What UK creators actually want from gifting:
the 2026 data
New survey data from 107 UK beauty and lifestyle creators reveals what makes them post, what puts them off, and why the brands winning at gifting are doing something most others aren't.
We asked our community of UK beauty and lifestyle creators a simple question most brands never bother with: what do you actually think about gifting? Over a hundred of them told us, and some of the answers should make brands rethink how they run their next campaign. Here are the three findings that stood out most.
Finding 1
73% want gifting and paid — not one or the other
gifting and paid opportunities
There's a myth doing the rounds that creators are done with gifting and only want paid work. The data says otherwise. Nearly three quarters of UK creators want a mix of both — not gifting instead of paid, and not paid instead of gifting. They want the relationship to build.
Gifting isn't dying. For most creators it's the beginning of a brand relationship they're hoping develops into something more. The brands that treat a gifting campaign as a transaction are missing the point entirely.
Finding 2
Creative freedom beats everything
you a better result"
We asked creators to pick the single most important thing they wish brands understood. Nearly half gave the same answer: give us creative freedom and you'll get better content. That was more than double any other response.
Pair that with this: "too many rules on what I can say" is a top-three complaint about how brands handle gifting (cited by 28% of creators). The message is blunt. Over-briefing doesn't protect brands — it costs them better content.
"Creative freedom gets you a better result" — the single thing 47% of creators wish brands understood.
Finding 3
Creators post what they chose and what they love
applied or genuinely loved it
The two biggest reasons creators post gifted product are "I applied for it, so I already wanted it" (36%) and "I genuinely loved the product" (34%). Together that's 70% of creators. Together they tell the same story: the creator was already invested before they even opened the package.
The takeaway is structural, not cosmetic. Opt-in gifting — where creators choose your campaign rather than receive an unsolicited parcel — wildly outperforms cold outreach. If 70% of posting is driven by prior enthusiasm, the job isn't to write a better brief. It's to get your product in front of people who already want it.