I've always found myself drawn towards more natural and minimal makeup. Essentially, I'm very much here for the no-makeup makeup look, where my skin looks healthy and glowy and the rest of my makeup simply accentuates my features instead of looking too bold. Because of this, I've put many great minimal makeup brands to the test over the years. And one, that I hadn't tried until now, which routinely kept popping up on my social media was MERIT Beauty.
The clean, vegan and cruelty-free brand have so many beautiful products to choose from. But over the past few weeks I've been putting five in particular to the test. And those five products include two of their newest releases, the Solo Shadow and Brush No. 2, respectively.
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So, here's what it was like trying MERIT Beauty for the first time;
MERIT Solo Shadow in Vachetta (£26)
First up we have the new Solo Shadow. I opted for the shade Vachetta, which is described as a warm beige. It definitely reads as more of a brown undertone on me, which I like. And it's just such a gorgeous colour for my complexion and eye colour. MERIT Beauty believe that having solo shadows, instead of eyeshadow palettes where you only use one or two shades, makes more sense nowadays. And I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. I've certainly condensed my eyeshadow collection down to a few go-to solo eyeshadows in recent years. Their Solo Shadow itself is a cream to powder consistency which blends nicely and can be layered to create more depth and drama.
There are eight colour to choose from (I'm seriously tempted to try out the mauve and warm green shades next) and what really impressed me was the fact these shadows have skincare ingredients in them. There's peptides to help reduce the appearance of fine lines. There's chamomile and calendula extracts to help soothe the eye area. Then there's magnolia bark extract to help smooth the appearance of skin. And sunflower seed oil to help nourish the skin too. As someone who focuses on skin first, before makeup, this was especially interesting to me.
MERIT Brush No. 2 Eyeshadow Brush (£22)
This is such a lovely dual-sided eyeshadow brush to have in my makeup bag. One end has a precise tip, while the other has a densely packed brush. You can apply the Solo Shadow with your fingers to get more of a diffused look. But the No.2 Brush creates a much more pigmented and smooth appearance.
It's such a lovely little brush and given that it so lightweight and reasonably sized, it's great for taking with you on your travels or in your on-the-go makeup bag.
MERIT Clean Lash Lengthening Mascara (£28)
So, this is a tubing mascara, which is something I've been keen to try more of. It does exactly what I'd want a mascara to do. And the packaging is so luxe-looking as well. Out of the five products that I've tried, this one was just nice, instead of blowing me away. But I do still enjoy using it.
It doesn't flake or smudge, which is a big bonus and it's a true black shade too. But as someone who tends to rotate mascaras instead of repurchasing the same one over and over, I'm happy to keep trying more mascaras and especially more tubing ones in the future.
MERIT Flush Balm Cheek Color in Stockholm (£32)
Now, this is just such a lovely cream blush. You can also pop it onto your lips as well.
The Flush Balms come in an array of gorgeous colours but I ended up going for the Stockholm baby pink shade. You can either apply the balm right onto your cheek. Or you can apply it with a brush or your fingers. It truly melts into the skin and leaves me looking a whole lot healthier whenever I wear it. I also love that it doesn't cling to any dry patches either.
MERIT The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick in Bone (£40)
Now, for me, this particular product is a serious game changer. I typically only wear a corrector and concealer as my base, or a skin tint if my skin needs a bit more coverage. But I've been trying to condense that down even further. Enter The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick.
This is exactly the kind of base product that I have been looking for. It allows me to precisely apply it to areas like my under eyes or around my nose, while also allowing me to apply more almost like a foundation, as and where I need it. The shade Bone, MERIT's lightest hue, is also a great match for my incredibly fair skin too. When I say that this has completely changed my everyday makeup routine, I am not kidding.
MERIT Signature Makeup Bag (free with your first order)
I absolutely love that your very first MERIT Beauty order comes with a completely free makeup bag. And a gorgeous makeup bag that could easily work as a little clutch bag at that. It just elevates the whole makeup buying experience.
So, it's safe to say that I am very impressed with what I've tried from MERIT Beauty so far. I also love that all of their packaging is recyclable and some of it is even compostable.
If you fancy trying MERIT Beauty for yourself, we can now order the brand here in the UK. And all orders over $40/£50 get free shipping too. Not sure where to begin? They also do some handy sets, which have everything you could ever need to give your current makeup routine a serious upgrade.
Have you tried anything from MERIT Beauty yet? Or what do you think of the products that I've put to the test? And how gorgeous is that free makeup bag?
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