Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Where have all the magazine freebies gone?

42 replies

SecondSeatontheleft · 13/06/2025 21:48

In the past there’s been full size or generous Clinique products, Neals Yard Remedies and now virtually nothing!

OP posts:
RentalWoesNotFun · 13/06/2025 22:12

That’s so true. Been years since I wanted to buy a mag due to the freebie…

CluelessAboutBiology · 13/06/2025 22:34

Oh yes, I’d forgotten all about them until I read this.

TulipDaff · 13/06/2025 22:43

In the early 2000s half my wardrobe was free from Glamour - teeny tiny tops and little stretchy skirts in the cheapest of materials. I loved mags so much.

Turmerictolly · 14/06/2025 09:30

I used to like the little perfume pouches.

Mary46 · 14/06/2025 09:53

I buy Prima the odd month. Your right nothing in them now. Loved the freebies too

evilharpy · 14/06/2025 10:24

I hadn't thought about this for ages but you're right this isn't a thing anymore and I miss it too. I had some brilliant freebies over the years.

Black Morgan vest top that I wore to death
Ruby & Millie eye smudge eyeliner tool, amazing
Nail Inc polish before gel was really a thing
So many mascaras

Any time I was on holiday in Spain I always came home with stacks of magazines as they had different and often better freebies.

HollyGolightly4 · 14/06/2025 10:26

I loved a freebie from a magazine!! I got so much good stuff- make up, flip flops, lip gloss.

I'm off to inspect the magazines in Tesco this morning 😂

mabelmaura · 14/06/2025 10:31

I think people started to steal them and leave the magazine on the shelf... I used to love the freebies- especially sunglasses and flip-flops...

Housewife2010 · 14/06/2025 10:33

There are a fraction of the magazines around today than 15 of so years ago. I used to buy several "glossies" a month and their summer freebies were great. Now I only get Red on a cheap £1 a month subscription out of habit; I find there isn't much to read it in. The cover price is nearly £6! I find I get my magazine content from my Google feed now. I did love magazines & the freebies.

CalamityGanon · 14/06/2025 11:01

Oh yes! I do miss magazines. Particularly hits me when I’m at the airport for a flight and there are no decent magazines (I would not be seen reading Take a Break in public!) I used to have a subscription to a few and it was the highlight of my day to get my Marie Claire landing on my doorstep. In the 90s they used to have ‘giveaway’ pages where you rang a number associated with a particular gift and I often won so wonder if not many people entered. It was in the days of landlines. I got a Kenwood food processor, Barbour jacket, a Polaroid camera with a months supply of jelly as well as numerous make-up items.

Floisme · 14/06/2025 11:48

I miss them too but my guess is that make up companies etc realised that, instead of giving away tens of thousands of freebies, they could just give a few out to some influencers who would then do all the work for them.

feelingbleh · 14/06/2025 11:51

The same place as the free gift in the cereal box 😭

FloraBotticelli · 14/06/2025 12:30

You still get the freebies but they’re in different places.

The M&S bag was a pretty good deal - £200 of stuff for £30ish.

My local department store does really nice beauty bag type deals every so often in Elizabeth Scarlett bags.

PurpleChrayn · 14/06/2025 12:32

I had those Elle bikinis in every colour in the mid-2000s!

scrivette · 14/06/2025 12:36

I still have a swimming bag I got free with Glamour! The freebies were brilliant over the summer holidays, bikinis, bags, sunglasses, flip flops, books… I used to spend ages deciding which ones to buy for my holidays.

Tiredofwhataboutery · 14/06/2025 12:39

I thought it was something to do with the proliferation of beauty boxes which seems like a more effective way to reach people who want to try new products?

I always used to buy a magazine for a Percy and reed hair product thst I really liked and it used to crop up a few times a year. It’s a staple of beauty boxes / beauty calendars so have still never bought it at full price.

Gowlett · 14/06/2025 12:42

Loved magazines, and the free gifts.
Still have my Umberto Giannini combs!

Content is so bring nowadays, too…
So expensive, and pages aren’t glossy.

The great journalists are still out there.
I just don’t think the mags pay anymore!

Times have changed, of course.
Sadly mags & papers will be gone soon.

LittleGreenDuck · 14/06/2025 13:03

CalamityGanon · 14/06/2025 11:01

Oh yes! I do miss magazines. Particularly hits me when I’m at the airport for a flight and there are no decent magazines (I would not be seen reading Take a Break in public!) I used to have a subscription to a few and it was the highlight of my day to get my Marie Claire landing on my doorstep. In the 90s they used to have ‘giveaway’ pages where you rang a number associated with a particular gift and I often won so wonder if not many people entered. It was in the days of landlines. I got a Kenwood food processor, Barbour jacket, a Polaroid camera with a months supply of jelly as well as numerous make-up items.

Out of interest, how much jelly constitutes a months supply?

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 14/06/2025 13:18

DSis had a summer job in the mid 1990s, sticking freebies into magazines. I had as much John Frieda stuff as I wanted.

Gowlett · 14/06/2025 14:08

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 14/06/2025 13:18

DSis had a summer job in the mid 1990s, sticking freebies into magazines. I had as much John Frieda stuff as I wanted.

That must have been how I discovered Frizz Ease!

liveforsummer · 14/06/2025 14:14

Remember the freebie pouches of product on the ad pages for perfume and moisturisers etc too, stuck to the ad pages inside the magazine

ohidoliketobe · 14/06/2025 14:21

Used to get a book in the summer edition of some magazines too. They were never booker prize winners, but usually a nice easy holiday read

sandrapinchedmysandwich · 14/06/2025 14:25

Loved the freebies. Always really good quality stuff too. Reminds me of the late 1990s when I bought New Woman, Company and Cosmo religiously

CalamityGanon · 14/06/2025 16:10

@LittleGreenDuck30 apparently! (I didn’t eat it all?!) Who eats a jelly a day!

Swipe left for the next trending thread