Up to £56 of make-up for less than £20, eg, No7, Max Factor & Essie.

As we come to ‘the most wonderful time of the year’, you might be thinking about presents and Christmas parties so make-up and gifts may well be on your mind. What if I told you that by maximising ‘gift with purchase’ offers you can bag as much as £56-worth of beauty products for less than £20?

I’ve rounded up the best ‘gift with purchase’ make-up bundles currently available, calculated what each free gift set would cost separately, and found the cheapest combination of products to get the freebies. Of course, if there’s something you’d normally buy from that brand anyway it’s worth getting that, but these are just examples to help you out.

I checked several stores for the best gift with purchase offers, all offers are available at Boots but some are also available at Superdrug. Boots says all these offers are available until Thu 28 Dec, subject to stock.

No7 – £44ish for £12*

You may have heard of this one as it has been mega popular with MoneySavers. As the cheapest combo of two No7 items included in the free gift when you buy two products offer we found online or in store is £12 for two 10ml No7 nail polishes* at £6 each – and the set is worth £32ish, you’ll get about £44ish of beauty products for £12.

What does the free gift include?

• ‘Airbrush Away’ primer, 10ml – worth £5.50 based on full-sized 30ml version.
• ‘Lash Impact’ mascara, 4.5ml – worth £8.68 based on full-sized 7ml version.
• High shine lip gloss in ‘Roaring Red’, 8ml – norm £9.
• ‘Protect and Perfect’ serum, 5ml – worth £8.33 based on full-sized 30ml version.

Max Factor – £56ish for £16ish*

The cheapest items I found to get the free gift when you spend £15 offer are its Max colour effects mini nail polish* (£4.99) and Facefinity compact* (£10.99). If you bought these items, your total value of Max Factor make-up and skincare would be £56ish, so I reckon this is an offer to look out for. You also get a gold glitter make-up bag so the set could make a great ready-made gift.

What does the free gift include?

• False lash mascara, 13.1ml – norm £10.99 at Boots or Superdrug.
• High precision liquid eyeliner, 1ml – norm £8.99 at Boots or Superdrug.
• Lipfinity lipstick, 3.79g – norm £8.99 at Boots or Superdrug.
• Smooth Miracle primer, 30ml – norm £8.99 at Boots or Superdrug.

Revlon – £48ish for £16ish*

If you pick up two Colorstay gel envy nail polishes* (£7.99 each) you’ll pass the £15 mark to get the free gift. The freebie includes four full-sized products including its popular Ultra HD matte lipstick – which in total would be £31.76 separately at Boots. Your total value of Revlon make-up would be £48ish if you get this deal which isn’t bad for a £16ish spend.

What does the free gift include?

• Nail polish in ‘Creme Brulee’, 14.7ml – norm £6.49 at Boots or Superdrug.
• ‘Colorstay’ lip liner, 0.28g – norm £6.29 at Boots or Superdrug.
• ‘Ultra HD matte lipcolor’, 5.9ml – norm £8.99 at Boots or Superdrug.
• Ultra volume mascara, 8.5ml – norm £9.99 at Boots or Superdrug.

Soap & Glory – £31ish for £14*

Yes, Soap & Glory do make-up too! You can get Spectaculips galactic glaze holographic lip gloss* (£8) and Kick Ass blur & brighten crayon* (£6) to get the free gift when you spend £14. It’s called ‘Eyes Queen’ and contains a full-sized mascara as well as a full-sized eyeliner pen, which would cost £16.50 separately at Boots. Your total value comes to £30.50 so again, a decent amount of products for £14.

What does the free gift include?

• Thick & Fast collagen mascara, 10ml – norm £10.50 at Boots.
• Supercat eyeliner pen, 1.6g – norm £6 at Boots.

Barry M – £19ish for £9ish*

You might remember Barry M for its glitter in the 90s, and it’s back – if you pick up its Glitter Rush body glitter* (£4.59) and a liquid eyeliner* (£4.79) or any other combination over £8 you’ll get a ‘Matchmaker’ lip & nail kit free. It contains a full-sized Boots exclusive nail polish and a metallic matte lip gloss – both products are vegan and cruelty-free so a nice gift for vegan friends. The free kit would normally be £9.98 for similar colours separately, so a total spend of £9.38 nets you £19.36 worth of vegan make-up (being vegan, I’m keeping this one!).

What does the free gift include?

• Exclusive nail polish in ‘Opulent’ (red and gold glitter), 10ml – norm £3.99 at Boots or Superdrug.
• Matte Me Up lip paint in ‘Bittersweet’ (metallic red), 3ml – norm £4.99 at Boots or Superdrug.

You can also get the same free gift with purchase at Superdrug*, while stocks last.

Essie – £18ish for £8*

We know this sounds amazing and you’ve already stopped reading and dashed out to Boots to get this, however the cheapest item online I could find included in this buy anything to get the free gift offer wasn’t available in stores. I had to pick up a £7.99 polish in ‘Ballet Slippers’ (it’s reportedly Her Majesty’s favourite colour, but not currently available online), but if you’re buying online you can buy ‘Leave no Trace’ glitter nail polish remover* for £5.99 to get the freebie. The free gift contains three mini 5ml polishes, which aren’t normally sold separately, but other sets of three mini polishes are sold at £9.99 so we reckon the total amount of Essie polish you’ll get is £17.98 for a £7.99 spend. Plus, you’ll get nails like The Queen as a bonus.

What does the free gift include?

• Mini nail polish in ‘Shall We Chalet?’ (brick red), 5ml
• Mini nail polish in ‘Virgin Snow’ (lilac), 5ml
• Mini nail polish in ‘Haute Tub’ (deep purple glitter), 5ml

Sleek – £21ish for £14ish*

The free gift in this spend £12+ offer, like Essie, also only contains minis – two mini lip glosses and a mini eyeshadow palette as well as a mini make-up bag. I totted up the total and reckon it’s only worth £6.66, which is a bit of a beastly offer compared to some of the rest of the free gifts with purchase. The cheapest items we found were eyeliner* (£4.99) and I Divine eyeshadow palette* (£8.99) – meaning you’d only get £20.64 of product for £13.98.

What does the free gift include?

• Mini lip glosses in ‘Birthday Suit’ and ‘Velvet Slipper’, both 3ml – worth £2.50 each based on full-sized 6ml version at Boots or Superdrug.
• Mini eyeshadow palette in ‘All Night Long’, 2.4g – worth £1.66 based on full-sized 13g version at Boots or Superdrug.

This offer was also available online at Superdrug but has now finished. Some stores (find your nearest*) may still have stock, so it’s worth a look if you’re visiting a Superdrug store anyway.

What if I want them all?

I went and got all these free gifts with purchase from Boots, but some are available elsewhere. My total spend was a bit high at £89.31 but I ended up with £147ish of free gifts, giving a grand total of £236ish of make-up for £89.

What about other retailers?

I’ve also seen free gifts with purchase at department stores such as Debenhams, but the minimum spend is usually a lot higher than the deals highlighted above, eg, £40 spend on Clinique at Debenhams gets a free mascara, lipstick and serum set.

Will you be picking up any of the free gifts with purchase for Christmas (or yourself)? Let us know in the comments below, on Facebook, or Twitter.