I really like free. And free makeup is my favourite thing to write about and let you know asap!

I haven’t been to the mall / Sephora / MAC for ages – yep, my self-imposed “No Buy” is going very very well – so when I decided to finally make my way to my favourite mall, it was mostly because I got quite bored at home. And an email from MAC saying that I can redeem for a free mini lipstick was all the incentive I needed to make the drive over.

The Free MAC Mini Lipstick

Immediately as I arrived at the MAC store, I was greeted by 2-3 sales associates – my sister remarked that someone at MAC Corporate must have seen that infamous MAC vs. Sephora Employees video that went viral (It seems the original video was taken down from YouTube so I’ve linked it from another site it was archived in) But I digress. I was here for my free lipstick and then I’m out – no shopping for makeup just because.

I would like to receive MAC Cosmetics marketing emails to enjoy the latest looks and launches, tips, trends, special offers and more. By checking this box, you accept that your e-mail address will be used to send you marketing newsletters and information about MAC Cosmetics products, events and offers. Specific birthday gift rewards may vary based on location and are subject to store/website availability. Please note that you must contact Customer Service at 1.800.387.6707 or email MAConlineService@maccosmetics.ca in order to change the birthday associated with. CVS Beauty Club. The CVS Beauty Club is free and gives you $3 for every $30 spent on makeup, hair, and skincare products. A free birthday gift will be loaded onto your CVS Extracare card in your birthday month and could be anything from free nail polish to a facial mask. Sign up for free at CVS. Buy a MAC Cosmetics Gift Card. Gift Cards Ship Free and are valid online and in store. Skip navigation and go to main content FREE SHIPPING WITH $25+ PURCHASE!

Firstly, similar to how there was a bit of confusion with the MAC Select Anniversary gift when I went last time, no one in-store knew about the email I was talking about. Fortunately, I had the email and the unique barcode which scanned when I checked out so they said they were going to let their manager know about this “promo”. I haven’t heard too many people talking about the email that I received but here is the email that I received from MAC. Since it’s been 6 months into 2018 and I have not bought a single item from MAC Cosmetics, they wanted me to purchase something by incentivizing me with a free lipstick.

As you might recall, MAC has a bunch of mini’s of their popular shade. As I already own all the nudes (Velvet Teddy and Whirl), I opted for another colour family. I remembered that Mehr got a lot of positive reviews (it was the shade Tessa Virtue wore when she/Scott won the gold medals this past winter Olympics) so I picked up that one.

One free item down!

The MAC Select Anniversary Gift

I was stoked to discover that MAC Select honoured their Birthday gifts which was one of the perks of their beauty program. To be honest, I haven’t heard anything about the perks beyond the anniversary gift and makeover since the program launched back in 2016. There was a great deal of excitement when she rang me up and said “Oh you’re also eligible for the free Birthday gift!”. Thinking I was getting just another mini, I was surprised when she walked over to their Fix+ display and picked up a full-sized MAC Fix+ and proceeded to scan it!

What the what?!

A free full-sized birthday gift? Thank you very much MAC!

I’m not sure why the receipt is showing my birthday gift as “Anniversary” gift but Reddit seems to agree with me in that the Fix+ is a birthday gift!

Another free item in my basket! So far, my “free” basket is worth $42!

The remainder of my trip isn’t very exciting as I decided to trade in 18 MAC empties for 3 lipsticks (It’s on a separate receipt). All the colours I picked are my go-to and I recently ran out of some. I ended up restocking on Pure Zen, Velvet Teddy and Hug Me.

MAC’s lip products are some of my favourite formula’s and I really like their nude range. Overall, I’m very pleased with my “free” haul – it’s a haul that doesn’t break my “no buy” but gives me the satisfaction of adding another goodie to my collection!

Members of the MAC Lover (formerly Select) program are in for a treat! The brand is rewarding its loyal shoppers with not only a free anniversary gift but also a free birthday gift! To think that we have a loyalty program that actually rewards its members appropriately is something that I’m afraid I don’t get to say often!

This post has been updated to reflect the recent change in MAC’s loyalty program. The former MAC Select program has a new name (MAC Lover) and look! The announcement came out at the beginning of January and I’ve updated this post to reflect the new nomenclature and respective perks of each tier. The below is part of the email campaign that went out announcing the change and to learn more about the new perks, here is the link on the MAC website.

It’s safe to say that the MAC Select program may be the best beauty loyalty program of the moment – at least here in Canada! I’ve found myself shopping at MAC far more often because of the MAC Select loyalty program, and any makeup lover who’s been disappointed by the Sephora VIB / VIB Rouge program should get on this now! A free birthday and anniversary gift that is full-sized too? Read on to find out what it is and whether you’re eligible for it!

