Insider confessions from current and former employees at Ulta, the major cosmetics chain, posted on Reddit have revealed that beneath the glossy surface of a generous company policy might just be a whole bunch of (literal) trash.
What's happening?
So, you want to jump on a beauty trend without blowing your budget on a potential disaster?
Ulta says it has the solution: A 60-day return policy that gives you weeks to buy, try, dislike, and bring back a product — meaning, for customers, minimal risk and maximum relief.
Opened returns obviously don't (or shouldn't) go back on the shelf. Most people don't go to Ulta hoping to snag used products from a stranger. It's unsanitary and could even be dangerous.
And what about the in-between items — unopened but without intact packaging? (The beauty version of clothes, unworn but tags removed.) That's what one Reddit user wondered in a post on the r/Ulta subreddit.
The verdict? It's … not an exact science. "I just use my best judgment," one employee commented. "I feel like the best answer is 'it kinda depends,'" added a second.
"When I worked there, we had to open returned items and damage them anyway," remarked another, making the program sound less "secondhand swap" and more "trash transfer with a refund."
Why is this issue important?
"[Waste] is built into beauty's business model," stated Vogue Business in 2021.
Take shampoo, which delivers an annual 552 million discarded bottles — over a thousand football fields' worth of plastic — to landfills. Meanwhile, each year, over 200 million mascaras, about a billion lipsticks, and, per CleanHub, over 95% of the 120 billion pieces of packaging produced by the beauty industry (again, for one year) end up in the garbage.
That landfill waste, a lot of it plastic, contaminates our environment with toxic substances (including the harmful gas methane) and threatens our health and well-being.
On another r/Ulta Reddit thread, one user expressed frustration with customers who want convenience without consequence: "The amount of people [who] were shocked and angry that we destroyed the used stuff they returned was insane."
What is Ulta doing about it?
The problem of excessive cosmetic waste is complex and industry-wide. But all positive action counts — and Ulta's current environmental campaign, Conscious Beauty, is no exception.
Ulta, partnering with the nonprofit Pact Collective, recently expanded its massive 2023 initiative, The Beauty Dropoff, which provides in-store recycling dropoff bins for empty cosmetics containers.
Additionally, new online shopping filters enable customers to filter for product attributes, like cleaner ingredients or sustainable packaging, that match their values.
An emphasis on action over advertising empowers everyone to make sustainable choices that go more than just skin-deep. The consumer demand is there, too: "Omg this is amazing news!!" reacted one Redditor to the recycling program's expansion.
What can I do to help reduce cosmetics waste?
Read reviews, do your research, and browse in person before you buy. Regret a purchase? Don't return it just yet — first, peek online for recycling suggestions, both mainstream and eccentric.
Invest in versatile, high-quality staple items that last. Or take a chance on something unexpected but not a throwaway: custom product lines, innovative formulas, upcycling hacks, or zero-waste packaging.
After all, our planet has its own beauty rewards program, with serious returns, including clearer skin, thicker hair, and better mental health. No signup needed, and the benefits? Priceless.
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