I love the selection that Ulta affords. While Target has stepped up its game in terms of bringing in a competitively large makeup section, Ulta still wins out on having very specific items that I'm looking to purchase. Plus, Ulta carries all of the prestige brands.
I get coupons occasionally, and some of them are alright, but I'm thrilled about the last coupon I was sent. It allowed a general discount to be taken off of my entire purchase, including sale items and prestige makeup brands. That means I was finally able to try prestige brands....
The only downsides are that occasionally the drug store level products will be heavily picked through or not restocked. The occasional tester will be missing, which is unfortunate if there is an interesting product that really needs to be tested for skin tone match.
The store is not cheap, but usually has some offers of interest for those of us on a budget. Plus, having product options available beyond what you can get at a drug store or a big box store has really improved the beauty merch selection in town.