Sephora's 2018 Free Birthday Gifts Are So Good, They'll Make Your Friends Step It Up

Free things rock. As a barely-scraping-by, 20-something freelancer, I delight in literally anything I don't have to pay for. Mini bottles of crappy hotel shampoo? Woo! A packet of two tiny chocolate cookies that taste like chalk with my latte? I'll choke them down! The Sephora Beauty Insider birthday gifts for this year, which are actually super legit, have therefore left me with a giant grin on my face. Can it be July 31st already? Because I want my freebies. (Fun fact: Harry Potter and I have the same birthday. Still haven’t gotten the “HAPPEE BIRTHDAE R-E-ANA” cake I so desperately crave.)

In order to reap the benefits of Sephora’s birthday giveaway, you need to first become a Sephora Insider by signing up for the retailer’s free rewards program. For every dollar you spend on product at Sephora you’ll get one Beauty Insider point, which you can then redeem to get great freebies. The more points you’ve accumulated, the better the freebie; I suggest waiting to redeem them until there’s an offering you really love. (The products you can select from change on the regular.)

I recently exchanged a good chunk of my points for a pack of four mini Shiseido skincare products and I love them so! The tiny pot of Essential Energy Moisturizing Cream (which smells amazing, might I add) and downsized tube of Ibuki Gentle Cleanser saved me during a long overnight flight.

Once you sign up for the rewards program, you’ll be all set to claim your free gift. The only stipulation is that you must claim it during your birthday month, but absolutely no purchase is necessary to do so. If you’re frugal to the point where you could appear on TLC’s Extreme Couponing, this is a chance for you to get some pretty great beauty products at zero charge whatsoever. No scissors required.

Now, onto the good stuff. Sephora is offering not two, but three free birthday gifts to choose from, ensuring that everyone will get something they’ll truly want to celebrate.

The first is a box of four BITE Beauty products: a mini Amuse Bouche Lipstick in Chai (a mauve brown shade), mini Matte Crème Lip Crayon in Glacé (a dusty mauve shade), and samples of Agave Lip Balm and Agave Sugar Lip Scrub. BITE Beauty is awesome in that all of its products are made with food-grade ingredients and are infused with resveratrol, which is a powerful antioxidant sound in plants that can help skin appear smoother and healthier. A gift worthy of a kiss, indeed!

The next option to have to pick from is a set of two GLAMGLOW products: their Glowstarter Mega Illuminating Moisturizer Mini in Nude Glow and their Supermud Clearing Treatment Mini. The moisturizer, which retails for $49 for a full size pot, “delivers a rush of hyaluronic acid, plus vitamins and green tea for energized and moisturized skin,” according to the brand’s website, while the clearing treatment is a mask meant to target blemishes, redness, scars, razor bumps, and ingrown hair. If your skin is in need of a little extra love, this is the gift for you.

Finally, you also have the option of snagging mini versions of Bumble and Bumble’s Hairdresser's Invisible Oil shampoo and conditioner, which are undoubtedly 100 times better than the hotel hair freebies I mentioned above. Nourishing your hair with oils (in the shampoo’s case, a blend of six oils), is a great way to keep it super soft, silky, and smooth, so grab this tiny duo if your hair is pulling a Ms. Frizzle.

But that’s not all. (I should work for late night infomercials!) During your birthday month you’ll be able to visit and Sephora store for a free makeover, so plan your party accordingly. I think Sephora is now officially more generous than half of my best friends when it comes to my birthday. Bless!