- MERIT Beauty has signed Girls star Jemima Kirke as the face of its new Clean Volume Mascara campaign, capitalizing on the growing popularity of tubing mascara formulas.
- The Clean Volume Mascara is described as a "volumizing, tubing mascara" that "lifts, separates, and sculpts lashes for precise, all-day volume," featuring a Japanese-made tubing formula with a fine-bristled, staggered brush.
- MERIT CMO Aila Morin says Kirke was chosen because she "has always embodied a confidence and irreverence that feels very Merit", a busy millennial who uses beauty to feel like herself, not to change into someone else.
- Kirke has been an active presence in brand campaigns in 2026, most recently starring in Completedworks' fall 2026 micro-play "Good Food, Good Friends".
MERIT Beauty has tapped Jemima Kirke, best known as the free-spirited Jessa Johansson from HBO’s Girls, as the face of its newly launched Clean Volume Mascara. The product officially dropped on June 25, promising extreme length, mega volume, and zero clumps through its tubing formula.
MERIT keeps its product lineup intentionally lean, roughly 20 items, and typically introduces something new only once or twice a year after thorough testing.
The Clean Volume Mascara is the brand’s first major launch of 2026. Its petite precision brush features staggered fine bristles engineered to reach every lash and deliver structure without buildup.
MERIT CMO Aila Morin told Cosmetics Business that Kirke was a natural fit because she “is a busy millennial who is sure of who she is and uses beauty to feel like herself, not to change into someone else.”
Kirke is a British-American actress and visual artist who gained international recognition through Girls (2012–2017) and went on to appear in Netflix’s Sex Education and Conversations with Friends.
Beyond acting, her artwork was featured in the UPRISE 2025 exhibition, marking a return to her roots in visual art: unfiltered, personal, and deeply feminist in tone.
On the brand side, MERIT has been building its celebrity campaign roster steadily. Just last April, the brand tapped ballet icon Misty Copeland for its Uniform Tinted Mineral SPF campaign. Copeland fronted the campaign alongside a limited-edition “Misty Set” of four hand-curated products.
The Kirke partnership signals that MERIT is doubling down on talent that blends creative credibility with authentic millennial appeal, a strategic thread also visible in how Kylie Jenner recently approached her own brand campaign storytelling.
Takeaways
MERIT’s Kirke signing is a masterclass in intentional casting. This isn’t a splashy celebrity deal chasing follower counts, it’s a brand going after cultural authenticity.
Kirke is a painter, an actress who resists the mainstream, and a millennial woman who looks comfortable in her own skin. That’s precisely the MERIT customer. In 2025 alone, MERIT tapped Cazzie David, Martha Stewart, Padma Lakshmi, Lauren Graham, Issa Rae, Aimee Lou Wood, and Brenda Song, a deliberate mix of sharp, established, culturally resonant women. Kirke fits that mold perfectly.
And for a brand whose mascara is its biggest category bet of the year, anchoring it to a face that communicates ease and self-possession is a smart move. MERIT has built its identity on the idea that less is more, with a small, tightly curated product range, and Kirke’s effortless aesthetic mirrors that exactly.
Is MERIT building a recurring creative partnership with Kirke, or is this a one-campaign deal? Does choosing a visual artist and actress over a traditional influencer signal a wider shift in how beauty brands measure campaign ROI?
