Ulta GWPs

[itscarin]

This thread will be for Ulta GWPs only.  Share ulta promos here.  

Please do NOT post requests for the spreadsheet in this thread.  Please post requests for the Ulta GWP google spread sheet in this thread: http://community.sephora.com/t5/Off-Topic/Ulta-GWP-Google-Spreadsheet-Request-Thread/m-p/2753063#M11...

A list of in store coupons is here: https://community.sephora.com/t5/Savvy-Shoppers/Ulta-GWP-Coupons-no-chatter/td-p/3866521

Let's keep this thread on topic!

Ulta points refresher (because yes, it is that complicated):

Spoiler

Item #1 - $53.50

Item #3 - $108.50 (and is eligible for a certain item/brand 5x multiplier)

* There is also a 5x all purchase multiplier and you are platinum so you get 1.25x

Total Spent - $162

Base Points Earned - 162

Platinum .25x Earned - 41 (162 * .25 = 40.5, and rounding up)

5x All Purchases Earned - 648 (it ends up being 4x because you don't count the base points)

5x Item/Brand Earned - 434

Total Points Earned - 1285

Links are not allowed.  In lieu of links, please read this:

Spoiler

Please add product id numbers and sku numbers so people can find items on ulta.  

Just to clarify, there is an item number that Ulta lists on the website, right under the picture of the item.

The product id is the number given to the item in the URL.  So Ulta's site follows this formula of having the url and then the very last part of the url is "productId=xlsImpprod" followed by an 8 digit number.  If you use that "productId" number you can get to the page of any item on ulta. 

It's not a search, but the direct url to the page. 

Click on any product, and then view the url in the address bar.  It will look like this: ulta's website (not using the actual domain because BT admins don't like that) /prep-prime-fix?productId=xlsImpprod15921204  Replace the 8 digit product id of the item you want to see with the id of the product you're looking for.

My very unofficial Ulta point multiplier to approximate percent discount chart:

(This is a number where I use the multiplier to divide by 2000 to see how many dollars I would have to spend in order to redeem a $125 reward.  E.g. 2000 points divided by 1 point multiplier means I have to spend $2000 to get the $125 reward.  Adding how much I had to spend ($2000) + the reward ($125), and then using the reward ($125) to divide the total purchase ($2125), I get a discount of approximately 6% based on the total purchase.  Note: the total purchase is based on the concept that you are spending just enough to reach the next $125 reward and combines the reward value with how much money you had to spend to get that reward.

Spoiler

Multiplier	1	1.25	1.5	2	2.25	2.5	3	3.25	3.5	4	4.25	4.5	5	7.25	7.5	8	8.25	8.5	9	9.25	9.5	10	10.25	10.5
Spend	2000	1600	1333	1000	889	800	667	615	571	500	471	444	400	276	267	250	242	235	222	216	211	200	195	190
Points	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000
Redeem	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125
Total Purchase	2125	1725	1458	1125	1014	925	792	740	696	625	596	569	525	401	392	375	367	360	347	341	336	325	320	315
Discount	6%	7%	9%	11%	12%	14%	16%	17%	18%	20%	21%	22%	24%	31%	32%	33%	34%	35%	36%	37%	37%	38%	39%	40%

[Ispend2much6]

@itscarin   Have you ever tried Nars' tinted moisturizer?  It's pretty nice, easy to wear.  I bought some Briogeo products, a hair mask for curly hair and the co-wash for curly hair.

I also bought several of the large sized Cerave salicylic acid cleanser, recommended by our dermatologist. 

A large Kiehl's Ultra Facial cleanser, Tarte Double Duty Brow gel (it has a nice, skinny brush,) and two MAC lipsticks that weren't on sale at MAC direct.  That's not much for the $ out of pocket, but it does result in a nice "refund" from Rakuten and Ulta.  I earned close to 2500 points.

[CookieGirl1]

@Ispend2much6 I literally just bought the NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer  myself a couple of weeks ago and I'm loving it!  

[Ispend2much6]

@CookieGirl1   I used it several years ago, and really liked it!  Glad it was a good purchase for you!

[itscarin]

@Ispend2much6 I had a Nars matte tinted moisturizer before.  I think it was tinted moisturizer or maybe it was tinted spf. Anyway it felt so thick and goopy and gross. Never again!  I did really like the foundation in the square bottle they discontinued about a year ago though. 

the rakuten cash back and the points are a nice combo!

