I’ve never worn a perfume as much as I have this one—and it only goes on sale once a year
Yes, *that* cult perfume is only £63 right now
I don't make it much of a secret that I think most Black Friday beauty sales are naff. I'd be willing to bet money on most of the beauty products that enter Black Friday sales being available for cheaper at various other points throughout the year. However, there is one brand I bookmark at this time every year—yes, the Merit Black Friday deals are actually worth your attention.
For starters, it is the only sale the brand has all year, meaning you truly can't get your hands on any Merit Beauty products for cheaper at any other time. Beyond that, Merit is genuinely a beauty brand that I use every single day. In fact, most of the products in my daily rotation come courtesy of Merit. The brand produces seriously chic, easy-to-use, seriously effective products—perfect for lazy girls like myself. The thing that really seals the deal for me when it comes to shopping Merit over Black Friday, however, is the fact the brand offers blanket discounting across the entire site. Yes: there is 20% off everything on site at Merit right now (and that doesn't include the brand's sets which have even higher discounts). And that, my friends, means you can bag Merit Retrospect perfume for just £63.20 this week.
Merit Retrospect has caused somewhat of a storm in recent weeks. Since its launch last month, the fragrance has become the thing to wear on your neck. It's so good, in fact, that despite being a fragrance-specialist beauty editor who owns hundreds of perfumes and rarely wears the same perfume twice in one month, not a week has passed where I haven't doused myself in Retrospect. The intensely powdery fruity-floral has quickly become my most complimented perfume of the year. It's so good that nine of my closest friends have informed me it's at the top of their Christmas lists this year. So, it's needless to say I have been patiently waiting for Merit's Black Friday sale to drop so that I can stock up.
But this morning, when I logged onto the site to add a new bottle of Retrospect to my basket, I found myself distracted. The Merit Black Friday deals are so good that despite the fact I only intended to spend £63 on one perfume, my basket is currently sat at over £350. A quick inventory check of my most beloved Merit favourites (seriously, I use at least three Merit products on my face every single day) showed that I would likely be due a restock of the lot in coming weeks—so I figured now was the time to do so.
Trust me, if you're only going to buy into one beauty brand this Black Friday, this is the place to do so. Here are the Merit Black Friday deals I'm fully on board with...
20% Off Merit
Key notes: Bergamot, pear, ambrette, aldehydes, jasmine, rose, rosemary, violet, orris, vanilla, musk, moss
I have being singing the praises of this perfume ever since it launched a month or so ago and have been quite open about what great value for money it is, even when it's full-priced. It is, frankly, the it-perfume of 2024—every cool girl I know is wearing Retrospect. It's warming, it's sparkling and it's intense in the sort of way that smells expensive—and it's currently only £63.20.
This is, without question, my most used make-up product of the year. Just a few dabs of Merit Flush Balm onto your cheeks delivers the most beautiful lived-in, healthy-looking glow. And don't be deterred by the intensity of the pigments, they blend out so beautifully.
If you don't already know, I am seriously lazy when it comes to my make-up application. For days when I want to look pulled together, a quick swipe of this stuff over my lids with my fingers is all it takes.
Brown lip gloss is having a major moment, and this one is the best out there. The nourishing oil formula means the overall finish is silky, rather than sticky. I never leave the house without a tube of Shade Slick in my handbag.
This is, in my opinion, the best brow gel ever made. It holds brow hairs in place without making them crunchy, delivers just the right amount of pigment and really gets to the root of each strand to give the perfect amount of lift.
If, like me, you're someone who doesn't like to wear heaps of foundation, this is the perfect product. It acts as a sort of concealer/foundation hybrid—you just scribble the super-buttery formula onto the areas that need it most and blend out with your fingers. I've been through countless sticks of this stuff, and I don't ever want to be without it.
This bronzing stick is the silkiest, most buttery formula I have ever encountered. It delivers a natural-looking bronzy glow with minimal effort.
Merit Beauty Sets Deals
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Shannon Lawlor is the Executive Beauty Editor at Marie Claire. With nearly a decade of experience working for some of the beauty industry’s most esteemed titles, including Who What Wear, Glamour UK, Stylist and Refinery29, Shannon’s aim is to make the conversation around beauty as open, relatable and honest as possible. As a self-confessed lazy girl, Shannon has an affinity for hard-working perfumes, fool-proof make-up products and does-it-all skincare.
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