For over a year, MERIT has claimed a perennial spot in our makeup bag. The Los Angeles-based brand’s clean, minimalist formulas and quietly pretty colours do exactly what we want makeup to do: make our skin and face look better without announcing themselves. So yes, it was inevitable that we’d add one (or, realistically, all eight) of its new-but-not-new Signature Lip Lightweight Lip Blushes into the mix.
First launched in 2023 as a limited holiday set, the fan-favourite lippie now has permanent status—and, unlike our last few Bumble dates, this is a commitment that actually delivers. Intentionally not called a lipstick, it glides on like a balm, sets to a weightless velvet-matte finish and never feels dry, cakey or needy. The secret in is the Lip Blush’s gel-wrapped pigments, which build softly and blur on purpose, creating colour that looks worn-in rather than worked over. A sesame seed-based active boosts hydration, leaving our lips smoother, softer and well taken care of.
Then there’s the colour range—each of the eight shades behaves like a soft-focus filter for our lips. “Andie” is a fresh baby pink, “Bespoke” (our current fixation), is a warm rose brown, “Vendôme” reads as a sheer nude and “Archival” lands somewhere between pink and mauve. “Framboise” delivers a juicy berry flush, “Gamay” deepens into wine, “September” brings an earthy brick red and “Kitten Heel” nails a classic bright red without trying too hard. The result, across the board, is the same: effortless, lived-in colour that looks better the longer we wear it.
MERIT Signature Lip Lightweight Lip Blush $38 each, available February 2, 2026, at Sephora.