How to Get the MAC Birthday Gift – Details / Process

1. Who: Gifts are available for Devoted (Min: $150 spend/year) and Obsessed members (min: $500 spend/year) only
2. When: Available starting in 2018 (Spend must have accrued in the previous year)
3. How: You must enter your birthday in your MAC Account online
4. Where: MAC free-standing stores. Appears to be available in both the US and Canada. Your birthday reward is based on what you entered in your profile and I didn’t have to ask – was told I was eligible upon check out by the sales associate

MAC Birthday Gift Review

I’m thrilled with the very generous 2018 gift is a full-sized MACFix+ Spray ($30, available here) as it is one of my favourite products. The MAC Fix+ is one of the most popular beauty products out there and and it’s not skintone specific, ensuring that ALL MAC Lover members can make the most out of their gift! I’m sure MAC makes a lot of money on it so I’m very surprised by how generous it is – think of it this way, it’s a 20% return-on-investment ($30/$150 spend) for Devoted members and a 6% ROI for Obsessed members.

What Makeup Stores Give Free Birthday Gifts

Receiving a full-sized product that you can get a lot of use out of is simply very generous – unlike at Sephora where you need to scrimp and save every point for a 5ml mini or sachet sample. I think the program is not only generous but fair – limiting the reward to those who spend a reasonable sum at MAC is a sound business decision. I do wonder if they will eventually release a different gift for Obsessed members as the difference between spending $150 and $500 is quite substantial and I’m sure if the my Sephora VIB Rouge membership experience is anything to go by, eventually the bigger spenders will expect more.

I typically stock up during the big MAC Select sales or when I see interesting value sets/sale items on the “Goodbyes” section – that way I get more bang for my bucks!

Which MAC Lover Tier Should You Aim for?

As I’ve previously mentioned several times in this post, I find the middle tier, “Devoted”, to have the best of both worlds. If you’re aware that Obsessed members get a different gift, please let me know. For “Devoted” members, the 20% ROI on your $150 investment is a satisfying return, to be frank.

As far as I know, there’s no purchase required to pick up your gift! I picked my my gift while exchanging a few B2M and showing an email indicating that I was eligible for a free mini lipstick. Yeah, it was a good shopping day!

I’ve been impressed with MAC’s loyalty program thus far – the MAC birthday and anniversary gifts feature full-size items that are inclusive (i.e. not skintone/colour specific) and also well-worth the spending. With so many launches each year and having a number of colours and formula being a favourite of mine ensures I’ll spend enough to keep coming back! I love that they’ve taken what didn’t work at Sephora and actually turned it into a solid loyalty program. Here is to hoping that it stays this way in the future.

What is the MAC Lover (Formerly Select) Program?

The MAC Lover (formerly Select) program is MAC’s own loyalty program for regular shoppers (it’s different from its makeup artist / Pro program). Anyone can sign up at a MAC store; it’s free to join and although the program has been around for 1.5 years, it remains to be one of the best programs out there (at least in Canada!)

Unlike other stores, there is no app or physical card that denotes your membership; you have a unique identifier code (Mine has the following format: CA-###-###-###) and to get points credited, you must let the sales associate know your email address upon checkout (if buying in-store); points are automatically credited for online purchases.

The points reset every year, so aim to achieve the level you want – I find the “Devoted” ($150 spend – it seems the program was adjusted recently reflecting a change in the threshold for each tier) to be the right middle ground especially because MAC has done a lot of value sets/kits and ran multiple 25% off sales for Select Members during the year (outside the holiday period). You can stock up and save money while building your status. I love that the exclusive sale for MAC Select members are outside of the holiday period which tides you over between the “annual” sale seasons.

How to become a MAC Lover/Select Member

Mac Makeup Free Birthday Gift Set

I do recommend you signing up as you never know how the program evolves. With minimal effort on your side and without realizing it, you could have spent enough money to enjoy the annual anniversary gifts!

I already had a MAC Cosmetics account when I signed up, so if I recall correctly, it was a matter of simply creating a MAC Select ID while checking out with my cart and then an ID was generated. It was very straight-forward, and the points from my purchase was was immediately credited in a day or so. If there are any issues, MAC’s customer service (via their chat room) are very quick at sorting these things out. If you’re not yet a MAC Select member or don’t have an online account, you can sign-up in-store with your email/phone number.

Does Mac Cosmetics Give Free Birthday Gifts

You can also check your spending via the online tracker and see how much more you need to spend before “unlocking” your next tier.

A Brief Overview of the MAC Select Tier & Rewards

There are 3 tiers and the tier layout is very similar to Sephora. The more you spend, the better the perks are as both the Anniversary Gift and Birthday gift are available only to the higher tier members. Spends are accrued on an annual basis and points to expire every year so it’s best to aim to get your points up during the holidays/sales if you’re interested in maintaining the perks.

1. Tier 1 (Lover): $0 min spend; Everyone who joins is automatically classified as Seduced. Minimal perks
2. Tier 2 (Devoted): $200 min spend: You get all the perks of the Seduced level + the Anniversary Gift + the Birthday Gift + a complimentary 30-minute makeup application + early access to collections.
3. Tier 3 (Obsessed): $500 min spend; you get all the perks of the Devoted level + 2x complimentary 60-min makeup application + early access to shop + exclusive invites + free shipping with $65 spend

As I’ve only been a Devoted member, I can’t speak to the others; I’ll summarize in that it is the best in-between tier that gives you the most worthwhile perks of the program (birthday gift, complimentary makeup, early access) without spending excessively. You can read more about my thoughts of the MAC Select program over on this blog post.

Have you picked up your MAC Select birthday gift yet?