Ulta Beauty lists 151 brush sets and lets a shopper filter them by purpose, by color, by brand and by price band, but not by the one property that decides what a brush is good at: what the bristles are made of. Anyone buying a makeup brush set for beginners therefore has to read product pages rather than lean on the filters, and the sets worth reading are easier to spot once you know which shapes a first set has to cover.
This is an independent editorial review. Ulta Beauty did not review or approve this article.
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics and Fragrance, Inc. is a United States retailer and the policies quoted here are its own store-wide ones, read on its site. Any individual brand sold inside that store sets its own guarantee, and the care instructions printed with a particular set come from the company that made it.
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Use case 1: starting from nothing, where a makeup brush set for beginners earns its place
The useful question for a first purchase is not how many pieces a box contains but how many jobs it covers. Ulta’s own Complexion Essentials set is a good worked example of the shape: five pieces made of what the brand calls “premium synthetic hair,” four of them brushes and one a blender sponge. The brushes are described by job rather than by material, with a precision concealer brush for spot coverage, a buffing brush for foundation, a precision powder brush for setting and a precision highlighter brush.
Counted that way, a sensible starter set covers four jobs and no more:
- Something broad and soft for powder across the whole face.
- Something dense and rounded for pushing liquid or cream into the skin.
- Something small and firm for concealer, where accuracy matters more than blending.
- Something flat and short for eyes, plus a spoolie for brows and lashes.
Ulta’s filters will sort by Brush Type across Cheek, Foundation and Powder, and by Purpose across Application, Blending, Contouring, Curling, Highlighting, Lining, Shading and Sharpening. None of those facets tells you whether a brush is synthetic or natural hair, so that answer only ever appears in the product description itself.
Use case 2: a makeup brush set for everyday makeup, which is two or three pieces at most
Look at an eight-piece or twelve-piece box honestly and ask how many of those will be picked up on a work morning. A makeup brush set for everyday makeup gets used in about ninety seconds, which in practice means one face brush, one eye brush and the sponge, with the rest left in the pot. Large sets are not a bad buy, but they are bought for the two brushes that get used daily rather than for the ten that do not.
The first month is also the only month in which the decision is reversible, so treat it as a trial:
- Use the set as bought for two full weeks without reorganizing it.
- Note which pieces you reach for and which stay untouched.
- Wash everything once in that window, so you learn how the bristles behave after cleaning.
- Decide inside Ulta’s refund window rather than after it, since the terms change at 30 days and again at 60.
Use case 3: a makeup brush set for foundation, where the shape does most of the work
Complexion products are the place a beginner notices the difference between tools fastest. A makeup brush set for foundation is really being judged on one piece: a dense, rounded head that can push product into the skin rather than drag it across the surface. Ulta’s own set pairs that buffing brush with a blender sponge and sells them together for a reason, since the two finish differently and a beginner usually settles on one of them within a week.
Material matters more here than anywhere else, which is exactly where the catalog stops helping. Because there is no bristle filter, the only reliable route is to open the product page and look for the description of the hair. Ulta’s own collection states synthetic hair in plain words; other sets may not say at all, and a set that will not tell you what it is made of is a set you are buying on looks.
Use case 4: a makeup brush set for eye makeup, and the smallest pieces in the box
The eye is the one area where the Food and Drug Administration publishes direct consumer advice, and it is worth following whichever brushes you own. Its eye cosmetic safety guidance says to “make sure that any instrument you place in the eye area is clean,” to “keep containers clean,” and to “discard dried-up mascara,” adding plainly: “Don’t add saliva or water to moisten it.” On sharing, the agency is blunt: “Don’t share your cosmetics. Another person’s bacteria may be hazardous to you.”
That turns a makeup brush set for eye makeup into a hygiene purchase as much as a technique one. A small flat shader, a blending brush and a spoolie cover nearly everything a beginner needs, and all three are easier to keep clean than a dense foundation brush. The FDA also advises against using any cosmetic near the eyes “unless they are intended specifically for that use,” which is the reason a lip or cheek brush should not quietly become an eyeliner brush.
Side-by-side by situation
| Your situation | What that situation needs |
|---|---|
| You own no brushes at all | Four jobs covered: powder, complexion, concealer, eye |
| Ninety seconds in front of a mirror on a work day | Two or three pieces, not a twelve-piece display box |
| Liquid or cream foundation | One dense rounded head, with the material stated on the page |
| Eye makeup, contacts or sensitive eyes | Small washable shapes, kept clean and never shared |
| Unsure the set suits you | A decision made inside the first 30 days |
| Buying as a gift | A sealed set and the receipt, since proof of purchase governs returns |
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Frequently Asked Questions
The questions that decide this purchase are about returns and hygiene rather than technique, and both have published answers rather than opinions behind them.
Can I return a brush set I have already opened and used?
Ulta’s policy covers “most new or gently used products within 30 days of the original purchase date” for a refund to the original payment method. “Returns made from 31-60 days of the original purchase date are eligible for a merchandise credit,” and a return received after 60 days “will not be refunded and will be returned to you by mail.”
What do I need to bring to make a return?
Proof of purchase, unless the store can find the order in its own system, plus identification. Ulta states that returns require “a government-issued physical ID and either a phone number or email,” and that shipping charges are not refunded. The company also states that it “does not resell used, damaged, or expired products.”
How often should a beginner wash brushes?
Often enough that they are always clean before they touch skin. The FDA does not publish a schedule for brushes, so the honest answer is its standing instruction to keep any instrument used around the eye clean, alongside whatever cleaning routine the maker prints with the set. Ulta’s own collection says simply to keep them clean and cleanse the bristles regularly.
Is it safe to try brushes and testers in a store?
Use the applicator rather than the display tool. The FDA advises that testers be “applied with single-use applicators, such as clean cotton swabs,” and warns against sharing cosmetics at all. If the skin around your eye becomes red, itchy or swollen after using any product or tool, stop using it and speak to a doctor.
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Conclusion
A first brush set is one of the few beauty purchases you can judge properly in the first fortnight, because nothing has to be used up to find out if it suits you. Count the jobs rather than the pieces, read the product page for the one fact the filters will not give you, and make the keep-or-return decision while the window is still open at 30 days rather than discovering the rules at day 61.
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