After two years of formulation with a seasoned perfumer, Merit Beauty launches Retrospect, its debut fragrance.

Merit Beauty's expansion into the world of perfume was a long time coming.
The cult-favorite brand &mdash; known for some of its cosmetic and skincare staples like the <a href="https://go.skimresources.com?id=230660X1713045&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meritbeauty.com%2Fproducts%2Fflush-balm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Flush Balm Cheek Color</a> and <a href="https://go.skimresources.com?id=230660X1713045&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meritbeauty.com%2Fproducts%2Fgreat-skin-serum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Great Skin Instant Glow Serum</a> &mdash; spent two years preparing and formulating its debut fragrance. <a href="https://go.skimresources.com?id=230660X1713045&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meritbeauty.com%2Fpages%2Fretrospect">Retrospect</a>, which launches today, is a soft yet complex scent with notes of pear, ambrette, jasmine, and vanilla.&nbsp;
"The move into fragrance may be unorthodox for such a young beauty brand, but it felt like an intuitive step for us from very early on. We started talking to perfumers only six months after launching Merit [in 2021]," Chief Marketing Officer Aila Morin tells L'OFFICIEL. "As the fragrance industry got increasingly oversaturated and ruled by trends, we wanted to slow things down to create something layered, nostalgic, and adult."
Merit tapped seasoned perfumer Fanny Bal (who has composed fragrances for the likes of Christian Louboutin, Chlo&eacute;, Yves Saint Laurent, and more) to bring the concept to life. She remembers immediately saying yes because she is "part of the very demographic they were trying to speak to."
"When Merit came to me, they wanted to create something for their core customer &mdash; primarily busy, adult women &mdash; that felt classic and mature yet still modern," Bal says. "While we did over 200 revisions, the final fragrance hasn&rsquo;t strayed too far from that initial version. We were meticulous about getting every element just right."
As if playing on the name, the way Retrospect settles into the skin aims to remind each wearer of their own memories.
"It&rsquo;s very nuanced and has different layers that reveal themselves over the hours as you wear it, so while it starts quite clean and soft, it evolves into a more warm, musky scent at the end of the day," Bal adds. "One of the key elements of Retrospect is its balance of nostalgic, vintage notes like aldehydes and white florals with more modern notes like pear, moss, and musk. The result is something that feels familiar but is hard to pinpoint... it reminds everyone of something different."
The eau de parfum <a href="https://go.skimresources.com?id=230660X1713045&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meritbeauty.com%2Fpages%2Fretrospect">retails for $92</a> on <a href="https://go.skimresources.com?id=230660X1713045&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meritbeauty.com%2F">Merit's website</a>. It launched in tandem with a coffee table book by the beauty brand and Gentlewoman.
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Photography: Courtesy of Merit Beauty

Merit Beauty Gets Into Fragrance

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