Merit New Wave: A Solar Floral Extrait by Ropion and McCurtin Launches October 22
Merit's first extrait de parfum, New Wave, launches October 22: a solar floral by Dominique Ropion and Meabh McCurtin, nearly 30% oil, $92 for 30ml.
Merit is about to make its first move into fragrance. New Wave, the minimalist beauty brand's debut extrait de parfum, launches October 22 — and the names behind it are worth attention on their own.
THE NOSES
Dominique Ropion, one of the most decorated perfumers working today, created New Wave together with Meabh McCurtin. The project has been described as a reinterpretation of the classical Ambre 83 amber structure for today — a bold starting point for a brand's first fragrance, and a signal that this is not a tentative celebrity-style launch.
THE SCENT
New Wave is built around personal power, optimism, and sensuality, composed as a solar floral extrait dosed at nearly 30% fragrance oil. The published pyramid opens with pink pepper and angelica seed, warms into a honeyed heart of orange flower and ylang ylang, and settles over a deep base of benzoin, labdanum, olibanum, patchouli, musk, woods, vanilla, and tonka bean. On paper, that reads as glow over warmth: brightness up top, resin and skin-like musk underneath.
THE BOTTLE
The flacon takes its shape from surrealist art, designed to evoke the gentle movement of a wave — golden-amber juice under a sculpted cap. It is a fitting vessel for a scent named New Wave.
THE DETAILS
- Launches October 22, 2026, at meritbeauty.com
- $92 for 30ml; a 9ml size also exists at $34
- Extrait de parfum, nearly 30% fragrance oil
- Unisex
A Ropion amber-floral extrait at this price, from a brand with Merit's following, is not a quiet launch. It is one to watch once it lands.