It’s Official: Chanel Beauty is Being Sold in Ulta

Updated on March 30, 2018 at 6PM EST:

It’s happened, folks. Chanel is officially in Ulta stores. TrendMood1 reposted a photo from @wendyarangobeauty that showed the full Chanel Beauty display in Westport, Connecticut. From the photo we can see a full set of foundation in liquid and what appears to be powder, but it’s still hard to make out exactly what Ulta is carrying. Arango said it was the best Ulta she’s ever been to and did some “damage.” We’re ready to make some damage, too, let’s go!

Original story published on March 16, 2018 at 5:30PM EST:

We’ve got big news beauty lovers: Chanel Beauty is coming to Ulta.  According to Racked, at Ulta’s 2017 fourth quarter earnings call yesterday, CEO Mary Dillon made the announcement to investors.

“Finally, we’re thrilled to announce a prestigious addition for 2018 — Chanel Beauté. Following our long-standing partnership with Chanel offering their iconic fragrances in hundreds of our stores, we are honored to introduce Chanel Beauté in a small number of Ulta Beauty doors this year. This will be an edited assortment featuring a Chanel-branded makeup station with the first Chanel store opening in Westport, Connecticut in just a few weeks.”

Source: Instagram

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Although some vital information wasn’t revealed, like which stores will be receiving products, how much of the line will be available, if it’ll be online, and pricing, this is a huge step for both companies. Ulta has sold Chanel’s fragrances before, but this time it’ll be the likes of eyeshadows, lipstick and foundation.

As prestigious as Chanel is— being one of the most universally recognized brands— fans are wondering why they chose to partner with Ulta over more luxury-diverse, Sephora. Comments on TrendMood1’s Instagram post from earlier today vary from saying Sephora is “screwed” to “That’s way too high end for Ulta.”

Source: Instagram

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And this isn’t the first time the affordable retailer has carried more expensive labels. They’ve recently started offering brands like MAC and Dermalogica, too. Although higher-end products typically don’t sell as well as mass brands, Dillion thinks Chanel will bolster their profits.

In the call to investors she said, “Turning to prestige cosmetics, similar to the third quarter, we saw this category slow from its stellar growth in 2015 and 2016. While certain brands of makeup were very strong, others struggled to comp over significant multi-year increases. We’re optimistic that we can accelerate growth in this category with encouraging newness in the pipeline. We’re currently updating our prestige cosmetics assortment…”

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The word “assortment” could be what fans see as Dillon’s keyword, though. More commenters on TrendMood1 fear that the supplies will be limited, won’t be carried in all stores, and won’t work with their Ulta rewards points. Even more, people are commenting how this partnership is coming at the perfect time for Ulta because it’s a hazy smokescreen that covers the lawsuit allegations claiming they resell used products.

We can’t say Ulta chose this time specifically to announce the collaboration, but it does provide a shift of perspective. All in all, we can’t say we’re not excited to see Chanel in there. Now, if we could just get that drop date.