[WinglessOne]

@itscarin  If you tried NARS's tinted moisturizer before 2021 with no shade matching luck: this year they updated the shade range and replaced some old shades with new versions. I've never had a good shade match in their tinted moisturizer (and previous formulations didn't play nice with my skin), but now one of their new shades, Santiago, is almost a good match for me. So if you've tried this product in the past but not recently, see if any of the newer shades work for you. If your skin's fairly sensitive to lots of fragrance components though, beware that this moisturizer still contains several of those. 

@Ispend2much6  I hope you like the CeraVe SA cleanser! Surprisingly, Ulta's price for the largest size is better than Target's. (Usually it's the other way around, as Ulta overcharges for many drugstore items.) I almost bought one of those tonight, too. 🙂 

[ohheyitscindyk]

@WinglessOne Thanks for the heads up on NARS' tinted moisturizer! I'll have to see if there's a better match for me now 🙂

[WinglessOne]

@ohheyitscindyk  I hope you can find a good match! I highly recommend trying to see the shades in person if you can, especially if you've got a local store (be it Sephora or another retailer) willing to give you tester access or samples. I don't trust NARS's promo photos. 😄 

[Ispend2much6]

@WinglessOne   I was surprised to see that the large bottle is only $3 more for twice the size of the small one!  Believe it or not, this cleanser goes out of stock everywhere; I've had trouble finding it for months.  We have a lot of skin issues over here, and that was recommended for folliculitis, etc.  It's used as a shower gel over here.  The dermatologist also recommended using dandruff shampoo on spots to help them clear up.  Haven't tried that yet.

All I know is, now I have points to use for an Hourglass stick blush, a MAC Love Me Liquid Lip Color, and a  Fresh shower gel. 🙂

[WinglessOne]

@Ispend2much6  Yeah, dandruff shampoos are good at clearing yeast-related skin issues. (I've had to use Nizoral shampoo on my neck a few times.) It's definitely worth a try. I also use BHA cleansers as daily shower gels for my back (I use a different CeraVe cleanser elsewhere), and once a week I use them to exfoliate my arms and legs. I really should go back and grab some of the 16oz CeraVe SA Cleansers before they sell out. Especially at that price, which seems like a fluke, right? 🤣 All the other CeraVe cleansers offered at 8oz and 16oz sizes are also priced that way at Ulta right now. Huh. Anyway, hooray for finding this cleanser in stock—and during the 10x points event, and at a strangely low price! 

Can't wait to see your "freebies thanks to Ulta points" haul in one of the monthly hauls threads! 

[Ispend2much6]

@WinglessOne   Look what I found on Elite Daily-

Spoiler

[WinglessOne]

@Ispend2much6  Hmm, it's been a while since I last saw that cleanser in stores... I wonder if CeraVe still makes it. Checking their site... I still see it listed (along with their psoriasis cream), but they no longer have it in stock at their own site. It's normally around $16-17 for 8oz, like their other cleansers. It really is a nice cleanser. 

CeraVe just released a new "Acne Control" cleanser and gel. They both contain 2% BHA, and the gel also contains AHAs. I was hoping Ulta would have the cleanser in stock during the 10x points event, but nope. I'll have to buy it from Target instead, though I'd probably never use it anywhere but my back and my face's oily zone because it contains hectorite clay to absorb excess oil. (My body skin's dry enough as it is. 😂) 

[Ispend2much6]

@WinglessOne  I was mistaken; it's the psoriasis cleaner that is always out of stock, and the one I meant to buy at Ulta.  lol  Oh well, the other one will work too, just not as strongly. 

[Ispend2much6]

@WinglessOne  That's good info, thanks!  The price of the large Cerave bottle has been the same for a month or so; hope it keeps up!

[itscarin]

@WinglessOne @I can’t even remember the name and it was so long ago it doesn’t show up in my purchase history at Sephora.  I remember one person matched me to one color initially but it looked sooooooo yellow on me it was awful.  I matched myself to a different color and it ended up being a great match. I wish I could remember what it was! I’ve consulted Sephora and temptalia and they both provide different answers for what’s a shade match to mufe y325 (which is my shade). 

[WinglessOne]

@itscarin  Aw, I hope you can find out what shade that was—and I hope it's still in the current shade range. My problem with the old shades that came anywhere close to matching me was their very yellow undertones. In fact, that's a complaint I used to hear a lot about NARS foundations and tinted moisturizer, and even their concealers. I wonder if NARS finally took that to heart when they updated their shade range. 

Then again, some of the new shades NARS shows on models with deeper skin tones are suspiciously light. I doubt I can pull off the next shade lighter than Santiago (Auckland), yet the model shown wearing it has a skin tone as deep as mine. I dunno NARS, Auckland looks very not medium-deep to me... I need to see that model actually apply that shade to her face before I'm convinced, and I need to see her in natural daylight. This reminds me to get more samples of other shades, probably from Nordstrom if my local Sephoras aren't doing samples. 

