Fragrance has always been a focus for Merit Beauty—the minimalist cosmetics and skincare brand began developing its signature fragrance just six months after opening. Nearly three years later, the first fragrance is finally here: Retrospect Extrait de Parfum, a retro-inspired concentrated fragrance that combines floral heart notes with a warm musky base.
“We’ve been focused on slow intentionality and making products where we think there’s a white space,” Merit Chief Marketing Officer Aila Morin told Fashionista. “We believe very clearly that even though the fragrance launches have gained momentum this year, they have almost cemented our point of view to leave something clean, detailed, mature, long-lasting and high-quality. There is still a lot in the market This product doesn’t exist, and definitely doesn’t exist at the $92 price point.
With the fragrance market currently dominated by youthful body sprays and sweet treats, Merit is committed to providing a more mature option for its essentials-conscious consumers through transparent ingredient lists, luxurious scents and long-lasting fragrance. To achieve this, the brand created an Extrait de Parfum, which is not an eau de parfum or eau de parfum, as it contains a high concentration of essential oils that lasts up to 12 hours on the skin.
Photo&col; courtesy of Merit Beauty
As for the fragrance itself, Merit hired French perfumer Fanny Bal to interpret Merit’s aesthetic, balancing classic notes with the brand’s modern vibe. Inspired by scents that reminded the team of their childhood, Merritt provided Barr with an open-ended brief: “It was really just an interpretation of capturing the feeling,” Morin said.
The resulting juice pays homage to vintage perfumes with base notes of vanilla, musk and moss, paired with floral notes of rosemary, orris, jasmine and rose. Speaking of Merit’s modern take, Bal’s top notes are aldehydes, bergamot, ambrette and pear. “It’s fresh, unsweetened, not sticky, but you want a little bit of addiction, a little bit of juiciness at the top of the fragrance,” Barr said of the decision to add pear top notes.
Then there’s the bottle design. While some consumers may mistake Merit’s Great Skin Instant Glow Serum for perfume when they first see it due to its frosted glass bottle and gold cap, Morin noted that the brand wanted Retrospect to feel visually different from its previous products. . The fragrance’s bottle is designed to melt into the palm of the user’s hand.
“The decision to make organic shapes really came out of our relationship with jewelry,” says Morin. “We have always been inspired by jewelry.” The fragrance’s packaging also draws on jewelry aesthetics. Its casing resembles the design of an antique watch box.
Photo&col; courtesy of Merit Beauty
Following Merit’s “old-school craftsmanship, old-school marketing” strategy when launching this fragrance, the brand placed physical sticks, a marketing favorite from the early 2000s, inside the scent. Fashion and Really simple. In addition to making 100,000 samples of Retrospect available at Sephora, Merit will also offer samples of the fragrance with all orders placed on its direct-to-consumer website from October 8 to October 22. gentle woman: Merit has partnered with the publication to release a $52 coffee table book detailing Retrospect’s development and different perspectives on fragrance.
For its campaign, Merit hired five female still life photographers – Yudi Ela Echevarria, Hanna Tveite, Pia Riverola, Suzanne Saroff and Lauren Bamford – to capture Retrospect from their own perspectives, with the final images appearing on the fragrance’s billboards superior.
In keeping with Merit’s emphasis on minimalism, Morin said the brand doesn’t plan to expand its new fragrance categories in the near future. “Maybe after a year or two on the market, if our customers ask us for other products, we’ll consider doing that. But we do believe there’s power in a single scent, and there’s power in not pursuing it. Enter a single-scent wardrobe [have] It has become popular over the past few years,” she explains.
Merit’s Retrospect Extrait de Parfum retails for $92 and will be available on meritbeauty.com, sephora.com and all Sephora stores on October 22nd.
See all the event pictures below.
Yudi Ela Echevarria’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Yudi Ela Echevarria/Courtesy of Merit
Yudi Ela Echevarria’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Yudi Ela Echevarria/Courtesy of Merit
Advantages Review of Extrait de Parfum by Hanna Tveite. Photo: Hanna Tveite/Courtesy of Merit
Photo&col; Advantages of Politeness
Hanna Tveite Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Hanna Tveite/Courtesy of Merit
Pros Review: Extrait de Parfum by Pia Riverola. Photo: Courtesy of Pia Riverola/Merit
Pros Review: Extrait de Parfum by Pia Riverola. Photo: Courtesy of Pia Riverola/Merit
Suzanne Saroff’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Suzanne Saroff/Courtesy of Merit
Suzanne Saroff’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Suzanne Saroff/Courtesy of Merit
Suzanne Saroff’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Suzanne Saroff/Courtesy of Merit
Suzanne Saroff’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Suzanne Saroff/Courtesy of Merit
Suzanne Saroff’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Suzanne Saroff/Courtesy of Merit
Suzanne Saroff’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Suzanne Saroff/Courtesy of Merit
Suzanne Saroff’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Suzanne Saroff/Courtesy of Merit
Suzanne Saroff’s Advantages ReviewExtrait de Parfum. Photo: Suzanne Saroff/Courtesy of Merit
Lauren Bamford of Merit Retrospect Extrait de Parfum. Photo: Courtesy Lauren Bamford/Merit
Lauren Bamford of Merit Retrospect Extrait de Parfum. Photo: Courtesy Lauren Bamford/Merit
Lauren Bamford of Merit Retrospect Extrait de Parfum. Photo: Courtesy Lauren Bamford/Merit
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