Merit Beauty Signature Lipstick Review — The Book

left to right: power (matte), l’avenue (satin), millennial (satin)

Merit Beauty has been around for a hot minute now and I got my hands on their Signature Lipstick in April, making them one of the first entries in The Book. This review is meant to be all encompassing, so this will be a bit of a read.

The packaging of the product is an elevated traditional lipstick tube, with a rectangular cube top and metallic tube. This line as two formulas, a matte formula and satin formula, with their own respective colors. Merit describes the satin formula as: “sheer satin-finish color without the heaviness of traditional lipstick”, and the matte formula as: “Provides saturated, soft matte color that stays comfortable all day.”  I would agree with the basics of both of these statements. The bullet of the lipstick is reminiscent of Chanel lipsticks.

The satin formula features 9 shades, particularly neutrals and desaturated brights, while the matte formula features 8 shades with deeper and brighter shades. I can give Merit a ton of credit in their color maturity— there are no shades that feel too intense for everyone. Some people will find these ranges a bit boring, but as these are meant to be signature and your go-to, I think these shades are executed phenomenally. That is a large appeal to me personally.

As previously mentioned, this product is meant to be a signature lipstick. Meant to be your go-to, everyday lipstick. When this line first launched, they only featured their satin formula, which does not feature a true red tone. Red’s are my personal go to. So, once their mattes launched that do feature reds, I had a go to. In theory. I have not used these on the cheeks as the mattes feel too powdery and the satins feel a bit too heavy for that, but I also think you could try. I think their Flush Balm’s are better for a lip & cheek product as opposed to these focused lipsticks.

These are $26.00 USD for 3 grams or 0.10 ounces of product. At Sephora— which is this brands exclusive retailer— that is not a crazy price. However, lipstick at the drugstore and more affordable brands are available for a much more affordable price. If you want to pay this price, I don’t think it’s ridiculous, but I do think it’s up there.

As previously mentioned, this lipstick is meant to be your signature lipstick and depending on the finish is meant to be saturated all day color (matte) and lightweight hydrating color (satin). The matte lipsticks are meant to be more striking, saturated, and noticeable. The satin lipsticks are meant to be more subdue, comfortable, slick, and half-way balmy.

product information

I have 3 shades of this product, 1 matte and 2 satin formulas, being Power (matte blue-red), Millennial (satin softened millennial pink), and l’Avenue (muddied warm berry).

The satin lipsticks are a bit tacky and take a moment to warm up to the skin, being more waxy than creamy on initial application. The shape of the bullet makes it easy to line the outer edge of the lip. The shades, as previously mentioned, are made very well. There is a lot of nuance put into the shades of these lines. Millennial is a nice natural tone on me and l’avenue is more burgundy berry on my skin. These can layer in thin layers and built up to an opaque application. These feel a tad bit lighter on the lips than any other lipstick. What I can give this lipstick formula credit for is the buildablility and how the shades work with that— these shades have been crafted in way that look good very sheer to opaque. They feel creamy, comfortable, and like lightweight lipstick at full opacity. These have a very light scent that smells like L’Oréal lipsticks that have been turned down a few notches. The feeling on the lips is light; you can feel it, but it is not lip spackle. I don’t shave my peach fuzz around my lips and it got on it a little bit but it does not feather outside of my lips. (I don’t have deep lip lines or anything like that for reference). The satin formula has a bronze-amber cap. They did advertise these as being an almost lip balmy lipstick and I did not find that these were hydrating; they were not drying, but not hydrating.

The matte lipsticks are very interesting, applying nicely with some friction (we’re going to revisit that) and they apply very very thinly with a lot of pigment. I really like this formula shift that has been taken from thick chunky matte spackle to thin powdery matte formulas. These have no scent what so ever, it’s a little freaky, but would be great if you hate when lip products have a scent. These claim to have hyaluronic acid too. I both like and hate these. The red hue is beautiful. The bullet is the same as the satins and that gives a really nice edge to line the lips. The finish is so matte and powdery that if it is blended out, even a little too much, it starts to look messy. However, if you do not blend it at all, if can look very intense. It’s hard for me to fully describe, but it’s like comic book lips. Super cut and pigmented. Which does look good, but it can look weird for a casual look. And then the blended out appearance can look weird. There is a claim that these will be hydrating and I don’t find that to be true. I don’t think these are drying. They keep your lips pretty much the same as when it is applied. They do cling to dry patches (no where near as badly as other matte lipsticks) and they do come off a bit when you eat. These do wear better than the satins. On the note of the application friction: I felt it the minute I tried to apply it. When I say this, I mean that there is enough powdery-dryness from the formula out of the bullet to where it tugs a bit on the bullet, not the skin. This formula is also very lightweight so the bullet is not very dense. All of that is to say that this formula cannot be tugged on. Mine broke at the base of the bullet with very little gentle use and sitting in a drawer that doesn’t slam or aggressively move. I shoved it back onto the base but if you wanted to keep this in a bag, purse, travel with it, or just use it too aggressively, it will break. The matte formula has a smokey grey cap.

I tried these out with no lipliner or lip primer. I had not recently moisturized lips but not dehydrated or dry lips. I wore these like I would any other lip product. I ate in these, worked in these, drank in these. The matte definitely has a lot less transfer than the satins but there still is a little transfer. I probably wore these 4-8 hours when I did wear them. I found that the matte leaves more of a stain/tint on the lips at the end of the day, but it also did wear off quicker than the satin formula. The satin formula stayed nicely and wore off slowly throughout the day. They wear like every other cream lipstick.

The colors are true to swatch on the lips. They don’t shift color throughout the day and wear down nicely. The matte can look a tiny bit weird when it’s wearing off. I’ve been wearing these on and off for about a month now so I have a decent frame of reference about my thoughts on them.

I think the worth it question has to be based on how much you’ll pay for a lipstick and how much the ingredient list matters to you. Merit has their brand as Clean at Sephora and they have their own no-no list for ingredients they will not use. So if those aspects matter to you, i think this is an above average formula with a very nice color range that should work on a lot of different people, that is comfortable to wear and has a nice little luxury feeling to them.

I don’t know if I would repurchase these at $26.00 USD. Granted, I don’t tend to go through lip products so quickly. I’ll definitely use these for as long as I can, I enjoy the formula and colors, and I like Merit as a brand. I think this product will be some people’s go to product. I’ll keep on regularly using these.

For me, the stand out part of these lipsticks is the color range. There are a lot of lipsticks I’ve tried and I think these have a lot of thought and nuance put into the tones and hues of these. I really like that aspect of them.

If you see a color in this range that you love, I think you’ll enjoy it a lot. I don’t think it’s a need, but I think it’s a useful want.

Over-all rating: (out of 0 to 10)

Satin formula = 7 (Nice Product)

Matte formula = 6 (Above Average) [-1 for the bullet breaking]

Let me know if you’ve used this product, let me know how it’s worked for you and if it has or not, or if you’re interested in this product as a wishlist product.

Thank you for reading as always, I hope that you have a safe day/evening/night, and take some deep breaths before bed. Happy travels — Annie.