing else, join for the month of your birthday. You’ll get a birthday gift coupon emailed to you on your birthday, and you get 2x the points on any purchases made during your birth month.
2. Activate all the offers, even if you won’t use them.
   • At least once a month, Ulta will send you an email telling you this week all your purchases are 2x the points (3x for platinum members), or a specific brand is 5x the points. Activate all of these offers when you see the email. Even if you don’t think you’ll use it, just activate it. All it takes is a .06 second click. Should you decide to stop at Ulta on your way home from work (to pick up one thing), and happen to purchase something from that particular brand without thinking about it, BOOM bonus points. You don’t even have to remember which brand, you can just get what you wanted and if it’s the 5x the points brand, you just hit the jackpot. (Points round-up or down to the nearest whole number.)
3. Shop when it’s 2x, 3x, or 5x OR buy one get one.
   • Along the same lines as the previous point, I try to only shop a specific brand if I’m going to get bonus points on it. Now this doesn’t apply to staple products that I use every single day, can’t live without, etc. If my eyelash curler breaks, I’m going to buy a new one, with or without a discount or bonus points.(Although I may be drawn to try an eyelash curler from a brand with bonus points.) This tip is mostly applied to trying new products. For example, I’ve been wanting to try the new Covergirl foundation, and even though it’s not expensive, it’s still not something I NEED. So I’ve been patiently waiting for Covergirl to be a 5x the point brand. That way when I spend the $10 on the foundation, I get 50 points, as opposed to 10 points.
   • I should also mention bonus point offers stack on top of each other. During your birth month you already get 2x points on everything, if Ulta is also offering 5x the points on Netrogena, that’s a whole lot of points my friends. Don’t worry I’m going to show an example. It gets a little weird trying to explain base points, plus double points, and then more points on top of that, so I’ll direct you to the Ulta FAQ on it. I’m not completely sure I understand it sometimes. But I’ve copied a transaction where I stacked bonus point offers below, to show it in action.
4. Check your coupon before you go.
   • Ulta ALWAYS has some sort of coupon available. It will be at the bottom of every email they send you. (Or you can get it right off the home page of the website.) Most of the time it’s a $3.50 off a purchase of $15 or more (usually isn’t applicable to higher end brands, just drugstore brands). Every now and then they’ll send a 20% off your entire purchase coupon (usually means no matter what you’re purchasing, even the higher end brands). Even if you’re only going to get one thing, let’s say a Real Techniques brush set, which is around $20, you can use your $3.50 coupon and spend $16.50 instead. OR you can add something around the $4 to your transaction and basically get it for 50 cents.
   • Coupons do subtract from your base points, see below.
5. Share your wink card with your friend who only buys mascara once a year.
   • If you’re the only beauty guru in your group, let your friends give your phone number(or wink card if you still have it) at check out. That way you get the points for their once a year transaction. You can repay them by giving them your $3.50 coupon.
   • Also if you’re a parent, and you and your kids all shop at Ulta, keep everything under your information, and use the points to treat yo self. (The kids can take advantage of their own points when they start using their own money!)
6. Shop the 21 Days of Beauty and Hair Events.
   • Similar to only shopping a certain brand when you have bonus points, wait to stock up or try new things during some of Ulta’s big beauty sales. The 21 Days of Beauty is a great time to try something you’ve heard a lot of great things about but were on the fence about buying for once reason or another. I purchased an It Cosmetics brush during the most recent 21 Days of Beauty for 50% off. I just wanted to know if the brushes were really that amazing, and for around $20 I did. (It’s nice but not worth 30+ for just one brush.)
   • 21 Days of Beauty or The Hair Event is a good time to get beauty gifts for holidays, birthdays, etc. Both events are twice a year. This past 21 Days was in September with the Hair Event right behind it in October. That’s a great time to get some gifts to stash away for the upcoming holiday season. I almost always get lip products to put in my sister-in-law’s Christmas stocking. And I may pick up some of my office mates favorite hairspray for our gift exchange. The possibilities are endless.
7. Save your points. Spend your points.
   • This is probably the easiest/hardest part of this set up. Points expire after one year (unless you’re platinum). So keep that a mind when you’re deciding how to save up/spend your points. Down below I’ll lay out how I redeemed by points last year.
   • If you buy most of your makeup from Ulta, you’ll accumulate points pretty rapidly, and by a certain time of year, you may have a decent amount to redeem.
   • If you shop at Ulta sparingly, you might not get a ton of points at a time (unless you’re always only shopping when there are bonus points 😉 ). If that’s the case for you, every 100 points is equal to $3 off. So if in one transaction you can earn 100 points, that’s $3 off your next transaction.

I went to Ulta one afternoon to purchase a specific thing (they didn’t have it), and I ended up purchasing two other things that were part of bonus offers at the time. I had 2x points on all purchases and 5x points on Real Techniques and Neutrogena. So I picked up a foundation I had been curious to try and a brush. I also had a $3.50 off $15 coupon. I spent $20.48 and earned 183 (base+bonus) points.

Item #	Item Description	Qty	Eligible Spend(*)	Base Points	Bonus Points	Points Redeemed
2244502	REAL TECHNIQUES EXPERT FACE BRUSH	1	$8.99	9	61	0
2244502	Discount – $ Off	0	($1.31)	-1	0	0
2501922	NEUTROGENA HYDROBST HYDRTINT NUDE 1Z	1	$14.99	15	102	0
2501922	Discount – $ Off	0	($2.19)	-2	0	0
Total			$20.48	20	163	0

I got the Urban Decay Naked Palette for under $15 last December. When I went to purchase it, I knew I was going to redeem all my points for it, and just pay the difference. However, I also had a 20% off coupon. So here’s how the break down worked out:

Item #	Item Description	Qty	Eligible Spend(*)	Base Points	Bonus Points	Points Redeemed
2228983	URBAN DECAY NAKED 1 PALETTE	1	$54.00	53	13	0
C8	LW 45 PC Email Reminders	0	($10.80)	-11	0	0
NEW750	750 Points Redemption – $30 off	0	($30.00)	-30	0	-750
Total			$13.20	13	13	-750

Did that make sense? If not let me know. If you have any tips for getting more bang for your buck at Ulta, let us know in the comments.

I would like to try to do this “Make the Most of” for several stores if you guys find it helpful. Let me know where else you’d like. With the holidays fast approaching I know I’ll be utilizing any and all rewards programs available to save as much money as I can.

Disclosure: Links used are Magiclinks.