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Are you on the hunt for free makeup samples?
Wondering if there’s really such thing as “free makeup”?
Yeah, you bet there is!
Okay, it’s confession time.
Sometimes I’ve been given too many free decent-size makeup samples that ended up going to waste. It’s not that I wanted to throw them out, but they were hanging out in my bathroom vanity for YEARS, and it’s sad I didn’t get the chance to use them before going bad.
I know, it’s a ridiculous first world problem, isn’t it?
How to get free makeup samples
I’m not going to guarantee a lifetime supply of free makeup, but there are many sneaky ways to get makeup and beauty samples for free, sometimes even the full-size products, when you use the recommendations I talk about in this post.
I created this post about free makeup samples so I can help you find the best resources to save money on beauty, makeup, and cosmetic products.
We know that beauty and makeup products have become a necessity for most women.
According to People.com sources, women will spend an average of $43 on a shopping trip for makeup.
Whether you’re a broke girl struggling to pay her bills, or you just want to find the best shopping hacks to save money, there are many free makeup samples out there for you to snatch!
I know that every time before I shop, I like to spend some time looking for free beauty and makeup samples.
Mac Cosmetics Free Samples
Not only does this help me save money on cosmetics, but it also allows me to try new products before dumping my hard-earned money into something I’m not familiar with.
Anyways, let’s go through a list of ways to score free beauty products!
1. Get free makeup samples by mail (without surveys)
There are two ways to get free makeup samples in the mail.
One way is to become a product tester by trying out products and giving companies your honest review in return. This is the best way to get free makeup samples without doing surveys.
Of course, you can always join these legitimate and free online survey sites so you can redeem free makeup products, but becoming a product tester is the “no survey” option.
I personally enjoy using Swagbucks to earn free $50 to $100 Sephora gift cards! Aside from answering surveys, you get rewarded by shopping online for things you normally buy, playing games on your smartphone, or watching short video clips online during your spare time.
By using Swagbucks on a regular basis, I’m able to save money and redeem any free full-size beauty products from Sephora like this Ole Henriksen Vitamin C serum – check out the $50 Sephora gift card below I got just from using Swagbucks. This was the gift card I used to snatch my free Vitamin C serum and eye cream products for my skincare routine!
$5 BONUS TODAY: You’ll even get a FREE $5 bonus just for signing up for a Swagbucks account here. It’s free to join and doesn’t cost you anything. Just remember to verify the e-mail from Swagbucks immediately so you can snatch your $5 welcome bonus today!
You could even check out how I use Swagbucks as ahack to get high-quality and skincare products for FREE from Sephora here! I’ll show you how I use it to redeem products worth over $100!
Secondly, another “no survey” option is to redeem free samples of makeup when you make a purchase in-store or online. This is a company’s way to give you products to try before actually buying them.
Become a makeup and beauty product tester
Your voice and opinion about their products matter to companies.
Some companies will send you free makeup samples, or even the full-size version, for you to test and try them out.
They are willing to provide you with free makeup in exchange for your feedback about that product.
All you have to do is write your experience about the product, what you like or don’t like about it, and what you think the company can do to make it better.
Membership to join and test products should always be free. Here are a few legitimate sites I recommend trying:
2. Online surveys
Similar to testing out products in return for free makeup samples, you can also become an online survey taker.
Membership to these best survey sites that pay you PayPal money, gift cards, or free products (e.g. skincare and makeup) is always free and open to newcomers like you!
It’s easy to complete the surveys since they are in multiple-choice format.
By taking surveys online and giving your opinion about products, you get to redeem free gift cards that can be used towards the beauty or cosmetic product you like. So, instead of getting free samples, you get the full-size product at no charge!
Your choices of beauty and cosmetic gift cards include Sephora, MAC, Macy’s, JCPenney, Drugstores, and more.
You could even choose to redeem free Amazon gift cards or PayPal cash. This makes a great option if you like purchasing cosmetics or beauty-related products online through Amazon.
Here are a few survey sites I personally use to earn free gift cards so I can redeem free beauty products:
3. Collect free Sephora gift cards
Get paid when you shop at Sephora or MAC!
What I like to do is collect points on Swagbucks so that I can redeem free gift cards to Sephora or MAC. This strategy is just as good as getting free makeup samples.
In fact, when I collect enough to redeem a $50 Sephora gift card, I would usually go to the store or online to redeem the full-size product I want for free!
This is has been one of my secret weapons for scoring free beauty products and saving money each year on the stuff I truly love.
You can sign up for Swagbucks here for FREE and get a $5 welcome bonus today. Your choice of a Sephora or MAC gift card! 🙂
4. Get free makeup samples inside those gift sets
One of my favorite ways to score free makeup is by redeeming a free beauty gift set through an in-store or online purchase.
Most department stores like Nordstrom and Macy’s run promotions where they offer you a free gift (a pretty good one too) when you buy from them. These free cosmetic gift sets usually come with a cute makeup bag with a good amount of free makeup samples in them.
My favorite free gift sets are the ones from Clinique!
I’m always on a lookout for these promotional offers and I’ll time my purchases when they have special sales. This is one way to stretch your wallet if you want to save money on cosmetics.
If I’m already going to make a purchase on my must-have beauty products that I use daily, then I may as well score some free makeup samples that come with their free gift sets.
In the next section, I’ll go through which companies give out free makeup samples.
5. Companies that give makeup samples for free
As I mentioned above, there are research companies that provide you with both free makeup samples and full-size products in return for your honest opinion about the product.
Another way to try makeup products for free is to head to the mall or actual store. Sometimes you can even request the samples to be shipped to your home.
Here is a list of popular and well-known department stores and companies that give out free beauty products.