[itscarin]

@WinglessOne Idk if you watch floribama shore (and I don’t blame you if you don’t, lol), but this one character, Nilsa, has the most green foundation ever. She straight up looks like the wicked witch of the west her foundation is so green. That’s kind of how I felt with the “yellow” tints in the Nars foundation. 

I think it is hard to get foundations right. There’s so many different undertones and depths of skin color. I’m glad I’m not responsible for making shade ranges!

[Ispend2much6]

@itscarin @WinglessOne   We need to let that character know that if her foundation looks green, it's because she's cool-toned and using a neutral shaded foundation!  lol

[WinglessOne]

@Ispend2much6 @itscarin  🤣🤣 I don't watch Floribama Shore, but now I'm tempted to look up photos/video clips to see this woman's foundation. A friend of mine with olive skin had so much trouble finding foundation or tinted moisturizer that didn't emphasize her natural green or make her look obviously "but your face doesn't match the rest of your body" orange, she gave up. Now she just spot conceals and calls it a day. 

Anyway: I had a similar "waaaay too yellow on me" experience with the old NARS tinted moisturizer shades that were actually within my shade depth. The shade I think Santiago replaced.. I don't remember the old shade's name, but it made me look jaundiced. Another shade had the opposite problem: it made me look too orange, plus it was too deep for me. Not that I could've worn that product even if I'd found a good shade match, since the formula irritated the hell out of my skin. But yeah, I understand not finding a match in the old shade range and having extremely bad undertone results with it. 

Creating foundation shades is a job I don't wish on anyone, that's for sure! Lancome used to let folks get custom liquid foundation shades mixed at counters in a few stores, including my local Nordstrom. I wonder if they still do that anywhere... that's really the only way to get a bottle of "perfect match" foundation. And even then, it's based on store lighting instead of daylight, and we all know how much lighting affects shade matches. I applaud makeup brands that have 40+ shades in their foundation lines: as overwhelming as it can seem to a customer trying to pick their shade, at least there's a chance a shade will be a close enough match to work. 

[treestar86]

@WinglessOne  I've wondered why brands dont just sell samples, or at least a small sampler, w/a few shades each in your range...that seems like the easiest, and best way to try foundations, concealers.  since many of us dont want to spend half the price on a travel size bottle, since that would only be the same thing, trying to see if it works...esp. now that theyve stopped doing testers.  I got the clinique foundation for my diamond perk, as usual, and was trying to pick the color online - its daunting, w/all the names!! trying to decide between the name and the pic...thankfully it was pretty close!! but by the time I went to try it it already smells like its going bad. 😩

[WinglessOne]

@treestar86  I've also wondered about this. It'd be a much better option than the usual blister sample cards that contain 3-5 shades across the entire shade range, where only one (or maybe two, for lucky folks) would come anywhere near working for you. I'd rather see brands offer 2 or 3 DS in shades picked by the customer. I realize this would create packaging waste (even if the DS bottles/tubes/vials were recyclable), but surely not as much waste as 1-3 full sized bottles of product in shades that end up not working. 

When Beauty Bakerie first launched their foundation, they surprised many customers with a free FS bottle of the next shade up or down from whatever each customer chose, to help folks find their shade. Even though I'd written off liquid foundation by then, I was still very impressed by that. Il Makiage is the only brand I can think of that still sends FS foundation and concealer without charging anything but a shipping fee (I think it's USD $5), and gives customers a little time to test it—and return it at no charge if it doesn't work out. Their return window is quite short though, something like 2 weeks. And they only send one shade at a time; I don't think you can request 2 different foundation shades (or 2 different concealer shades) for the free trial period. I can't think of any other brands that currently do anything similar. 

Aw, sorry your Clinique foundation had started to turn so quickly. But at least you now have an idea of the right shade for you. 🙂

[treestar86]

@WinglessOne  exactly, and I dont even bother w/those foundation/concealer samples anymore, for the most part - unless theyre all in my range.  but, I end up w/them anyway, even if I picked different samples, lol.  its a waste when you can only try one. I've thought it would be neat to collect them and send them around like those traveling beauty things that I've seen here on BIC - we could just use the ones that apply to us, and then collect the rest to send around and exchange. 🤗

but at least tarte has their minis b2g1 free at ulta sometimes - thats how I finally tried their famous concealer.  and a couple of their tinted lip balms, that were actually so big, that I thought they were full size!! 😮

especially with brands always changing and discontinuing things, causing customers to try to find the newer version, having more samples and minis would help to reduce waste.  but thats neat to hear that some brands let you try them for free. 😊