Merit Is for the Woman With No Time for Makeup

This is one that my daughter gravitated toward, and, while it’s designed more for my aging skin, I can see why she likes it at her age. It’s incredibly lightweight but also hydrating. It has glycerin and hyaluronic acid that sink into skin quickly. It also has peptides, spermidine, and barrier polysaccharides that are more for my skin, supporting elasticity and firmness. Because it feels smooth and nongreasy on skin, it’s a great prep product before makeup.

I love that it can be a foundation stick and/or a concealer. I mostly used it as the latter. The rounded tip makes it easy to get into the corner of the eyes, where I need concealing the most, or around my nose where I get redness. The coverage is buildable, but I found one pass did the trick.

I’ve said it before: I am big on blush these days. Without that pop of color, my face just looks blah. I prefer a balm or cream because it also gives my skin a subtle sheen. This one has the right amount of pigment and sheen. It looks soft and sheer, like a natural flush. I swipe it directly on my upper cheek bones, then blend with my fingers or a blush brush for a more diffused look.

I don’t wear bronzer regularly because it usually doesn’t look natural on me. But this one blends out to a sheer sun-kissed shade that warms up my skin just enough. I love the stick format, too. I’ve been using it as a cheek contour and also swiping it along my jawline to create a more sculpted look. I also apply it on the top of my forehead, where the sun would naturally hit my face, and blend it out with my fingers. For the picture above, I even used it on my eyelids instead of eye shadow.

Tinted sunscreens don’t always match my skin tone — and I’m sure I’m not alone here. Some formulas come in only two to three shades. This one comes in 20 and includes pigments that are designed to blend and adapt across multiple skin tones. I was skeptical because the two I was sent to try didn’t look like my skin, but once I blended, they worked. One shade (20, light-medium) gave me a warmer, slightly tan look. The other (30, fair cool) looked too pink at first, but as I rubbed it in, it matched my light-neutral skin tone.

This is a newer launch for the brand. The existing mascara was more about length and definition. I go for volume, so I was excited to try this one. The brush is skinny, which is good for separating and defining lashes, and the tubing formula plumps up lashes. It’s buildable, so you can pile it on for more oomph. (And I did.) It didn’t smudge or flake all day and was easy to remove when washing my face.

It looks like a lipstick but feels like a barely there balm. I was surprised by how lightweight this lipstick felt on my lips. The finish is a velvety, blurred lip that didn’t settle into the crevices in my lips and felt hydrating without being slick. I am more of a lipstick wearer in fall and winter. (It’s like the sweater of lip products for me.) Framboise, a berry shade, will definitely be in rotation.

If there’s one product I typically skip, it’s lip liner. I’m more of a swipe-and-go gloss girl. But when wearing lipstick like the lip blush, a little liner does help make my lips look more defined. I like this one because at no point did the liner get that dry, cakey look that some pencils get. It looks freshly applied and soft the entire time. My daughter quickly snagged one of the two liners I tried.