Have you ever bought a full-sized shampoo, conditioner, or any other hair product, only to find out it doesn’t work for your hair? Wouldn’t it be great if you can get free hair samples so you can try them before you buy them?
- Daily Goodie Box - Grab a GIANT box of free samples from some of the world's most popular brands.
- Try Products - What's better than one giant box of free stuff? TWO giant boxes of free stuff. Join Try Products to get even more free samples shipped right to you.
- Survey Junkie - Test new products, keep them, and get paid for your feedback. Sign up for free to get started.
Everybody’s hair needs are different, and hair care products can be expensive. It would be so much more practical if you can try a product first before you buy a big bottle of it so you don’t waste money or the product.
Today, I list down some ways to get free hair product samples so you can find out which ones work for your hair.
8 Ways To Get Free Hair Samples
1. Join survey sites.
One of the simplest ways to get free samples of hair products is to become a brand ambassador. Sites like Toluna and Survey Junkie pay you cash to work directly with some of the biggest brands. You get to try new stuff and get paid for your thoughts on it.
A lot of brands will want you to try out their product first to get you hooked and in turn, get others hooked.
Request as many free hair samples as you can and find the brands and products that work for you before spending money on these products.
2. Go to the websites of your favorite brands.
If you’re loyal to a particular brand and interested in trying their newest hair product offerings, go to their website and see if they have promotions and special offers where they give away free samples.
At times, they’ll require you to join their community of testing panels or subscribe to their newsletters for them to send you free samples.
They usually treat their subscribers as preferred customers and announce new products through their newsletters first. They might even give away free samples of their new offerings and ask you to provide feedback about them.
Below are some of the websites of brands that offer free hair samples.
- Aveda
- Garnier
- L’Oreal USA
- Johnson & Johnson Friends and Neighbors
- Procter & Gamble
- It’s a 10 Haircare (free samples with purchase)
- Dove
- Neutrogena (free gifts with purchase)
- Beachwaver
- Jessicurl
- Briogeo
Following these brands on social media should work as well. Many brands post free product giveaways, coupons, and discount codes on their social media accounts, especially on Facebook.
3. Drop by your local department store or drugstore.
Beauty stores such as Sephora, Ulta, Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Lush offer free samples of their haircare products often.
Stores like Walmart, Target, and Costco also give out some free hair samples at times. Some Walmart and Sam’s Club locations have Freeosk, which is similar to a vending machine, only it dispenses free samples and scans your Freeosk app instead of taking change.
CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, and other drugstores also give away free samples, which usually require you to purchase items first.
4. Order from your favorite online stores.
You’d usually have to buy something from these stores in order to get freebies, so it’s not 100% free.
But if you’re buying beauty products from these stores anyway, you might as well pick up a free hair sample.
Here are some online stores that give out free hair samples from time to time.
5. Be a Hair Influencer.
There are several online communities dedicated to trendsetters, who are committed to posting honest, unbiased product reviews to benefit the rest of the community.
Influenster was a good example of this and had been a genuine source of reviews for shoppers like me. Bzzagent and PINCHme are similar sites.
Signing up for these sites is free. Once you sign up, you’ll be given an impact score based on your social media reach, how many friends you invite to the sites, and whether you link back to Influenster/PINCHme/Bzzagent from your blog or social media.
Influencers who have higher impact scores are more likely to be sent boxes of free products (On Influenster, this box is called VoxBoxes). You’ll be asked to review them on the site and talk about the products you received on your social media. Keep being active on social media so you can be sent more boxes of beauty products in the future.
Aside from hair and beauty products, these sites also send out food, household items, ebooks, digital media, and much more to their influencers.
It's a giant box of free samples and it comes right to your door at no cost.
Click here and get yours.
6. Apply to join product testing panels for top beauty magazines.
Beauty magazines are one of the top places for beauty companies to advertise their products, and thus provide beauty magazines the means to put together product testing panels to test their newest offerings for free in exchange for feedback.
Here are some of the product testing panels you can apply for.
- Vogue Insiders – This is a beauty members’ club that offers a trialing service of the best beauty products in the industry, sent directly to the customer’s door. Insiders will enjoy priority access to British Vogue’s events before tickets go on sale, exclusive access to tailored content from the magazine’s knowledgeable expert editors, and opportunities to help inform British Vogue’s beauty and wellness content by taking part in research and focus groups.
- Allure Beauty Enthusiast – Allure Beauty Enthusiasts get to try free beauty products, gain insider access to exclusive offers, VIP events, and have chance to share their opinion about trends and new products.
- ELLE Inner Circle (The Assembly) – Formerly called “The Inner Circle,” The Assembly is now a community from the ELLE, Harper’s BAZAAR, Esquire, and Town &Country families. Those who join the online reader panel gets a chance to try new products and voice their opinions about them.
- InStyle Trendsetter – Share your thoughts, opinions and preferences on a variety of style topics from fashion to beauty to home décor. Those who participate in surveys are automatically entered into the “InStyle 2022 Quarterly Panel” Sweepstakes for a chance to win great prizes!
- Good Housekeeping Reader Panel – Unfortunately only available in the UK, panelists of Good Housekeeping are sent products to test at home. After the trial period, panelists are required to complete a survey and share their thoughts and opinions about the particular product they received.
7. Contact brands directly.
This route is normally overlooked, but sometimes the simplest way to receive free samples is to ask for them.
Get the contact information of the brands you want to contact, which is normally right on their website. Write them an email or a letter with a personal story about how you like their products. Generic, copy-pasted emails won’t work here; the personal touch is crucial.
Tell them you’re wondering if they have some free samples of their products because you love their products so much and you want to try more of them.
8. Tryazon
Tryazon is an interesting concept with free products under various categories. Because many of its products fall on the “Beauty & Personal Care” category, free hair samples are often included in the box of samples called “TryaBox.”
Note that these boxes sometimes get “sold out,” so make sure to bookmark this site. Check back, especially if you’re planning to host a party (yes you and your friends can enjoy a pack full freebies at your party).
BONUS: Check out these current offers.
Here are some free samples that you can avail of for only a limited time.
- HIS Professionals: Free Samples of HSI Argan Oil
- Mane ‘n Tail: Free Samples of Mane ‘n Tail Haircare
- Derma E: Free Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner
- Argan Essence: Free Argan Oil Hair Mask Sample
- Argan Essence: Free Argan Oil Hair Treatment Sample
The Bottom Line
Getting free hair samples is a practical way to try out newly released hair products or hair products that have been in the market but you haven’t tried and are curious to do.
With a wide range of products from basic shampoos and conditioners to specialty hair masks, serums, mouse, oils, and other detanglers, it can be overwhelming to find the right ones for your hair. Free hair samples let you try them out without committing to bigger bottles.
If you love beauty products, we’ve also written about how to get free makeup samples, lip balm freebies, free lipstick, free razor, and free perfume samples.
