I have three great loves when it comes to beauty: the very best perfumes, chic packaging and seemingly effortless results. In my decade-long career, I have spent most of my time looking for products that tick at least two of those boxes. But for the past few weeks I have been sat on one product that fulfils my beauty wishes in every single sense, and today I can finally reveal it. It comes in the form of a debut perfume—Merit Retrospect L'Extrait de Parfum.
For years now (two and a half, to be exact, since the brand launched) I have made it no secret that Merit products are some of my most cherished. The brand's zero-effort, natural-looking make-up products have proved not just a favourite of mine but of every beauty editor I know. And, I'll admit, when I first caught wind of the fact Merit was working on a perfume, I was concerned. I'm fussy—I like my perfumes to be complex, expensive-smelling, evoke emotion and possess the star quality of a classic fragrance. I knew that Merit's debut fragrance would look the part (and I was right), but my concern was that the brand would lean too heavily into current trends, inevitably producing something pleasant, sure, but also surface-level and fleeting—but boy was I wrong. I've worn Retrospect religiously for weeks now (I was lucky enough to get a sample vial long before launch) and have spent that time getting to grips with it and compiling my thoughts. I can safely say Merit Retrospect is destined to become one of the most popular perfumes of the decade.
How do I know this? Well, it comes down to a few things, so let's start with the obvious: she is a physical work of art. The glass bottle has a molten, pebble-esque form that fits into the palm of your hand in a way that suggests it was always meant to be there. The bottle also has a notable and distinctive thumb-dent, which many have been quick to point out is reminiscent of Glossier You. And it makes sense that people might draw comparisons between these two scents—the brands both proved disruptive in the beauty market upon launch, they both appeal to a fashion-girl beauty lover and they are both undeniably cool—but the similarities end there when it comes to their fragrance offerings.
The it-perfumes of the past few years might all smell different to one another, but to me, as a fragrance-specialist beauty editor, it has been clear to see they all have one thing in common—they have been relatively two-dimensional and built around one prevalent note. They lean obviously floral or intensely smoky, they are sweet and creamy or they are deep and woody. Yes, simple scents have reigned supreme in recent years, but a shift has been a long time coming. The very best perfumes are not simple blends. They possess complexity, depth and boast intricately crafted concoctions of notes, all while sticking around on the skin for hours upon hours. And, I'm pleased to announce, Merit Retrospect is far from a simple blend.
Key notes: Bergamot, pear, ambrette, aldehydes, jasmine, rose, rosemary, violet, orris, vanilla, musk, moss
Retrospect is complex, ever-evolving and evokes pure, human emotion with anybody who smells it. Hell, I've been wearing it for just shy of three weeks and every single time I have worn it, everyone who has got close enough to me to smell it has requested a spritz for themselves. With an extrait intensity, the juice carries a make up of 30% fragrance oil—one of the strongest fragrance blends available. This means longevity and a knockout sillage with a price tag of just £72, which is almost unheard of in the extrait game.
But that's not to say Retrospect is overly punchy or strong—it is what I like to call a soft-power perfume. It is immediately noticeable, but it is pleasant and cushiony on the nose, never veering into headache-inducing territory and remaining undeniably easy to wear.
So what does Merit Retrospect actually smell like? Well, like any perfectly blended perfume, it has proved difficult for me to dissect—but let me try. It smells like familiarity and sweet comfort. It is a perfume brimming with nostalgia and youthful promise. The juicy, fruity, water-like opening bursts over your skin like a pear has been torn in two and the juice has flooded out, but that introduction is short-lived. What lies beneath is a bomb of sweet, petal-like, soft-musky elation. Perfumer, Fanny Bal took inspiration from vintage notes and created something nonchalantly modern and cool. Retrospect has all of the joyful nostalgia of Cacharal's Amor Amor with a dishevelled, quirky coolness.
If your standard creamy floral is a bouquet of pristine-white, velvety flowers, Retrospect is a bag of confetti that has been emptied into your handbag after attending a painfully chic city-hall wedding—it has a delicate floral heart that is swaddled in the aromas of your day-to-day. It is suede-like but sweet, creamy but biting, fresh but unmistakably worn-in. Retrospect is the sort of perfume that sticks around all day and absorbs every memory you create. After just a a few minutes, the scent begins morphing into you as much as you begin to morph into the scent, leaving the lines between perfume and person entirely blurred.
Retrospect is the sort of perfume you toss nonchalantly into your The Row Margaux bag in the morning, letting it rattle around in the suede interior with all of your other worldly possessions—effortlessly chic, painfully cool and, beautifully, a part of you. Smell it before you buy it, but I'm willing to bet you'll fall deep in love.
