New Ulta, Sephora stores set opening dates. How many makeup shops does Fresno need?

Bring on the bronzer.

Fresno’s cosmetic scene is about kick it up a notch as Sephora and Ulta open big new stores in prime locations.

Sephora opens Friday at River Park and Ulta opens at Fashion Fair Aug. 11. The Sephora inside JCPenney also recently expanded and remodeled and will have a grand re-opening Friday.

Keep reading for grand opening times, freebies and discounts.

“Fresno loves their makeup,” said Fashion Fair senior marketing manager Brian Malony.

The new stores will compete with an already crowded field of cosmetics sellers.

At the mall, Ulta will take over the space left behind by Urban Outfitters. A Sephora store and Lush cosmetics are steps away in the outdoor portion of the mall.

Inside the mall, the Sephora store in JCPenney recently expanded by 900 square feet. It also added a Benefit Brow Bar that offers waxing, tweezing and shaping eyebrows.

Fashion Fair also has MAC store and a MAC counter at the Fashion Fair Macy’s, along with a Bare Minerals store, The Body Shop, locally owned Beauty Fix and all the other makeup counters at Macy’s.

When Ulta opens, it will be the fourth location in the Fresno-Clovis market.

Are there really enough shoppers here to buy all this mascara and moisturizer?

Depends who you talk to.

“Actually yes,” said Malony from Fashion Fair, adding that sales and foot-traffic numbers at the mall back that up. “There is a huge market for that here.”

But self-proclaimed shopper with a makeup addiction, Katie Hayner of Clovis, isn’t so sure.

“Do I think we need another Ulta? No ... I think a fourth Ulta is kinda ridiculous, especially at the mall,” she said. “It just seems like such a big store to have four in one town.”

She welcomes a second stand-alone Sephora though.

“I’m completely excited about them opening a second Sephora,” she said. “I think the Sephora in the mall is a little too small compared to the Sephoras you would see in L.A.”

Either way, there is certainly healthy demand for cosmetics in general. While clothing retailers are going bankrupt and closing stores, cosmetics sales are growing. Spending in the beauty industry grew 6 percent in 2016 to $17 billion, according to The NPD Group.

Beauty bloggers and YouTube makeup tutorials have helped drive interest in makeup.

Cosmetics also fall into the category of stores that millennials like to shop at because they offer a “shopping experience.”

For example, Sephora scans shoppers’ faces with a “Color IQ” tool that tells them which shades of lip color, foundation and concealer is best for them. They also do makeovers where a professional applies makeup for a minimum $50 purchase of products.

Each Ulta store has a salon that offers haircuts and colors, and the stores also offer facials, manicures, brow shaping, eyelash extensions and other services. Ulta charges $40 to do a customer’s makeup for special events or as a makeover.

The Body Shop uses a “moisture meter,” a pen-like tool applied to the skin, to tell how dry customers’ skin is.

Lush will send customers home with handfuls of little pots of samples.

The Sephora grand opening at River Park starts at 10 a.m. Friday. Customers can get a free lip mini makeover and a free tote bag with $25 purchase. A “beauty insider” event runs from 5:30 to 8:30 that evening with a DJ, photo booth, food and drinks.

The grand re-opening of the Sephora inside JCPenney is also Friday at 9:30 a.m. The store will give away 350 makeup bags and 100 gift cards.

Ulta will open at 10 a.m. Aug. 11 at Fashion Fair. The first 100 shoppers each day from then through Sunday, Aug. 13, will get a “beauty treat” valued between $5 and $100. Customers can get 10 percent off their first appointment at Ulta’s salon or skin treatment center.

This story was originally published July 26, 2017 at 11:44 AM with the headline "New Ulta, Sephora stores set opening dates. How many makeup shops does Fresno need?."