While I know many people are really into clean beauty, personally, it’s not something I look for. I just like good, effective, products. Bonus points if they’re Leaping Bunny certified and keep the environment in mind with packaging. And that’s exactly what MERIT is about. Plus, if beauty products overwhelm you with all the options, colors, shades and so on, MERIT is designed to be a well-edited essentials-only minimalist makeup line. I recently tried a handful of their products after several friends raved about them, and I was quite impressed!
MERIT Beauty Review
About The MERIT Beauty Brand
MERIT was founded in 2021 by Katherine Power. You may have heard of her as she’s the founder of Who What Wear and also Versed skincare. MERIT was designed to be a clean luxury makeup brand. Minimalism is key with this brand as you won’t see tons of shades or products. Just the simple, well-edited essentials you need. MERIT is based out of Los Angeles California and is available directly to consumers on meritbeauty.com and at Sephora.
MERIT Beauty Ingredients
When you browse the makeup products on MERIT and read the descriptions you’ll notice something. So many great skin nourishing ingredients in the makeup! From vitamin E and fatty acids to nourish and hydrate. The Tinted Lip Oil has rosehip and essential fatty acids to encourage a healthy lip barrier. And so much more. Each product has a detail list of what’s inside and how the ingredients benefit your skin tone and texture.
Is MERIT Beauty Clean
While I personally don’t think you need to seek out clean products, as there are no official standards to consider something clean, I know ingredients have become really important to consumers. MERIT products are both EU compliant (which is a different standard than what we have here in the IS) and comply with Sephora’s clean beauty standards.
Is MERIT Beauty Cruelty-Free
One thing that I really like about MERIT is that they go beyond just cruelty-free. This can actually be a tricky term if we really dive into it, and one should aim for Leaping Bunny certification. They also eliminate as much virgin plastic in their packaging and even their operations, as much as possible. Plus, their shipping packaging is either recyclable, biodegradable or reusable. I feel like the brand has gone above and beyond in trying to do better for the planet.
The MERIT Beauty Products I’ve Tried
MERIT has a full collection of makeup products from lipsticks, lip glosses and the popular Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick. They also have the MERIT Brow 1980 Volumizing Pomade which I want to try! And as far as their newest product, they recently launched their first skincare product, the Great Skin Instant Glow Serum. I only have tried the below but have yet to hear a bad thing about the other products in the line. Personally, I skip all mascaras now because this is my holy grail and I’m too lazy to try new ones.
Flush Balm Cheek Color
The perfect little cream blush that has microfine pigment powders that give a good amount of pigment. It has a satin finish and is totally buildable. I went with the darkest berries color option, Mood. A little goes a long way with this shade but I really love the flush red color it gives your cheeks. Feels very natural. You can also add it to your lips!
Bronze Balm
This is a sheer bronzer that’s buildable. It gives you the perfect amount of warmth to your face as if you just had the perfect glow from vacation. It has a satin finish and is super lightweight. I went with the color Seine. I also tried Clay but found it to be too light. Lean into a darker shade than you normally would as I feel like it’s sheerer than you will expect.
Day Glow Highlighting Balm
I love a highlighter and think this is such a good one that you can swipe on your cheekbone to add a dewy balmy look to your face. I went with the Cava color which is more of a neutral iridescent. You can also try the Bounce shade which has a bit of a pinky hint to it or Citrine which is a bit of a warm tan. The micro-fine pearls reflect light and illuminate your skin. This product is also great to throw on if you’re wanting a no-makeup look. This item is packed with plant-based squalane for locking in hydration, as well as phytosterol and amino acid to promote a healthy skin barrier. Swipe this on for a little highlight and a little boost to your skin tone and texture.
Blending Brush
I have not personally used this because I already have and love my SAIE Big Brush which I think is fairly similar. But friends have this Brush No.1 Blending Brush and LOVE it. People rave about it. It seems to be a tad less dense than the SAIE Big Brush. The vegan bristles are gentle and the handle is made with 100% recyclable aluminum.
Where To Buy Merit Beauty
At the moment, you can only buy MERIT Beauty at meritbeauty.com directly and at Sephora. When you shop at MERIT Beauty though, you get The Signature Bag (taht’s the cute makeup bag as seen in these photos) free with your first order. Orders at MERIT get free shipping on all orders over $40 and free returns. When I can, I like to shop directly from a brand’s website. And with their free shipping and returns, and the cute bag, I highly suggest shopping through them.
