Merit Launches First Fragrance, Retrospect

Merit’s first fragrance, Retrospect Extrait de Parfum.
Merit’s first fragrance, Retrospect Extrait de Parfum.
Suzanne Saroff

Merit’s first fragrance, Retrospect Extrait de Parfum, is now available at MeritBeauty.com, retailing for $52.

Retrospect was developed over the course of four years in collaboration with master perfumer Fanny Bal of IFF. The brand claims the new scent was designed to evolve throughout the day, defying conventional fragrance trends.

The new perfume from Merit uses an extremely strong fragrance oil—double the strength of most perfumes—to provide consumers with an elegant scent that the brand claims will last all day.

Scent Details

  • Modern, clean fragrance with vintage-inspired ingredients to create a rich, nuanced scent that evolves throughout the day
  • Soft, clean notes with a subtle floral center and warm base of musk, vanilla and moss
  • Top notes: aldehydes, bergamot, pear, ambrette
  • Heart notes: rosemary, orris, jasmine, rose
  • Base notes: vanilla, musk, moss

Aila Morin, the CMO of Merit, shares, “Fragrance has been on our minds since the brand launched in 2021, and we’ve been developing Retrospect for well over two years. While expanding into fragrance is a bold move for a young color brand, we felt confident in our ability to do so after seeing such success with our first category expansion into skin care in 2022. As a minimalist brand, we were never going to launch multiples of one category—so going across the vanity was always in our plan.”

Morin adds, “While many fragrances on the market today focus on one identifiable note, we took a different approach with Retrospect. We used vintage ingredients that aren’t commonly found today such as aldehydes and orris, and blended them with more modern notes like musk and pear to create a rich scent experience that evokes a sense of nostalgia. It’s a modern fragrance that is shaped by the past, with a familiar scent that wears close to the skin and transforms throughout the day.”


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