Skip to content 
Last Updated on January 15, 2024 by Packoi Team
There’s usually a cosmetic product that fits the needs of every recipient, regardless of age, gender, and socio-economic status.
This is why, if you’re looking for giveaway ideas for your next swag bag, consider using cosmetic products. Choosing a combination of beauty and skincare products will make for great goodie bags for any occasion. Cosmetic swag bags contain useful items that the recipient will surely enjoy.
In this article, you’ll find 5 incredible cosmetic swag bag ideas that you can use for a variety of recipients and occasions. You’ll also get tips on how to put together the perfect swag bag.
Idea 1: Educational Cosmetic Gift Bags
Yes, swag bags can be used to educate the recipient about the best cosmetic products that they can use. It’s always a good idea to teach someone how to take care of themselves. Help boost their confidence by providing useful tips and information related to makeup applications, skincare routines, and the latest beauty trends.
Add a brochure to the bag. Or put a link or QR code that leads to a video tutorial on how to use the products inside the swag bags.
The knowledge that you can impart will make your gift all the more valuable and memorable. It’ll enhance the recipient’s experience as they use the products in the bag.
It’ll also boost your brand’s image as a trustworthy
1. Proper Skin Care
Of all the educational swag bag ideas you can start with, this is the most important. Regardless of age and gender, everyone should learn how to take care of their skin.
Commonthreadco.com reveals that skincare dominates 40% of the beauty industry. That means more people will appreciate skincare products over other items.
Put together swag bags that contain the most basic skin care products like sunscreen, cleanser, moisturizer, lotion, etc. Make sure you include the skincare routine guide for specific skin types. You can even add a link to a skincare quiz that’ll help the recipient determine their skin type. Again, you can use a link or QR code to direct the recipient to more information about their skin.
Provide detailed instructions on how they can take better care of their skin. Doing this will make your goodie gift bags incredibly memorable for the recipient.
2. Beginner’s Make-up Kit
This is a great swag bag for teens who are discovering the beauty of makeup, but anyone can benefit from it as well.
A beginner’s makeup kit includes essential items that a person needs at the bare minimum. Put the most basic makeup products and tools needed.
Put on foundation, mascara, lipstick, a natural eyeshadow palette, and some brushes. Add eyebrow brushes and eyelash curlers, too.
Since this is a beginner’s makeup bag, include tips to create the most natural looks. This can be in the form of a brochure or a link to a page with all the information that the recipient will need to create their favorite look.
Swag bags with essential makeup items can be a safe gift for all ages.
3. Health and Wellness
These types of swag bag ideas are ideal for all genders. You can promote health and wellness regardless of your age, too.
To create these swag bags, you have to understand what the recipient needs to relax. Spa day swag bags aren’t always applicable to men, but you can create a version that will suit their needs. There are foot scrubs and nail care kits for men that you can use.
If you want to be generic about the goodie bag that you’ll create, choose essential oils, healthy snacks, mindfulness journals, relaxing bath bombs, soothing lotions, etc.
Add a mindfulness journal or a link to calming music.
4. New Beauty Trends
Your swag bag can also contain the latest beauty trends on the market. If you have new products, put samplers inside the swag bags.
These goodie bag ideas are incredibly valuable because you’re not just educating the recipient about new trends. You’re also giving them what they need to follow the trend.
This will also position you as someone who stays ahead of the curve. The recipient will know that your brand will be a front-runner when it comes to launching new products.
Idea 2: Personalized Swag Bag of Cosmetic Products
Another idea is to add a personal touch to your cosmetic swag bags. It’s not just about writing the name of the recipient or putting a note in the bag.
It’s about carefully selecting swag items to ensure that the recipient will appreciate them. Make them thank you for the thoughtful gifts you sent.
Fortunately, cosmetic swag bags are highly customizable. There are so many items to choose from. If you partner with the right company, they can help you personalize your cosmetic swag bags.
Here are more swag bag ideas that’ll help you create personalized giveaways.
