ULTA Awards the Beauty of Education to Girls Across the Nation

CHICAGO, July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- ULTA, America's largest beauty retailer, today awards 28 deserving high school senior girls with the 2010 ULTA Enrich, Empower and Enlighten Scholarship.  Now in its second year, the ULTA Scholarship was established to honor the accomplishments and community contributions of young, deserving women.  

"We created this scholarship program to recognize young women in ULTA communities who excel academically, are active in their neighborhood and embody the spirit of our mantra: Enrich, Empower and Enlighten," says President and CEO Lyn Kirby. "It's a meaningful way for us to give back to the communities where our stores are located and to play an active role in helping young women succeed in pursuing their dreams."

As the only beauty retailer to support education and the ideals of Enrich, Empower and Enlighten, ULTA awarded each winner $2500 in scholarship funds to the educational institute of their choice.  The young women will gather at a celebratory luncheon today, hosted by Kirby, and followed by a shopping and make-over spree at ULTA on State Street in Chicago.

Throughout 2009 and 2010, high school seniors who visited select ULTA locations during their grand opening weekend were given the opportunity to apply for the 2010 ULTA Enrich, Empower and Enlighten Scholarship.  All applicants submitted personal essays answering: which activities have enriched your life, who has enlightened you to strive for academic success and what future goals are you empowered to reach?  Hundreds of essays touched on topics including family, role models, and life obstacles, ULTA selected winners based on candidates' essays, high school transcripts and extracurricular/community activities.  The 2010 winners come from all regions of the US:  

Following the launch of the 2009 ULTA Enrich, Empower and Enlighten Scholarship Program, ULTA expanded the program to additional markets for the 2010 program, nearly doubling the number of winners.  As a company dedicated to supporting their local communities, ULTA continues to seek out new opportunities to help nurture young women and girls.

ULTA is the largest beauty retailer that provides one-stop shopping for prestige, mass and salon products and services in the United States. ULTA offers affordable indulgence to its customers by combining the product breadth, value and convenience of a beauty superstore with the distinctive environment and experience of a specialty retailer. ULTA offers a unique combination of over 21,000 prestige and mass beauty products across the categories of cosmetics, fragrance, hair care, skincare, bath and body products and salon styling tools, as well as a full-service salon in all stores. Headquartered in Bolingbrook, IL, ULTA opened its doors in 1990, currently operates 348 stores across 38 states and also distributes products through its website: www.ulta.com.

The Salon at ULTA: ULTA's full service salon and skin health services make it the complete beauty destination. The Salon at ULTA offers convenient services at affordable prices with licensed Designers and Skin Therapists. Services range from cuts and dimensional color, to brow design and specialty facials. ULTA proudly uses Redken and CHI professional products and Dermalogica skin care in the Salon and Spa. Professionals are available for complimentary hair and skin care consultations to help each guest receive customized services and product recommendations to suit individual needs.

SOURCE ULTA