In the ongoing beauty battle of Sephora vs. Ulta, I’ve been an unbiased party since I don’t shop at either. Apart from my aimless strolls, I’ve never gone into either store with a true intent to buy anything. Having been to both at least once in my lifetime, the only opinion I could form would be shallow just because of my surface-level interaction. The only thing I could truly say is yes, there is a clear difference in atmosphere as well and product selection — though that doesn’t mean that one is better than the other.
In my continuing dissection of the beauty industry and these two moguls, I finally needed to have a clear outlook to fully understand the extent to which these brands operate and their positioning within the market. Because I wanted to maintain a neutral perspective, the best method was to hypothetically become a customer at each. By placing myself in the role of an online shopper, it allowed me to see the best that each has to offer because besides my theoretical shopping spree, there are actual potential customers who could spend actual money at either.
Since I’m not a makeup connoisseur, and quite frankly not really interested, I opted to shop for skincare instead. In a real scenario, it’s what I’d actually be looking for and it gave me a chance to analyze how each company was addressing the shift from makeup to skin care. Amy Regan of Skinfix, a new skincare company said of this cultural shift, “Skin care is about beauty meeting wellness. That’s the future of this industry.” I set out to find three basics that are essential to my personal skincare routine: a cleanser, a serum or treatment, and a moisturizer.
Each website features a skincare quiz if you’re not sure what you need. Sephora’s quiz can give you recommendations by either skin concern or the type of products you like, while Ulta’s is based on either skin concern or skin type. While it can be tempting to just opt for the most lavish options, since this is all hypothetical of course, expensive doesn’t always mean better. I made my decisions not because of a celebrity endorsement or because of a price, but because of what I truly felt would work for me. I opted to shop by individual category and after filling my cart to my heart’s content, these are my best options.
From Sephora, I chose the Tatcha Deep Cleanse Exfoliating Cleanser, the Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Vitamin C Power Serum and the Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream. The Tatcha gel cleanser contains the Japanese luffa fruit, which is a natural beauty multitasker. The luffa fruit is renowned for its clarifying and moisturizing properties, and when dried and ground, it gently exfoliates without over drying. This cleanser is a great solution for minimizing pores, fighting oiliness and evening skin tone. It was also voted one of Allure’s Best of Beauty. The Power Serum is a brightening treatment that has 20-percent THD ascorbate — a mega-potent, ultra-stable form of vitamin C. This rich serum plumps and softens skin. The Drunk Elephant cream, another one of Allure’s winners, contains six rare African oils, green tea and is completely free of essential oils, silicones and fragrances.
Ulta had seemingly just as great options. To my hypothetical dismay, the Boscia Detoxifying Black Charcoal Cleanser I picked was sold out. The Lancôme Visonnaire Advanced Skin Serum I chose, softens and smooths skin as well as refines pores. My moisturizer of choice was the Philosophy Renewed Hope In A Jar. It’s a lightweight, whipped formula that delivers a long-lasting glow and continuous hydration. It features a triple blend of alpha hydroxy acids, three forms of hyaluronate plus Asian fruit extract.
Price-wise, I’d come out cheaper shopping at Ulta by nearly $50 — though I would be sacrificing product selection. The 20 items I had in my cart initially at Sephora (don’t judge, we all do it) made it a lot harder to choose from compared to the five I had at Ulta.
In conclusion, I could be a customer at either company and have great options. Chances are, you could as well. No matter your preference, both beauty empires can satisfy your beauty needs while satisfying wellness.
