Where have all the magazine freebies gone?

[SecondSeatontheleft]

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

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

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

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.

I used to like the little perfume pouches.

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

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.

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 😂

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...

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.

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.

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.

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

I no longer buy women’s magazines but here is a reminder of the free gifts that used to come with magazines

https://beautyfashionchitchat.co.uk/2016/11/03/magazine-freebies-december-2016/

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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

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

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

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