I have three great loves when it comes to beauty: the very best perfumes, chic packaging and seemingly effortless results. In my decade-long career, I have spent most of my time looking for products that tick at least two of those boxes. But for the past few weeks I have been sat on one product that fulfils my beauty wishes in every single sense, and today I can finally reveal it. It comes in the form of a debut perfume—Merit Retrospect L'Extrait de Parfum.
For years now (two and a half, to be exact, since the brand launched) I have made it no secret that Merit products are some of my most cherished. The brand's zero-effort, natural-looking make-up products have proved not just a favourite of mine but of every beauty editor I know. And, I'll admit, when I first caught wind of the fact Merit was working on a perfume, I was concerned. I'm fussy—I like my perfumes to be complex, expensive-smelling, evoke emotion and possess the star quality of a classic fragrance. I knew that Merit's debut fragrance would look the part (and I was right), but my concern was that the brand would lean too heavily into current trends, inevitably producing something pleasant, sure, but also surface-level and fleeting—but boy was I wrong. I've worn Retrospect religiously for weeks now (I was lucky enough to get a sample vial long before launch) and have spent that time getting to grips with it and compiling my thoughts. I can safely say Merit Retrospect is destined to become one of the most popular perfumes of the decade.
