Merit Beauty is essentially the blueprint for the ‘clean, minimalist makeup’ movement, which comes as no surprise when you learn that it was launched in 2021 by Katherine Power (the entrepreneur who also co-founded Who What Wear and Versed skincare). The brand was created as an antidote to the highly complex, multi-step beauty routines all over social media, and boy, is it ever.
Instead of 15-step routines, Merit focuses on what they call the ‘Five-Minute Morning.’ Each of their products was designed to be impossible to mess up and make you look like you, just slightly more polished. True to their minimalist ethos, Merit keeps their lineup incredibly tight with only 12 core makeup products in their entire range (excluding their brushes and skincare products, like their cleanser, moisturiser, and serum).
The makeup line consists of The Minimalist (Complexion Stick), Bronze Balm (Bronzer), and Day Glow (Highlighter), Flush Balm (Cream Blush), Clean Lash (Mascara), Solo Shadow (Cream Eyeshadow), Brow 1980 (Volumizing Pomade), and Brow 1990 (Gel Pencil), Shade Slick (Lip Oil), Signature Lipstick, and Signature Lip Liner, and The Uniform (Tinted Mineral Sunscreen).
For the last few weeks, I’ve been testing eight of the 12 Merit makeup products, and I have thoughts.
The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick
The rundown: The Complexion Stick is a lightweight, cream stick that acts as a hybrid foundation and concealer. It isn’t meant to be applied all over the face. Instead, you swipe it on where you need it (like under the eyes or on redness) and blend it out with a brush.
My thoughts: As someone who doesn’t love wearing foundation day-to-day, I actually really love the Complexion Stick. It gives just enough coverage that I can cover a pimple or my eye bags without laying on a thicker base. It comes in 30 shades categorised into Fair, Light, Medium, Deep, and Rich. I ended up being a light neutral and was surprised at how seamlessly it blended into my skin, despite not being the ~perfect~ shade match. That tells me that it’s a super flexible shade range and there’s bound to be something for everyone.
Price: The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick, $38
Brow 1990 Sheer Gel Pencil and Brow 1980 Volumizing Pomade
The rundown: Let’s start with the 1990 Sheer Gel Pencil. It’s a micro-fine, retractable eyebrow pencil with a gel-like texture. It’s designed to mimic the look of actual brow hairs with soft, sheer precision. As for the Brow 1980 Volumizing Pomade, it’s a tinted brow gel that features a precise, tapered spoolie brush. It is packed with mineral pigments to coat every single brow hair, giving immediate thickness.
My thoughts: The brow pencil might be the thinnest pencil I’ve seen in a long time. It’s so precise that it almost takes a few turns to learn how to use it. It creates beautiful feather-like strokes that fill in your brows perfectly without making them look chalky. The brow gel is also really nice. For a larger spoolie, it doesn’t leave your brows feeling clumpy or heavy. It coats each hair so evenly that you can hardly tell there’s a gel in there at all. It also didn’t make my brows feel like they were glued in place, which I appreciate. You can see in the picture below that my brows just look like my natural brows, only more defined.
Price: Brow 1990 Sheer Gel Pencil, $24 and Brow 1980 Volumizing Pomade, $24
Clean Volume Volumizing Tubing Mascara
The rundown: The soon-to-be-released Clean Volume Volumizing Tubing Mascara is a buildable tubing mascara that uses a petite precision brush to lift, separate, and sculpt lashes. It coats each lash in flexible, lightweight “tubes” that lock in place for all-day wear.
My thoughts: Okay, so I may have the world’s shortest, straightest eyelashes. I was not #blessed with long whispys. BUT you can actually see how good this tubing mascara is, especially if you have shorter lashes like me. I can only imagine how good it would be if you had longer lashes. I loved the brush head and how much precision it allowed. I could coat every last lash so evenly that it made my lashes look fuller. Washing it off was also a breeze! There was no messy mascara runoff that takes a double cleanse to remove. I also tried the brown since I prefer a more natural look most days, but I imagine the black could be beautiful for that fuller, bolder lash look.
Price: Clean Volume Volumizing Tubing Mascara, $28 — available from June 25 at 1pm AEST.
Bronze Balm Sheer Bronzer
The rundown: The Bronze Balm is a twist-up cream bronzer stick with a unique translucent base. Because it’s sheer, it is nearly impossible to get those muddy, heavy streaks that traditional bronzers can leave behind. The unique shape of the stick also gives you a nice level of precision if you’re looking for more of a contoured bronze look.
My thoughts: I love this cream bronzer so much. The application, the formula and the buildability. It gives a gorgeous warmth to your skin without looking like you’ve gone in heavy-handed with bronzer. It’s also the perfect size for your purse, if you’re someone who likes a little touch-up throughout the day.
Price: Bronze Balm Sheer Bronzer, $32
Flush Balm Cheek Color
The rundown: The Flush Balm Cheek Color is a little dome-shaped cream blush that melts into the skin upon contact. It is infused with vitamin E to keep the skin looking dewy and hydrated. It comes in 13 shades, offering everything from soft berries and cool pinks (Stockholm, Cheeky, Bespoke) to bright pops of coral and deep terracotta (Persimmon, Fox, Rouge). Blush, girls, run, don’t walk.
My thoughts: I adore these blushes! They blend beautifully, layer so well with each other, and the unique dome-shaped applicator is so easy to use. I was a little worried that when I applied it directly to my cheeks, it might pull off the makeup underneath it, but nothing budged. A few swipes across my cheeks and nose, and I had a gorgeous, healthy-looking glow.
Price: Flush Balm Cheek Color, $30
Signature Lip Liner Sheer Liner, and Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil
The rundown: The lip liners are heavily inspired by classic, earthy ‘90s neutrals. It features shades like Bespoke (rose brown), Beverly Hills (soft pink), Coupé (blood orange), and Tabac (warm brown), which all work with the current lip liner trends perfectly. As for the lip oil, it does what it says on the lid and comes in three finishes: The Classics (like Pink Beet and Sangria), The Gelées (sheer, jelly-like tints like Maraschino and Les Deux), and The Sheens (subtle, pearlescent finishes like Biarritz and Tabby).
My thoughts: Now, I’m not usually a lip liner girl, blame all the dance Eissteddfords of my youth. But I really wanted to try the Merit one, as I’ve heard such good things. It 100 per cent lived up to the hype! It was so creamy and smooth that it undid years of lip liner trauma. It also buffed out beautifully for more of a soft liner look. Combine that with the lip oil, and I felt so chic. The lip oil was so smooth, not sticky, and lasted a reasonable amount of time. It gave the perfect touch of colour without looking too much like a lippie.
Price: Signature Lip Liner Sheer Liner, $24 and Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil, $24
The Results:
Given Merit’s whole approach is less is more, it really delivered. Everything in the line is formulated to be a hybrid of makeup and skincare, so it looks and feels effortless and good on the skin. Each product is sheer, buildable, and dewy, so if you love a matte, full-coverage look, Merit isn’t the brand for you.
I’ve been testing it out for about three weeks now, and hand on heart, it’s fully taken over my makeup bag. My only note is that next time I order, I’ll be getting a lighter complexion stick (along with the one I’m using now) to help brighten up my face a little bit. I’m a new mama, and my eye bags need the extra help. You can check out my before and after below.
If you’re interested in trying Merit beauty for yourself and you live in Australia, you can only buy Merit online, which makes ordering your shade a bit of a wild time. However, their shade matching quiz is pretty damn accurate, in my experience.
You can check out the full range here.
Lead Image: Bree Grant
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