1. Recipient Favorites
The best way to personalize swag bags is to ensure they contain the recipient’s favorite cosmetic items. At the very least, find out what the recipient uses in their daily life.
This will give you ideas on what to put in the makeup goodie bag.
If they like luxurious items, put together luxury gift bags for them. If they love taking bubble baths or pampering their nails, use that as inspiration to create a great gift for them.
Tailoring the gift bag to suit the recipient’s preferences will make them feel special.
2. Branded Items
If your company sells cosmetic products, it’s obvious that you’ll put your products inside the swag bags. Ensure your brand’s company logo is displayed so the recipient will know it’s from you.
But if you don’t sell cosmetics, consider the recipient’s preferred brand. Choose items from that product line to put in the swag bag.
Even if it’s not your products inside the gift bag, make sure your brand is front and center. This is an excellent way for event planners to market their businesses during corporate events.
3. Monogrammed Products
Impress the recipient by adding a touch of elegance to your swag bag. Choose monogrammed products to put in swag bags.
This will make the goodie bag even more personalized. Order monogrammed makeup bags, keychains, compact mirrors, and even towels. Then you can add other cosmetic products in the mix to complete the gift.
This will make the gift feel unique and personalized. Some suppliers specialize in personalizing cosmetic products. Packoi Printing has some samples that you can choose from.
Idea 3: Themed Cosmetic Gift Bags
One idea for creating cosmetic swag bags is to come up with a theme. This adds to the excitement, especially if the recipient is celebrating something really important.
Apart from that, the themed goodie bag will give you direction as you choose the products that you’ll add to the gift. It’ll serve as your guide as you pick the design of the gift bag. Even the colors can be dictated by the theme that you choose.
Here are some of the ideas that you can use to create themed gift bags.
1. Seasonal Theme
Align your cosmetic swag bag with the current season.
If it’s the holiday season, choose red lipstick and other makeup products in red and green shades. Add some peppermint candies in there, and decorate the gift with small Christmas ornaments. Make it look festive by adding colorful nail polish and eyeshadow.
A spring-themed swag bag can include pastel-colored nail polish or floral-scented body lotion. During the winter season, you can give cosmetic products that’ll keep the recipient’s skin from drying out because of the cold weather.
Pick one theme and think about what the recipient would appreciate using during that time.
2. Special Occasion Theme
The theme of your cosmetic goodie bags can also reflect the occasion being celebrated. For instance, you know someone who is joining sporting events, and you want to gift them something for it. You can put together a gift bag that includes sunscreen, lip balm, dry shampoo, muscle balms, foot cream, and hand sanitizer. You can even add water bottles there.
A gift for Mother’s Day could include lightweight makeup products that’ll give our beloved mothers a fresh look.
Swag bag ideas for bridal parties or birthdays could include items that the recipient would want to receive. Things like confetti-shaped nail polish or a mini-birthday candle-shaped bottle of cosmetics are cute ideas to include.
3. Personal care Theme
Show the importance of caring for the body by putting together swag bags filled with cosmetic products focused on nourishing and rejuvenating one’s skin, nails, feet, hair, or any part of the body. There are so many products specific to various parts of the body that you can focus on one part and have a full swag bag for it.
Among the swag bag ideas that you can include for the face are moisturizers, serums, facial cleansers, masks, etc. You can even add mirrors and a guide that’ll give proper skin care tips to the recipient.
Try to determine the actual skin type of the recipient so you can choose the appropriate skincare product for them (e.g., for oily skin, anti-aging, acne control, etc.). If you don’t know, choose generic skincare products like gentle cleansers, lightweight moisturizers, micellar water, etc.
Nail care is also something you can focus on. You don’t see a lot of swag bag ideas featuring nail care.
The contents of the swag bags will depend on who you’ll be giving them to. In case you don’t want it to be gender-specific, stick to nail clippers, cuticle oil, hand cream, nail buffers, etc.
Think of other swag bag ideas for the hair, hands, feet, etc. Choose products that are formulated to care for these parts of the body.
4. Beauty Care Theme
This theme is specific to beautifying oneself. It includes makeup products like press powder, lip balm, and eyeliners.
