Aug 25, 2023

How to Get Free (or Mostly Free) Makeup Samples in Canada [2024]

If you buy a lot of beauty products, you must be spending a fortune. You don't need to do that. When you want to try a new beauty product, you don’t know if it will be a good match. Instead of paying the full price on makeup products, eyeliners, lipsticks, go for free beauty and makeup samples. Let’s explore ways to get free makeup samples and other beauty products in Canada.


We’ve built a list of freebies and inexpensive ways to get your favourite makeup, perfumes, skincare products, and more that you can get in 2024.

Get free skincare and makeup samples with subscription box free trials


These days you can subscribe to anything. Here is Hellofresh with the meal subscription box or Dollar Shaving Club Canada for men’s shaving products as good examples. In addition, subscription box services exist for probably everything: pet food, board games, and so much more.


When you sign up for a beauty or skincare subscription box, you usually get either a free trial box or a box filled with free samples. Let’s look at a couple of beauty box services available in Canada.

IPSYThey are a US-based subscription service, but they ship to Canada. With your first box you get a free IPSY bag, which is unique and so cute. The box will also contain a bunch of free samples and trial size products. The free samples can include lip gloss, mascaras, foundation. 

If you refer this service to friends, you will benefit. See the referral program here.

If you don’t like what you get with your free bag, cancel the service and you will not be billed their monthly fee of $USD 12.

BoxyCharm: This is another beauty box subscription service available in Canada. Check out their homepage to see the list of free beauty product samples that will be sent with your first box.

LittleLifeBox: Here is another subscription service that ships to Canada. Check out what’s included and how quickly you will get your box should you decide to try this service.

If you are looking for a similar service for men, we have two choices here.

Dollar Shaving Club: DSC Canada has a bunch to offer to men: from razors to pre-scrubs and lotions. Their starter kits are big deals. 

Get free trial coupons in your pharmacy’s flyers


Look through your local pharmacy’s flyers on a regular basis. Jean Coutu, Shoppers Drug Mart, London Drugs include beauty product inserts in their weekly flyers. If you read the fine print, a bunch of beauty products have free trials and trial size promos. 


Clip those offers and head to the pharmacy to get the deals. If you don’t get the flyer in your post, check them out at the pharmacy’s entry door. The recent flyers can be always found there.

Get free beauty product samples with your online purchases


A lot of beauty brands in Canada will send you free samples along with your online purchase. Unfortunately, you may not always know about these free samples because they are not clearly advertised or promoted. 


If you are on a beauty product site and you’re about to make a purchase, explore the deals and offers sections on these sites to see their free sample offering. Here are a couple of beauty product sites in Canada that offer free samples along with purchases.


Buy starter kits or sample packs


If you are not sure you want to buy the full price beauty product, you can go for their starter kits or packs of trial size products or sets of samples.


Here is an example with perfumes. The US-based Riddle Oil offers sample kits at $30 plus shipping for you to try their fragrances and perfumes. That’s a low risk approach before you decide to buy full-priced items for such brands.

Become a first-to-know insider



Beauty brands organize giveaways that they only run on their social media pages. If you love the beauty product brand, then follow their social media accounts so that you are among the first ones to know about their freebie programs, sweepstakes, giveaways.

More about samples and beauty brands in Canada: