I visited Ulta Beauty's first store in Dubai expecting it to be just like US stores. It wasn't.

The Mall of the Emirates is home to more than 630 stores, has endless dining options, a cinema, a five-star hotel, and even an indoor ski slope called Ski Dubai tucked behind glass walls.

It draws over 40 million visitors a year, according to its operator, Majid Al Futtaim, and is widely considered Dubai's second-most-popular shopping destination after Dubai Mall.

Now, Ulta Beauty is part of its ecosystem.

The store sits directly across from Faces, with YSL Beauty, Gucci Beauty, and Dior Beauty just a few storefronts away.

Sephora, Ulta Beauty's biggest global competitor, is in another wing of the mall, still part of the same shopping circuit, but not immediately visible from here.

When I got there on January 28 — the day before it opened to the public — the store was still hidden behind a large Ulta Beauty-branded covering.

Even so, people were noticing the store.

Mall of the Emirates is busy year-round, but January sees especially heavy foot traffic thanks to the Dubai Shopping Festival and cooler weather.

With only the media and influencers allowed inside, people passing by kept slowing down, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening behind the bright orange and pink covering.

I couldn't see the storefront yet, but I could already feel the anticipation building around it.

Behind the branded coverings, the store felt familiar, but noticeably more polished.

The lighting was bright without being harsh, the shelves were neatly spaced, and the product aisles had a clean, contemporary feel, making the space look more like a modern beauty boutique than the densely stocked Ulta Beauty stores I'd visited in the US.

Nothing felt cluttered. Products were laid out with breathing room, and it was easy to move from one section to another without weaving through tight aisles.

At the front of the store, between the Givenchy and Armani aisles, a black floral pop-up desk featuring Nadine Njeim Beauty caught my eye.

The desk is part of a rotating display Ulta plans to use to spotlight regional brands, but this label also has a permanent space inside the store.

Founded by actor and former Miss Lebanon Nadine Njeim, the brand is known for its vegan, cruelty-free formulas and quick, multi-use products. Before Ulta Beauty, it was stocked at Bloomingdale's Dubai and had already built a strong regional following.

Its hero items for the launch were the "lip-to-cheek" blush — a cream stick meant to double as lipstick and blush — and volumizing mascaras.

I tried one of the blush testers on my hand.

The formula felt pigmented and creamy without being oily, and the shades leaned toward pinks, peaches, and nudes rather than reds. At AED 139, or about $38, it was a bit of a splurge, but as a two-in-one product, I considered it reasonable.

Two days after my visit, Njeim appeared in person at the store. Photos and videos she shared on social media showed that a large crowd of fans and shoppers had gathered to meet her, a sign of how strongly founder-led beauty brands resonate in this region.

The shelves felt like a mix of luxury counters, drugstore racks, and TikTok brands all in one place, which made browsing feel more exploratory than planned.

I found myself stopping at brands I didn't immediately recognize.

Despite being from the region, I wasn't very familiar with local names like Noha Nabil, Mukhbar Perfumes, and Bassam Fattouh — which I later learned were very popular brands — and it felt refreshing to discover them on the spot.

I also noticed niche wellness-leaning brands like Whind and Izil — labels I'd only seen on Instagram and TikTok — now sitting on physical shelves.

Jobo told Business Insider that the store had opened with more than 300 brands, of which about 50 haven't previously been available in the Middle East.

The beauty brand's in-house line spans makeup, tools, and accessories and is a big part of Ulta Beauty's value positioning in the US.

Here, the price tags immediately caught my eye. Lipsticks and eyeliners were priced between AED 45 and AED 65, or about $12 to $18, which felt more approachable than those from other brands.

The eyeliners especially tempted me. The shades were deep and highly pigmented, the kind commonly used for bold eye looks that are popular in Dubai. I made a mental note to come back for them once I ran out of the ones I have at home.

Given that I'd previously only shopped at Sephora Dubai, I couldn't help but compare the prices with Sephora's in-house line, where similar lipsticks are priced around AED 85. That AED 20-30 difference made Ulta's products feel more affordable for everyday use.

At the same time, I noticed that Ulta's private label here is slightly more expensive than what I'm used to seeing in the US, usually about $5 to $10 more after conversion.

Jobo said the company carefully considers regional pricing.

"Value is extremely important to customers here," she said. "We are closely aligned with the price points shoppers in this market are used to seeing."

A large fragrance section came next, fitting for a country with a strong cultural affinity for scent and growing demand for both niche and luxury fragrances. Dubai is also a big market for fragrance dupes.

What was nice about Ulta Beauty's fragrance section was that it didn't just stock familiar global names, but also newer lines like Snif, Orabella, and Better World Fragrance House, alongside regional labels such as Nafas by Noor Stars.

I sprayed Orabella, Bella Hadid's perfume brand, on my wrist and immediately noticed a rich, oud-leaning scent that felt very in line with local preferences. The bottle's sculptural, gold-lined design also felt like a nod to the region's love for ornate packaging and statement bottles.

In Dubai, K-beauty products are usually scattered across pharmacies and small specialty stores, so seeing so many in one place felt new.

Brands like Mixsoon, Beauty of Joseon, Anua, and Medicube — cult favorites for Korean skincare fans — had full shelves.

I often use Korean sheet masks and lightweight serums because they feel gentle and work quickly, so I ended up spending more time here than I planned to. A few journalists and influencers were doing the same, picking up products, reading labels, and comparing notes.

I walked away, spotting several things I definitely didn't need, but wanted anyway.

Staff in maroon and denim-blue dungarees moved between stocking products, answering questions, and tidying displays.

At least one employee stood in almost every section, ready to guide anyone who paused too long at a shelf.

I also noticed a few of them quietly cleaning up and rearranging testers, stopping whenever someone walked past.

By the end of my walk-through, I realized this store didn't feel like a US export dropped into a new market.

It felt edited in all the right ways.

The wider aisles, the greater emphasis on fragrance, the large Korean beauty section, and the decision to place regional brands at the front all pointed to careful planning. Jobo told Business Insider, the approach here was "from the region, for the region."

Ulta's own line sat comfortably between luxury counters and affordable racks, and even the pricing felt competitive.

Leaving the store, it felt less like Ulta had arrived in Dubai and more like Dubai had been waiting for a store like this.