I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love a good birthday freebie. In fact, I love them so much that I spent the better half of my birthday this year going around town, collecting all of the various freebies that different stores had to offer. I got free cake, coffee, drinks, dessert, sandwiches, chocolates, and best of all, my 2026 Sephora birthday gift. Sephora released five different birthday gifts this year, however, I’ve been noticing that they usually release a selection of them in the first half of the year and then some different ones in the second half of the year once those sell out. But, I did notice one big difference with the Sephora birthday gifts this year. In previous years (2024 and 2025 for example), the value of these sets has ranged from $20-$50 with the majority of them sitting around that $30 mark. This year, the lowest value is $16 and the highest value is $32 (when calculated against their full size equivalents). Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great thing to get for free. I just thought it was interesting. Very interesting. Keep on reading to help you decide which one you should pick up for your birthday!

I love dae and I love haircare minis so this was probably the set I was most excited for. However, I’m sure if you’re anything like me, you immediately looked at the value of the set and were shocked to see it’s only a value of $16.10. However, the dollar value isn’t everything because I feel the practicality and number of uses far outweigh what this set is worth. It comes with the dae Cactus Fruit 3-in-1 Styling Cream which I actually already own (full review here). This is the perfect styling product to help with any flyaways, frizz, and creating those sleek, slicked-back ponies. And it smells amazing. The other product is a new one- it’s the dae Sunsetter Hairspray. It’s a lightweight, yet strong-hold hairspray that helps to set styles, blocks humidity, tame frizz, and finishes the hair with a super lustrous, natural-looking shine. Again, love the minis. Absolutely perfect for travel.

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Okay, I know I said I was most excited about the dae haircare set above but I have since changed my mind. I think the Tower 28 set takes the cake. I have been dying to try their beloved SOS Spray so this birthday set couldn’t have come at a better time. The Tower 28 SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray is a hypochlorous acid spray that you can spray on your face throughout the day (either on top of makeup or underneath) to help keep breakouts at bay, reduce redness, and soothe stressed skin. It’s great to kill any bacteria that is just sitting on the surface of your skin. The set also comes with the Tower 28 ShineOn Lip Jelly in the Pistachio shade which is a super pretty sheer milky nude pink. It’s not sticky at all and contains apricot kernel oil, raspberry seed oil and rosehip oil so it’s super nourishing and moisturizing.

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I would have probably been over the moon for this set if I didn’t already own this exact cream blush (full review here), but having a backup of the Glossier Cloud Paint Blush is never a bad thing. And the mini size makes it perfect for travel. It’s in the shade Puff which is actually one of my favourite shades in the Cloud Paint lineup. It’s the perfect light baby pink that you can either wear on your own if you’re fair like me, or mix with other deeper shades to create your perfect custom cream blush. This Glossier birthday set also contains three samples of Glossier’s You perfume and it’s two variants: You Fleur and You Doux. The original You eau de parfum is a warmer scent with notes of Pink Pepper, Iris, and Ambrox. You Fleur is more of a fresh floral with Ylang-Ylang, Apricot Skin, and Ambrox notes. And, last, You Doux is probably my favourite of the three because it’s more of a warm woody fragrance with notes of Sweet Violet, Palo Santo, and Ambrox. I do really like that this set contains all three samples of the You fragrance family so that I can not only compare, but also layer the scents together.

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This last set is exclusively for Sephora VIB and VIB Rouge members, but it’s a little underwhelming if you ask me. Sure, it’s Jo Malone and I do love my Jo Malone fragrances, but I wish it included the newest Raspberry Ripple Cologne because that one is spectacular. Instead, it includes a mini size of the Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne which is a woody and fresh scent made up of Ambrette Seeds, Sea Salt, and Sage notes. It’s also unisex so I wouldn’t be surprised if this fragrance goes missing and I find it in my fiancé’s bathroom drawer. The second scent is just a little tester size of the English Pear & Sweet Pea Cologne. This one is a fruity and floral scent with notes of King William Pear, Freesia, and Patchouli. It’s really pretty but also pairs nicely with a more woody or warm scent to dial down the floral-ness of it.

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