Over the years I’ve shared quite a few honest beauty brand reviews. I personally like reading reviews from individuals who have actually tried products AND are not being paid to post about them.

Two years ago the MERIT Beauty team reached out when they first came out with a few products. I’m not going to lie I was rubbed the wrong way when they asked for a whole list of demands in return for some free product. I chose to pass and continued on my clean beauty way (we all know I have way too many products already anyway!)

But last December a friend of mine insisted I try their cream blush. She said it was the best she had tried and so I picked some up at Sephora. WOW. I was truly impressed by how creamy it was and it lasted all day. From there I decided to explore more MERIT Makeup on my own terms without any demands for free work or free product.

So it goes without saying but this post is NOT sponsored. I purchased all of these with my own money and have spent the last few months trying out and writing down my MERIT beauty reviews. Full product reviews are below but first let’s dig into the brand.

What is MERIT Beauty?

MERIT Beauty was founded in early 2021 by entrepreneur Katherine Power (founder of the lifestyle site Who What Wear and Versed Skincare). The inspiration came from her sharing her “5 Minute Makeup Routine” and her minimalist makeup approach.

The idea caught on and by 2021 MERIT Beauty was sold in all Sephora stores across the US. They are now available in both Canada and the UK Sephoras as well as on their home site.

MERIT Makeup Ingredients

MERIT Beauty prides itself on its minimalist approach to both the makeup look and its ingredients.

All of their products are EU-compliant, free from over 1400 potentially unsafe ingredients. Certified by Leaping Bunny. They are also certified cruelty-free and vegan.

For this struggling with acne, all of their products are formulated in partnership with celebrity esthetician Biba de Sousa to be safe for acne-prone skin.

MERIT Beauty Products

At this point Merit Beauty primarily focuses on makeup products. They have recently come out with a skincare serum (which I have not tried yet) so I assume a larger foray into skincare is coming but as of right now here are their line of products:

Below I’m reviewing each of these merit products in detail.

My Overall Review of MERIT Beauty

Overall I really really like MERIT products. Not all of them are my favorite (read each description below) but if you’re looking for a minimalist beauty brand with clean makeup products, I think you’ll really like MERIT beauty.

That being said, if you don’t like cream products this probably won’t be your brand. I also think they could benefit from a setting powder product but instead I usually just turn to another brand for that. I would definitely recommend some of the MERIT products if you’re in the market for trying out something new, but other than a couple of products I wouldn’t say everything is a smash hit.