Everywhere you look, it seems like people are being given free products, by companies just dying to use viral marketing and word of mouth to make their product the next big thing. So how do you actually benefit from this trend? We’ve got seven easy ways to get your hands on free beauty products.
Enter editorial contests.
Keep an eye on the magazines, beauty blogs, and women’s websites you like for sponsored giveaways (some websites will even have a giveaway section). Women’s magazines often offer beauty prizes for readers who send in letters to the editor.
Make friends.
Facebook friends that is. Take a look to see if your favourite cosmetic company has a Facebook fan page that you can Like. Chances are, they’ll reward their followers with regular contests and giveaways.
Take a walk to the mall.
Drugstores are unlikely to give away samples (unless they have a specific promotion, which usually occurs with the purchase of another item), but department store beauty counters are much more likely to give you free samples if you seem genuinely interested in the products. We don’t recommend this as a long-term freebie source though. It’s better as a way to try things you might eventually buy without having to front the cash first.
Sort through the sample sites.
If you’re willing to sift through a whole lotta stuff you don’t want, check out websites like canadasamples.com and canadianfreestuff.com. These sites specialize in finding sample offers. Just ignore anything that seems too complicated or asks you to fill in surveys “ if the company really wants to give away the samples, you shouldn’t have to do anything.
Go straight to the source.
Bookmark your favourite brands’ official websites and check them out occasionally to see if they’re offering up any freebies. This is the best option if you’re not crazy about giving out your personal information to potentially scammy third party websites.
Make Google work for you.
If you don’t have time to check makeup and sample websites 24-7, you can use Google to set up a simple Google alert for keyword searches such as free makeup sample Canada or beauty product giveaway. You’ll receive notifications whenever new pages with those search terms come up.
