Chasing Davies: Ultimate beauty & hair playhouse + $100 Giveaway!

April 14, 2014

Ultimate beauty & hair playhouse + $100 Giveaway!


Last month, a new ULTA Beauty store opened up in Overland Park, Kansas (Aspen Square shopping center off 135th and Lamar) and Erin, Sandy and I were among some bloggers that were invited to a party to celebrate!  We had a blast shopping and trying out the salon, even getting our hair braided and learning a few tricks.  

I specifically was bound and determined to learn how to tease my hair.  Seriously... I do the backcombing thing and it just never seems to stay.  I have this weird flat section and a mean cowlick on the back of my head that I need to get a good tease to get my hair to lay right and fill it out back there.  So, the lovely ULTA hair stylist showed me a few brushes that assist in a successful tease, as well as went over the proper technique, so I thought I'd share! 

1. The comb I was using just wasn't up to pare at all.  You need a brush or teasing comb with soft bristles.  I ended up purchasing a paddle brush with a mix of soft and hard bristles so I can use for far more than just teasing (but you can get this simple tease comb, too).

2.  Work with smaller sections of 1 to 2 inches of hair for stronger hold.

3. Hold the section of hair you want to tease with one hand straight up above your head and angle the edge of the brush or comb downwards, holding in the other hand. Start a few inches above the roots and brush down (backcombing).  But here's the important part (that I was doing allll wrong), pull the brush/comb straight out (not at all back up).  Basically, don't brush back up the hair you just scrunched down.  Do this a few times on each section of hair. 

4. Arrange the hair where you want it and then ever so lightly smooth over the outer layer to get the end result!  

Still confused?  Don't worry, you can catch a few visuals within the video below!  We had such a fun time playing throughout ULTA during their launch party, we just had to share:



So, as you can tell from the video, ULTA Beauty is way more than just an awesome salon.  If you aren't familiar, it's the largest beauty retailer in the United States and is a totally great one-stop shop for cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products and salon styling tools, as well as salon haircare products.  If you are like me, you love a good bargain beauty item, but have a few expensive staples in the mix, too.  That's why I love that their offering ranges from affordable brands that you can find in drugstores to prestigious ones that are typically seen in higher-end beauty retailers. 

In addition to selling great products, they also offer a full-service salon in all of their stores.  The menu expands past hair and consists of anything from hair cut, color and style to Dermalogica skin treatments to eyelash extensions.  All of their Salon Pros go through extensive training, so you know you are in good hands.

For those that frequent ULTA, or are about too... you should check out the ULTAmate Rewards card.  For every dollar spent, you will earn 1 point.  These points can be redeemed online or in stores to receive dollars off future merchandise purchases.  And if you spend $400 or more a year at Ulta Beauty you’ll reach Platinum status and be able to earn points even faster (which can be easy to do if you think about how much you spend overall on beauty and hair products/treatments in total!).

We're sure you'll love ULTA as much as we do, and since there are so many stores PLUS online shopping available, we partnered with ULTA to bring you an awesome giveaway.  We have a $100 gift card to one lucky reader from Chasing Davies, Pretty, Polished, Perfect and/or Sandy a la Mode.  Just enter through the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
If you live in the Kansas City area, make sure to check out Ulta's newest store in Overland Park at Aspen Square or find your nearest store here!
This post is sponsored by ULTA, because we already love their brand and offerings, we were so excited to work with them!  Of course, all opinions in this post, as always, are my own.

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