If you’re looking for Merit makeup reviews, celebrities are bound to make a few cameos in your search results. Martha Stewart—still radiant at 83—is but one famous fan of the minimalist brand. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, beauty editors have been restocking standby Merit products on a loop since the brand launched in 2021. And here at Allure, we make our Merit approval quite public, celebrating the brand with one Best of Beauty Award after another.
The brainchild of Katherine Power, a lifestyle mogul who’s also the cofounder of Versed Skincare, Merit comes by its indie-darling status honestly. Its streamlined collection of beauty must-haves looks expensive, but most items ring in at under $40 apiece. The formulas punch well above their weight in price point, with products infused with skin-loving ingredients ranging from sea daffodil to fatty acids and quinoa seed oil. All that, and the makeup lends itself to a breezy, pared-back routine that will have you looking dewy and naturally flushed in five minutes flat.
Our Top Merit Products
Ready to add a few Merit items to your collection? Allow us to lead the way. Below, Allure editors weigh in on the bronze, blush, brow pencil, and more that they simply can’t get enough of.
Draw Your Canvas: Merit The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick
Why we love it: Considered an all-star foundation stick here at Allure, the Minimalist Perfection Complexion Stick is clutch for on-the-go coverage. An all-in-one concealer, foundation, and contour—just grab an extra shade three hues darker than your natural complexion—the multitasking product is a cinch to swipe on. Its small, rounded tip allows for targeted and precise application, even on the subway or in an Uber. Plus, its non-comedogenic formula makes it ideal for acne-prone skin, and it’s whipped up with sea daffodil extract to minimize redness. All that, and it has a lightweight feel and refuses to crease. No wonder it won a 2025 Readers’ Choice Award (and a Best of Beauty Award back in 2021).
“I have a few of Merit’s The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Sticks in my vanity simply because it does it all. I use Khaki and Buff (the closest shades to my skin tone) to conceal the redness I regularly have around my nose and along my cheekbones and blur my complexion. I use Sienna to sculpt along my cheeks and jawline. It’s buildable, comfortable-wearing, and so convenient.” —Jesa Marie Calaor, senior editor
- Key ingredients: coconut oil, glycerin, carnauba wax, sea daffodil extract
- Finish: natural
- Shades: 20
Foolproof Flush: Merit Flush Balm
Why we love it: If you somehow ever find yourself walking into the Allure office, you can easily spot a few of our staffers swiping the Merit Flush Balm on their cheeks. This cream blush earned a Best of Beauty Award in the 2023 Clean category for its buildable tints that create a subtle flush in just a few swipes. This creamy, dewy-finish option comes in 13 cheek colors to play with, including the cool-pink hue named Cheeky, seen above. Best of all, it’s totally beginner-proof, because it melts into the skin almost immediately (but it’s also buildable!) and can be blended in with your fingers. Wins all around.
Tester feedback from commerce editor Sarah Han
“TOO. CUTE. Amirite? Merit’s pocket-purse-whatever-friendly Flush Balms are so easy to use because you can use your fingers to blend and diffuse them (hi, foolproof!) in but I like picking up the pigment using a fluffy, dense brush for more color payoff. Speaking of color, the shade range is just chef’s kiss. The 13 shades are divided into three categories: The Pops, The Neutrals, and The Classic Pinks, but no matter what you choose, you get a satin, flushed-from-within finish that makes your cheeks look scrumptious. I honestly forgot how easy these are to use, so I’m looking to play with Le Bonbon (a bright pink) and Rouge (a sheer red) next.”
- Key ingredients: vitamin E
- Finish: satin
- Shades: 13
The Sparse-Brow Savior: Merit Brow 1990
Why we love it: When faced with the daunting—dare we say, eyebrow-raising?—task of finding the seven best brow pencils on the market, Merit Brow 1990 was a shoo-in. With the teeniest of micro-tips to draw on realistic-looking hairs, the gel-based formula has Merit’s signature glide. (By now, we hope we’ve established that its products tend to slide silkily onto the skin.) What’s more, it’s infused with a conditioning cocktail of sunflower oil, safflower extract, and hibiscus flower extract.
“I didn’t realize just how much the sparse areas of my brows needed a gel pencil. The teeny-tiny micro tip helps me fake a few hairs where I don’t have them, while the wax in the formula (it’s the third ingredient) makes it easy to fluff out with the spoolie end. I keep one in my bag because it’s so reliable and looks so natural: The pencil is retractable, has impressive staying power, and the cool undertones in the dark brown match my hairs perfectly.” —Shanna Shipin, shopping director
- Key ingredients: sunflower oil, safflower extract, hibiscus flower extract
- Shades: 4
Perma OOO Glow: Merit Bronze Balm
Why we love it: An Allure editor’s secret weapon for perfectly sun-kissed skin in a swipe (or two), Merit’s Bronze Balm has a silken glide and a dome-shaped tip that makes it easy to apply. The creamy formula is infused with microfine pigments that leave a sheer, natural-looking tint behind—but if you want your look to say beach day just a little more loudly, just layer on more. Pro tip: After swiping it onto your cheeks, add a bit of bronzer to the bridge of your nose for the full just-back-from-Nantucket effect.
