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My Honest Merit Makeup Review (is it worth the hype?)

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For the last year or so, I’ve been served ads on Instagram for MERIT Beauty and even went so far as to put items in my cart. But, since I get a lot of makeup sent to me for free or at a major discount given my job as a full-time fashion & beauty influencer, it’s really hard for me to justify paying full-price for new makeup. (Except lipsticks and mascara – I’ll drop some serious change on those!)

So when my brand manager reached out a month ago and asked if I’d be interested in trying MERIT Beauty, I pretty much screamed YES. MERIT kindly sent me a very generous collection of products and now that I’ve tried them, I can confirm that it is truly a 5-minute makeup routine that’s easy to apply.

But would I spend my own money on this? For the most part, yes. But not everything is the best I’ve ever tried. While I received product for free, I was not required to blog about it. This post is not sponsored and I’m sharing my honest thoughts.

My Honest Merit Makeup Review

Merit Beauty gives a very natural no-makeup look so it’s not what I’ll go for when I need to take work photos or have a family photo shoot. But for everyday life when you just want to feel polished for running errands, working from home or even just hanging out at the house, it’s a great option.

I have dry, mature skin (I’m turning 40 this year) so I especially appreciate how hydrating and blendable the products are. Below are the products I own, what I like, what’s just okay and the shades I have.

Here’s a quick little before and after before I get into each product. So light and natural, right?

Great Skin Instant Glow Serum

It’s hard for me to explain what the Great Skin Instant Glow Serum even does but I love it. I wasn’t expecting to see that much of a difference in my skin’s appearance since it’s a very thin liquid (like a toner) and not a foundation or tinted moisturizer, but my skin definitely smoother and glowy after I use it. The design of this product is to prep your skin for the rest of your makeup look, but you could wear it on its own as well.

The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick

Other complexion sticks that I’ve tried in the past have been dry, didn’t blend well and left my skin looking parched. The MERIT Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick is better than most but it’s still not the best. Yes, it provides lightweight coverage like a foundation and also works well as a concealer around the nose and under eyes. It blends easily with a firm brush and but I felt like it sat on top of my skin rather than blending in.

The best one? Ilia’s foundation stick. It blends more easily with more even coverage and it’s more hydrating than Merit’s foundation sstick. (This post has more foundations and tinted moisturizers I love.)

You can see a comparison of the Merit foundation stick vs. Ilia foundation stick in this reel.

Solo Shadow Matte Eye Color

I’m not great at applying eye shadow and do tend to favor cream shadow since it seems to be a bit more forgiving. The Solo Shadow Matte Eye Color is a bit different from other cream shadows I’ve tried since it is truly matte. That takes a little get used to for me, and I have to blend a bit more, but I do like the way it applies. I have shade Studio but I’m not sure it’s the best color for my skin tone. Of everything I tried, this is my least favorite, but I think it’s more that I didn’t choose the best color for my skin tone.

Flush Balm Cheek Color

I love love love this Flush Balm Cheek Color cream blush. I also love the packaging, how creamy it is, and how easily it blends in. While I have multiple other cream blushes, this is my #1 pick now because of the blendability. I have shade Cheeky, and it’s the perfect color for me. But it is not long-lasting, and I find I have to reapply throughout the day.

Brow 1980 Volumizing Pomade

When I wrote my Best of Beauty Awards blog post, I didn’t have a brow gel that I thought was perfect. I liked aspects of the brow gels I had but also had complaints. Well ladies, I have found the perfect brow gel, and it’s the Brow 1980 Volumizing Pomade from MERIT Beauty.

It provides volume without the brows looking huge and unruly; I know that big brows are a trend but sometimes brow gels overdo it. It doesn’t drop too much pigment and the formula isn’t too wet or too dry. Also, it provides volume and color without requiring clean-up with a q-tip. I have shade Brown.

Signature Lip Lightweight Lipstick

I have dozens of lipsticks and like them all for different reasons. And previously if I could have only picked one lipstick, I would have said the Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk lipstick. It’s a gorgeous shade, hydrating and long lasting and it’s what I always wear for photoshoots and family photos. But the Merit Signature Lip is even better. It’s more hydrating and makes my lips look plumper. It’s truly the perfect lipstick and I’m definitely ordering more shades. I currently have shade Millennial.

Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil

I have only tried one other lip oil so I don’t have a huge sample size to compare to but I do like this Shade Slick Tinted Lip oil better than the other ones I’ve used over the years, which seemed to bleed at the edges. Also, I prefer this over lipgloss, which lends itself to stickiness, while this is hydrating and shiny but not as sticky. I have shade Pink Beet.

Clean Lash Lengthening Mascara

This is one product I haven’t tried yet but I’m going to order it. I didn’t realize that Merit Beauty’s mascara was a tubing mascara, and like I shared in this blog post about the best tubing mascaras, it’s the only type of mascara I can wear. Given how much I love all their other products, I’m fully expecting to love this but I am rather picky about mascaras. So, I will update this post with details once I get my hands on it!

One thing to note is that MERIT Beauty doesn’t list their full ingredients list online (you can see the full lists for MERIT at Sephora), but from what I’ve read on other sites, they include lots of natural hydrating ingredients like avocado oil, sea daffodil extract, quinoa seed oil and others.

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