I generally don’t mind them, but I’m fortunate to live in the U.S. and have physical locations nearby for most retailers, so it isn’t an inconvenience for me personally.
— Christine
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Hate them. First, you have to figure out or remember who has what. Then, if you live in an area with no local Ulta or Sephora or whatever exclusive store, you can’t compare all the products or shades. Then let’s say you love the product and want all the colors — would you have to order from three different places? Ugh. I think it makes shopping way more complicated than it should be.
I hate it! I live in Europe so it’s very hard to get them.. not cool! 🙁
I hate them. It’s really annoying if you don’t live close to shops. I lived in the country for 9 years, and I still live a 30-minute minimum drive from Ulta and Sephora. There’s mail order, but it you want more than one item from a collection and one or more is retailer-specific, you have to deal with either more driving or shipping fees.
These arrangements serve the retailer, not the customer.
I feel you. My nearest Sephora/Ulta is 3 hours away! Meaning most of my shopping from them is online. If there’s something from both stores I want I usually end up skipping one because I don’t want to pay for shipping twice, or hit the minimum twice.
While I live in the metro area of a state capital, a number of the major retailers are not present here — or are but in “light” versions — so for me it’s a bit annoying. And, between Sephora and Ulta — (we have 2 Sephora’s and many Ulta’s), it’s just too annoying to deal with so if something is available in only one and not the other and I’m not up for the chase, I’ll just skip it.
There is just too many US elusive brands/products for me to care about the at all. lol
I dislike having accounts all over the place. If there’s minimum for free shipping and I only want that 1 release and it’s a retailer that I don’t normally shop at, it makes it super difficult. I tend to just eBay/Amazon those items to just circumvent that nonsense.
Like I ordered Tom Ford quads at Saks (which I never shop at because there’s no store near me) and the next thing I know, I’m getting catalogues and other things. I only wanted those two quads and they were running a discount that applied to beauty purchases. I called and had them take me off their marketing lists.
I also hate them. Living in Canada, with no Ulta, I miss out on many of these and it’s a bit insulting (to those of us here or in Europe, etc.) who are loyal customers of many of these brands, to be told basically that we’re just not all that important to them.
It all depends on location. When I lived over on the Westside, I hated it! In Surprise, we only had an Ulta there, the closest Sephora was at Arrowhead, and was a pain to get to while I still had a vehicle, and downright impossible once I no longer did.
However, now that I’ve been living on the Eastside for almost 4 years, all the retailers are quite accessible. I still rely on public transit, but can get to Ulta, Sephora or major dept stores, so no longer the pain it was before. Still, I’m no fan of “retailer exclusives” as it is a horrible inconvenience for those living far away from both, or those who don’t have easily accessible transportation.
I am neutral on it all. If I happen to be in a store and come across a retail exclusive item that I like I may get it but I don’t search for nor pay any advertising attention to them.
I generally don’t care, even though I’m in Canada and that means I don’t have access to Ulta exclusives. Most of them don’t interest me. There are times when Chanel or Dior or the like have a Nordstrom’s exclusive that I wish they would choose a representative retailer in Canada, even if it has to be Holt Renfrew.
They make me mad! Especially if you have an exclusive at a normal shop but your town is smaller, like my Nordies and Sephora are tiny as heck and often do not carry these types of things every time for every brand!
I am personally mildly annoyed by them, because I like to be able to shop across retailers and choose based on loyalty program, current promotions/ sales, etc. When a product is retailer-exclusive, you are subject to whatever their structure is. It definitely doesn’t benefit anyone but the partner retailer! And to your point, it makes it nearly impossible for those outside of the US, which I would imagine is a bummer.
Agree with you.
I think it’s a marketing practice that only benefits the retailers, as customers have no choice but to buy the item from them, and to a lesser degree brands, by creating buzz and the impression of rarity. I don’t see any benefit to us beauty lovers, so no I don’t like exclusives. I will very rarely order an item from a retailer I don’t usually buy from just because it’s an exclusive (I see that a lot of commenters mention the problem of brick and mortar store access as well, but I personally do 90%+ of my beauty shopping online).
I don’t like them. I like to be able to focus my shopping at the retailer whose rewards system I find most lucrative.
Rave: They often have products and deals that are very budget friendly and generally of good quality – like Sephora’s own brand.
Rant: Living in Australia, we have not, in the past, had access to products like this before. Now that Sephora has moved to two capital cities, it will be easier to access them. I only wish that Ulta would come here, because our one budget beauty shop, Priceline, really needs some competition.
I dislike them, as shockingly, we don’t get SO MUCH that a lot of those of y’all in the US get!!
I don’t care for them. Not only does it require ordering online, as most B&M stores are often OOS or just don’t carry them in-store, but it also forces one to shop in a store they would rather not support. I personally will not step foot inside Nordstrom, for several reasons, but many brands are only carried there. I also hate being able to get an item online.
I used to be quite the Nordstrom shopper when I lived in the US. I loved their MAC exclusives. I still see that Nordstrom has a lot of exclusives on their website so other people must still love them too!
I have no love, just hate.
I hate them. I live in Singapore so everything that is Ulta exclusive is hard/impossible for me to get. Even when I lived in Canada, still no Ulta there. I can understand that some brands are only present in some countries, but when that brand is available worldwide, but that their star product is Ulta exclusive, that’s really frustrating.
I don’t think there *is* anything to rave about. You either don’t mind or are inconvenienced by them somehow. The only reason I can think of an exclusive product making sense is when it’s sort of a “collaboration,” you know what I mean? Like Sephora’s Rouge-only products that are all, well, red. Or a festive release to celebrate a company’s birthday? ?
If I can get them online at the retailer’s website, I’m good. If it’s in-store only (unless it’s Walgreens, where I’m the only beauty junkie on staff), it’s a pain, and I am likely too far from the store. I live near 2 Ultas and 2 Kohls, but other than that, it’s just drugstore. Sephora is an over an hour away, and the malls are about 40 minutes. Especially since I work 2 jobs, I’m pretty much working 7 days a week. The internet is my friend when it comes to shopping.
So yes, if it’s online or at Walgreens (Job 2), but no for all others.