- Sephora
- Nordstrom
- Ulta
- Kiehl’s
- The Body Shop
- Aveda
How to get free makeup samples at Sephora
Sephora is one place I recommend dropping by to get free samples of makeup and beauty products. Because you can sample almost any product in Sephora for free!
It’s definitely a great way to try to test out products before making an actual purchase. All you have to do is ask someone who works there. Just point to the product you would like to sample and the Sephora store representative will be more than happy to help.
Get free Sephora makeup samples online
Another way I like to collect or get free Sephora makeup samples is via online when I order my favorite Sephora products.
In most cases, Sephora gives you 2 makeup samples to choose from when you make a purchase online. However, sometimes when my order gets shipped to me, I see more than 5 free samples of makeup (and really good ones too) for me to try.
Sephora weekly wow deals!
Don’t forget to check out those weekly wow deals from Sephora!
One way to get more than the standard 2 samples is to go to their “Beauty Offers” section under the “SHOP” menu on Sephora’s website.
They usually run weekly promos where you can choose and enter in the code of the special free makeup sample you want. This makes the deal even sweeter when you combine all the awesome Sephora shopping hacks to help you score free stuff and save a ton of money each year!
Related post on free makeup: How To Get Your Sephora Birthday Gift For Free!
Nordstrom free beauty samples
Another great way to get free makeup samples is to make your way to Nordstrom’s beauty counter.
The sales representative will also help you apply the product you want to learn more about onto your face or skin. The company wants you to try and experience the product before making a purchase, so they will give you free samples in a travel size container for you to take home.
You can choose from many free cosmetic or beauty samples like foundation, eye shadow, face masks, hair treatment, or face cream
If you ever happen to shop online at Nordstrom, be sure to check out their “Gifts with Purchase” section under their main “Beauty” menu. This section gives you their “Featured Gifts with Purchase” specials where you can choose from the most popular beauty and cosmetic brands like Estée Lauder, Clinique, Lancôme, and more.
The array of selection is pretty good and some of their “free cosmetic gifts” offers usually start at a minimum purchase of just $25.
Mac Makeup Free Shipping
These beautiful gift sets come in decent sizes and are generally better than the typical “free makeup samples with no purchase necessary” type of offers. It’s definitely worth it if you are going to spend the money regardless.
Does Ulta give free samples in store?
There has been a lot of mixed responses from customers about whether or not Ulta gives out free makeup samples. Some customers report that they do give out samples for people to try, but a lot of the time, it has been reported that they don’t.
Based on many customers’ experience at Ulta, the sales representative will probably give you a very small sample that’s enough to last for one day. In other words, they don’t usually give out free samples like how Sephora or Nordstrom does.
According to one Reddit source, a user reported that they asked for a sample at Ulta, but the sales representative responded, “We don’t do samples.”
However, like most other beauty stores, Ulta does offer you a free gift with purchase. When you shop online at the Ulta store, you can find “Gift with purchase” under the “Sales and Coupons” section.
They also offer free coupons for you to save money under the same menu.
Conclusion about free makeup samples
Mac Free Makeup Samples
Whether you’re on a tight budget or looking for ways to save money on your daily beauty regime, there are many legitimate ways to score free makeup and skincare products.
From mini samples to full-size products, there are many ways around getting a ton of makeup items for free!
Here is a recap of things you can do to save money on your beauty essentials.
1. Become a beauty product tester and get free makeup samples by mail
2. Take online surveys in exchange for beauty products
3. Get paid to shop and redeem for free $100 Sephora gift cards
4. Look for free gifts with purchase (these gifts come with many valuable samples)
5. Ask and collect free samples from these companies (Sephora, Nordstrom, Kiehl’s, The Body Shop, and Aveda)
Readers, what are your thoughts about free makeup samples? Are you going to try the recommendations from this article today? Let me know what makeup samples you’ve tried in the comments below!
MAC is a prestige brand of makeup sold in some department stores, their own stores, and online. MAC does not make gluten free makeup, per se, but they do pay enough attention to their products to be able to say which of their products has glutinous ingredients and which don’t. They do acknowledge that even products that don’t contain glutinous ingredients can come in contact with gluten, so gluten free is not guaranteed because of shared equipment.
MAC offer a huge line of cosmetics, including but not limited to foundation, eye makeup, lipsticks, moisturizers, makeup removers, and fragrance.
I contacted MAC to ask generally about whether their makeup is gluten free, but also about particular products. Their representative sent me the following information:
Cheap Mac Makeup Free Shipping
– Lipstick (Amplified) contains wheat, barley, and soy
– Lipstick (Amplified Creme) contains wheat, barley, and soy
– Lipstick (Cremesheen) contains wheat, corn, and soy
– Lipstick (Frost) contains ingredients derived from corn
– Lipstick (Glaze) contains ingredients derived from corn
– Lipstick (Lustre) contains ingredients derived fron corn and soy
– Lipstick (Matte) contains ingredients derived from soy and corn
– Lipstick (Retro Matte) contains soy
– Lipstick (Satin) contains ingredients derived from corn and soy
– Viva Glam Lipstick – please reference finishes listed above
– Ultimate Lipstick contains soy
– Pro Longwear Lipcreme contains corn and soy
– Mineralize Rich Lipstick contains wheat, barley, and soy
– Casual Colour contains soy
– Mineralize Moisture SPF15 Foundation may contain soy and ingredients derived from corn and other grain sources
– Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15 contains corn and soy
– Matchmaster SPF 15 Foundation contains corn and soy
– Lip Erase contains soy
Mac Free Makeup Bag
It’s up to you whether you’re willing to use a product that is made on shared equipment, but before you purchase MAC’s makeup, make sure to contact them and ask whether what you’d like to use has glutinous ingredients. I have not yet tried their products, so if you try any, let me know!