NWPosh

Ulta October 21, 2007

“As the decade of excess, the ’80s, drew to a close, busy women wanted to pare down — to simplify their lives. In 1990, we saw a perfect opportunity to do just that by combining the best of three worlds under one roof — Salon, Department Store, and Drug Store. ULTA was born –the first ever one-stop-shop for lipstick, performance hairspray, luxury perfume, and a lot more. By marrying salon expertise with prestige and popular brand cosmetics, ULTA became a single beauty destination that goes above and beyond other retail stores — it’s a community where women interact via the salon, and experience outstanding beauty advice in a relaxed help-yourself shopping atmosphere.”

Nyberg Woods the latest shopping center in Tualatin houses several large stores, including Best Buy, GolfSmith, PetsMart, Office Max and Old Navy.

Located off I-5 at the Tualatin/Sherwood exit, Nyberg Woods is also the third location of Ulta Cosmetics and Salon in Oregon which opened on Friday, October 19th.

The store is well laid out and products are easily accessible. Store employees are helpful, even if not they are not knowledgeable. One customer asked for Shalimar, a dated request in itself; however the employee who was helping her did not know who made the perfume and continued to scan every aisle up and down. The employee then stated, “Oh, I know it’s by that Gautier (pronunciation of course butchered).” Hmmm. Close, Guerlain.

The store carries over 400 brands, although not all were present in the Nyberg Wood location. There is a wide range of hair products that spans from lower end lines, such as L’Oreal and Freeman to luxury brands, like Frederic Fekkai and Ojon.

Sign up for complementary “the club at Ulta” and receive valuable coupons, special offers and the latest product and beauty news. Upon first purchase, an Anastasia eyebrow gel, an Ulta lip gloss and an Ulta Vanilla body lotion were tucked inside my shopping bag. Another feature of the Club at Ulta is the different shopping levels, ranging 1 to 6, that correlate with a free product. For example, if one spends $100, then an Ulta eye shadow or a Neutrogena skincare product (among others) can be selected.