when the twins were first born and we were surviving on two to three hour increments of sleep, the two makeup products that always brought me back to life the next day were a brow gel and something bright for my lips (and occasionally concealer depending on how dark the bags were under my eyes).
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now that the babies are 13 months old and mobile, my makeup routine is more streamlined than ever. when i’m short on time, i choose to focus on the same two features i did when i was just a few weeks postpartum –a defined brow and a colored lip. in fact the only two products i’m wearing in the photo below are the brow 1980 volumizing pomade in brown and shade slick tinted lip oil in pink beet. both products are from a new-to-me brand, merit and part of their minimalist collection that takes a holistic approach to clean, creating formulas that are safe for our body, skin, and planet.⁣

as part of their campaign with sephora and sephora canada (where merit is now sold in the clean department), merit was kind enough to send me the aforementioned products to try for myself. the items arrived in the most gorgeous packaging and a complimentary makeup bag in a rich sienna color.

brow 1980 pomade in brown || i recently got my brows tinted (as i do monthly) so it’s hard to tell the richness of the product on my already darkened brows, but i swept the pomade in an upward motion on my brow hairs to create a fuller effect. the brush makes for easy application and the product itself is gummy like a pomade would imply. as a loyal glossier boy brow user, i’m not sure if merit’s version will convince me to make the permanent switch, but i’m happy to have a backup product should i run out of boy brow or feel like switching it up on any given day.

shade slick tinted lip oil in pink beet || i was remiss in realizing that this product is indeed a true lip oil as opposed to a thicker gloss. it was definitely oily upon application but in a good way, like ooh this is doing something to hydrate and condition my lips. the color was a pretty rose shade but because it is so slick, it didn’t stay put for too long. good news is the bottle is small so it would be easy to toss in a purse or diaper bag for re-application throughout the day. i would probably wear this on top of a lipstick for a subtle sheen as opposed to just wearing it on its own.

this post is in collaboration with merit beauty and sephora, all opinions are my own.

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