If the recipient is a makeup enthusiast, then gift them with a wide range of makeup products like foundation, lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes, and an assortment of brushes and sponges. Choose the color palette that suits the personality of the recipient. You can give them neutral colors or more vibrant shades. Adding a vanity mirror would be a nice touch.
What about the men? Give them grooming products. This includes a beard trimmer, electric razors, shaving cream, shaving brush, pomade, etc.
5. Spa-Day Theme
A spa-day-themed swag bag includes bath bombs, bath salts, massage oils, scented candles, facial masks, and even body scrubs.
These swag bags can be customized for different genders. You can even include nail care kits, so the recipient has everything they need to pamper themselves.
Add a soft bathrobe that the recipient can use while indulging themselves. Another idea is to add a voucher that can be used at a local spa. Maybe give the recipient access to a meditation app.
Swag bag ideas like this one can be shared with anyone—your employees, friends, colleagues, and maybe even your customers.
Make it even more special by adding some wine that the recipient can enjoy while indulging themselves in a hot bath.
Idea 4: Collaboration with Cosmetic Experts and Influencers
This idea applies to companies giving away swag bags to promote their products. Partnering with cosmetic experts (e.g., makeup artists and hairstylists), influencers, and celebrities will elevate your goodie bags into luxury swag bags.
Choose people who can partner with your company and have the same values that you want your brand to reflect. If they have a sizable following, they can help promote your swag bag.
Curate cosmetics that these people would want to receive. This will add credibility to your brand and bring it to the attention of a wider audience.
1. Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
One option is to look for makeup artists and hairstylists that your target market knows about. Collaborate with them and ask what their recommended products are. Whatever makeup or haircare products they list can be added to the swag bags you’ll send to your loyal customers.
If you have cosmetic products, send these makeup artists and hairstylists a swag bag with your samples. Every time they use it, that’s additional marketing mileage for your brand.
2. Beauty Experts
Are there beauty experts that your target market looks up to? These can be skin care experts, dermatologists, cosmetic surgeons, etc.
Partner with them and come up with swag bag ideas that you both can promote. If they have their products or a preferred list, combine it with your own.
Promote these swag bags as the recommended skincare products of beauty experts. Add vouchers and discounts, if applicable.
3. Celebrities
This option would require you to exhaust your networking skills and tap into your connections. Getting celebrities on board is a great way to elevate the value of your swag bags.
Get to know the celebrities that are famous among your target market. Partner with them by asking what their typical makeup, skincare, and hairstyle products are. Put these items together in your celebrity goodie bag. It’ll create a buzz around your swag bag.
If it’s hard to get a celebrity on board, just do your research and see if these celebrities have done a “What’s in your bag” type of video.
Use these as inspiration to put together a swag bag that your intended recipient will appreciate.
4. Influencers
Partner with influencers that your target market or intended recipient usually follows. Get to know their recommended beauty products and use them as inspiration to put together your swag bag.
Or you can create swag bags and send them to these influencers. Ask them to create a video reveal of what’s inside the bag. Make sure your brand is printed on the swag bags so people will know that it came from you.
If you just want to put together a gift for someone, research who their favorite influencer is. Put together the typical products that the influencer uses and send them as a swag bag.
Idea 5: Miniature Cosmetic Goodie Bags
Apart from the themed swag bags, you can also give away miniature versions of cosmetic products.
Choose products that you know will make a good impression on the recipient. Putting different miniature products in goodie bags is a great way to promote cosmetic products, and it’s an affordable option, too.
People can try out different items, and it won’t cost as much as the full-sized version. It’s a great way to get people to discover products they would never have thought of buying themselves.
If you like this, here are the swag bag ideas that you can draw inspiration from.
1. New Products
Use your cosmetic swag bag to introduce new products to the recipients. Since it’s a common practice for companies to create samplers of new products, take advantage of this inventory and have some of them sent out in swag bags.
Or when the new products are launched during corporate events, put them in goodie bags. This will allow event attendees a chance to try out the product and discover which is their favorite.