Tester feedback from Calaor
“IMO, this is the perfect bronzing stick. It glides on and melts onto skin to feel creamy and moisturizing (never sitting in my dry patches) and builds to define my features. I sweep it along my cheekbones, jawline, nose, and near my hairline and buff and blend it out with my fingers to give me a glowy, sculpted look.”—Jesa Marie Calaor, senior editor
- Key ingredients: fatty acids
- Finish: sheer and natural
- Shades: 5
Call Me, Gloss Me: Merit Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil
Why we love it: We’d be hard-pressed to find an Allure editor who has just one of Merit’s Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oils. It’s easy to get addicted to the hydrating, lightweight tints—and since they come in three color categories, it pays to have one from each. After all, some looks call for the new Sheens, which offer a pearlescent finish, while other lip looks need a touch of Classic neutral color. The final category, The Gelees, has sheer washes of juicy colors that range from red to pink. But no matter which color you choose—or however you choose to wear it, whether it’s layered over lipstick or worn on its own—the tint is bound to nourish the lips. Nurturing ingredients include plant-based squalane and quinoa seed oil to protect the lips from free-radical damage; the Classics also have shea butter and grapeseed oil to soften the lips.
Tester feedback from managing editor Alessandra Foresto
“I’ll be the first to admit I have a serious lip product problem—don’t ask how many glosses, oils, stains, and balms I have in my extensive collection; I beg you. So now that you know I’m an expert who has tried it all, trust me when I say this lip oil is the one I find when my lips are feeling dry and chapped, but I want to avoid reapplying color a bizzillion times through the day. It leaves my lips soft, not sticky, and just glides on so easy and evenly. I’m partial to The Classics in this collection (particularly the shade Marrakech) because the color is more saturated and buildable than The Gelèes (though I also like the shade Maraschino).” —Alessandra Foresto, managing editor
- Key ingredients: plant-derived squalane, quinoa seed oil, shea butter, jojoba oil
- Finish: natural or pearlescent
- Shades: 12
Elevated Sun Protection: Merit The Uniform Tinted Mineral SPF 45
Why we love it: One of Merit’s newest offerings, The Uniform marks the brand’s first foray into UV protection. Already beloved by beauty insiders, the mineral SPF has a second-skin finish that’s hard to find in other physical sunscreens. It’s available in 15 shades and evens out your tone and blurs imperfections, all while protecting the skin from sun damage. “I think it’s fair to say that I’m a mineral sunscreen connoisseur—after making the switch years ago from chemical—and I’ve never used a tinted sunscreen that feels or wears as luxuriously as this product from Merit,” says shopping director Shanna Shipin. “It feels more like a tinted moisturizer than an SPF—and perhaps even more like a serum than a moisturizer! It’s truly weightless, dries down to a lovely glowy (but not greasy!) finish, and evens out my skin tone with buildable coverage.”
“Tinted moisturizers and tinted SPFs are probably the products I get asked about most often, but it’s quite rare that I have an enthusiastic recommendation to share. Today, I bring you one such rec. Merit launched The Uniform in May, and I have been wearing it all the time since the brand sent samples. (In the shade 26, to be specific.) It’s a great, lightweight everyday sunscreen that has the added bonus of evening out my skin tone—a true multi-purpose product that, at $38, costs less than many foundations you’ll find at Sephora.” —Kara McGrath, content director
Tester feedback from Shipin
“I honestly think this will be replacing a handful of products in my routine. I appreciate the packaging with the no-spill pump-top that lets out just enough formula, and the heftier size (What’s with the tiny sunscreens? This is a multiple-times-per-day product, y’all!). I’ve only tried one shade (18), which is a decent match, albeit a hair darker than my current skin tone, but after some (safe) sun exposure, I have no doubt it’ll read even more naturally on my skin.” —Shipin, shopping director
- Key ingredients: zinc oxide (15%), diglycerin
- Finish: natural
- Shades: 15
More Merit products we love:
- Considered a one-swipe wonder by Allure editors, Merit Solo Shadow makes it easy to create a subtly glam eye look for daytime. Available in matte shades that include both Neutral and Statement colors—think cool taupe, soft mauve, and deep brown—the shadows have a cream-to-powder formula that helps them glide easily onto the skin. What’s more, each ophthalmologist-tested shade is infused with magnolia-bark extract and peptides to keep the lids smooth.
- A 2024 Best of Beauty winner, Merit Signature Lip Matte comes in eight shades, which range from warm brown to pink and soft peach. The velvety lipsticks have a blurred finish, and they’re made with hyaluronic acid to plump the lips and sesame-seed oil to keep them smooth and conditioned. “This long-lasting lipstick is surprisingly very moisturizing while still managing to read matte, which is a feat,” says creative director Amber Venerable. “My favorite shade in the line is Vermillion, which is a true red. It’s so good!”
- No matter how minimal your makeup look of the day is, we guarantee a few swipes of Merit’s Clean Lash Lengthening Mascara, a 2021 Allure Best of Beauty winner, will subtly take it to the next level. This lash-enhancing formula won in our Clean Beauty category for its carbon-black pigment that only needs one coat for a defined, elongated natural look. Feel free to layer this buildable formula for a more dramatic finish without clumping or webbing in the process.
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