Brandnation shares four beauty influencer gifting ideas that you’ll want to save for inspiration.
Traditional advertising is no longer enough to grab consumer’s attention. These days, influencers on social media hold a lot of power. Influencers have significant followings and they’re trusted by consumers – often more than traditional press!
In fact, according to a 2024 Influencer Marketing Report, not only is people’s trust in influencers gradually increasing, but 49% of all consumers make daily, weekly or monthly purchases because of influencer posts.
When a beauty influencer shares their favourite or most-used products to their audience, it’s likely going to attract attention and, as the figures prove, drive sales.
Influencer gifting, where products are sent or ‘gifted’ to influencers in exchange for potential exposure, has become a popular way for brands to reach large audiences and increase their credibility. After all, if your favourite beauty influencer with the glossy hair and the flawless skin is using a particular product, you’re far more likely to want to use it too.
But influencers often receive vast amounts of products each week. This is why it’s important to make your product stand out from the pack with a creative angle.
At Brandnation, our influencer marketing team specialise in planning and executing a range of creative ‘gifts’ which are sent to specially selected influencers. Driven by our Creativity. Multiplied. philosophy, the belief that bold ideas, amplified intelligently, drive results, we seek out creative executions that people want to talk about it. These are just four of our favourites….
1. Ella & Jo Mother's Day Bouquet
Image: The Ella & Jo Mother’s Day bouquet.
To celebrate Mother’s Day 2025, we combined two things that mum’s typically love – flowers and skincare. This resulted in a skincare flower bouquet filled with fresh blooms and luxury Ella & Jo skincare products.
The gift was sent to mum-influencers and journalists, reinforcing Ella & Jo’s brand messaging around delivering incredible results whilst bringing moments of self-care to even the busiest of days.
“Linking to key dates supports our storytelling – in this case it was about making a moment for mothers with skincare and gifting media and influencer mums with Ella & Jo products in a beautiful and engaging way,” says Eva Ringwood, Deputy Managing Director at Brandnation.
But, influencer gifting is never without its challenges and here, the challenge was making sure everyone was home to receive the gift!
“We planned ahead and confirmed delivery times to make sure no gift went undelivered and to get maximum impact from our gifting strategy,” says Eva.
2. Babe Original Biscuits
To mark the launch of Babe 4 Real Mascara, we designed and gifted branded, personalised biscuits featuring the mascara name and the campaign messaging.
Jumping on the ‘is it cake or is it real’ trend – a viral internet challenge where incredibly realistic cakes are designed to look like everyday objects or food – we created biscuits that replicated the mascara.
“Food gifting tends to be well received. It’s a very cost-effective way to thank brand fans, reach new people and get new people on board with the brand,” says Eva.
It was also easy to share on socials and encouraged followers to guess whether the biscuits were in fact biscuits, or actually mascara.
As for the results of the gifting?
“We achieved over 40 pieces of content and coverage with a total reach of 270 million,” says Eva.
3. Sleek MakeUP Boombox
Image: The Sleek MakeUP boombox.
Interactive gifts keep influencers engaged, plus they’re memorable. A new collection by Sleek MakeUP called Turn Up The Volume, led to the idea of a music-inspired launch. For this, we designed and delivered a custom boom box with a working speaker. But there was a twist – the volume and tuner dials were actually Sleek lipsticks.
Eva explains: “The aim was to create a stand-out gift and generate noise around the launch. It really did land well and all the elements combined made it the perfect stand-out gifting which linked creatively and cleverly to the product launch.”
4. Ella & Jo Custom Cake
Food gifting is always a winner, so to celebrate the release of the Ella & Jo Glow Up Enzyme Mask, influencers were gifted with a bespoke cake replicating the product packaging. On the top of the cake was an edible replica of the mask.
“In this case the product ingredients – pineapple, papaya, pomegranate – lended themselves perfectly to having a cake made. We created a delicious gift which stood out not just in terms of colour – it was beautifully bright orange – but also thanks to its flavour,” says Eva.
Established influencers including Hannah Martin and Bryony Blake posted about the cake, and more importantly the product.
“We also secured coverage in titles such as The Sun, Hello!, Grazia, Heat/Closer, LuxeGirl, Women’s Health, Daily Mail and Get The Gloss,” adds Eva.
Altogether, we achieved a total reach of 200 million.
The power of influencers is ever-growing, and influencer gifting specifically offers a great way to reach audiences, build trust and create fun, social media moments.
The right influencers can turn a single gifted product into the next ‘must buy’, increasing awareness and generating sales, whilst also providing brands with user-generated content.
Want to know how we can help elevate your influencer marketing? Check out more of our work or get in touch.
About the author
Natalie Clement | Digital
Marketing Executive
With international experience as a digital marketer, writer, and editor, Natalie has worked across sectors including lifestyle, technology, and tourism.