2. Staple Items
Another option is to put mini-versions of staple cosmetic products for customers to use. For instance, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in small containers are travel essentials. Putting these in swag bags will give the recipient something to use when they travel.
There are other swag bag ideas you can use for staple items. Other cosmetic products include facial cleansers, moisturizers, body lotion, etc. Whatever you think the recipient uses in their daily life can be included in the swag bag.
3. Limited Edition
A swag bag filled with limited-edition items is another option for giveaways. The exclusivity of the items will make your swag bags incredibly valuable.
If there are hard-to-find cosmetic products, you can add them to your goodie bag. Or, if there are seasonal items that only appear at specific times of the year (e.g., during the holidays, Valentine’s, etc.), use these items to fill your gift bags.
Knowing that the recipient received exclusive items will make them feel special and excited about the whole thing.
7 Tips When Putting Together a Cosmetic Gift Bag
All the swag bag ideas that have been discussed so far are impressive. But that doesn’t mean they’re all applicable to all types of recipients.
Before you put together your swag bags, there are a couple of things that you have to consider before you can create great gifts out of them.
To ensure that you’re putting together the best goodie bag, here are in-depth tips that you should follow.
1. Know Your Purpose
What is the purpose of your swag bag? There are many ways to distribute swag bags.
Is it for a new product that you want to launch? It’s a great giveaway to conference attendees. Or you can treat it as a goodie bag during sporting events. You can also put together bags to send event attendees of virtual events.
The more you know about how the swag bags will be used, the easier it’ll be to choose what to put inside them.
2. Promote Your Brand
The right swag bags can also create a positive impression on your brand. This is why you have to think about your brand image while you’re putting together your swag bag.
Make sure the gift bag ideas you’ll put there have enough marketing potential to promote your brand. Put your logo design, brand name, and other elements that’ll identify the swag bags to you. This will increase both brand visibility and recognition.
3. Think about the Recipient
This was mentioned as we presented various gift bag ideas. Make sure the contents of the swag bag are something that the recipient will appreciate.
Your swag bags may be used to promote your brand, but the main goal is to impress the recipient. Not everyone will like the same product, so try to get to know the recipient first before you make any decisions about the bag and the contents.
4. Celebrate the Occasion
If you’re not sure what to put inside the swag bag, think about the occasion being celebrated. What do you think the recipient will expect to receive from the goodie bags?
If it’s a holiday-themed giveaway or for corporate events and new product launches, the design of the bag and the free stuff inside should celebrate that as well.
5. Add Special Discounts and Vouchers
Make your swag bag even more valuable by adding special discounts and vouchers. These gift bag ideas aren’t just to make the recipient feel special.
This is a clever way to encourage repeat purchases and strengthen customer loyalty.
These incentives inside the goodie bag can lead to further engagement and interaction with the recipient.
6. Make It Sustainable
Whatever the purpose, your swag bag should always be environmentally friendly. Nowadays, sustainability is a strong message on its own.
Incorporate eco-friendly packaging solutions for your cosmetic swag bags. Use recyclable materials for your good gift bag. Use containers that the recipients can reuse.
7. Choose the Right Gift Bag Design
The perfect swag bag ideas have one thing in common: They all look visually appealing. It’s not just the design of the gift bag.
It’s the overall presentation and perception of the items you put inside.
Choose a bag design that compliments the products that it’ll carry. The size, shape, and material should all be aligned to perfectly represent your brand.
Get More Swag Bag Ideas for Cosmetic Products with Packoi Printing.
Putting together a cosmetic goodie bag is easier if you follow the ideas and tips presented to you. Make sure you choose swag bag ideas that are aligned with your brand image, goals, and the preferences of the recipient.
Don’t forget to constantly reassess your strategy for creating swag bags. New trends may be coming out that would benefit you if you applied them.
If you need help getting to know your options and updates on the latest gift bag trends, get in touch with Packoi Printing.
We have extensive knowledge and experience in creating the best gift packaging solutions.
Contact us for expert guidance. We’ll send you a fair quote in no time.
