I Tried £230 Worth Of Vieve Makeup & Here Are My Honest Thoughts

You might know the brilliant Jamie Genevieve from Instagram. The makeup artist and influencer started her career working on beauty counters for brands such as Illamasqua before becoming one of the biggest names on social media. Since then, Jamie has amassed an enormous 1.4 million followers who, it's safe to say, are always impressed with her impeccable, creative beauty style. So it was a total no-brainer for her to create her own collection of makeup products.

Enter: VIEVE.

Available from Vieve.co.uk and Cult Beauty, Jamie's namesake makeup range is reminiscent of her '90s-inspired aesthetic. Think ultra nude lips, kohl-laden smoky eyes and a whole lot of shimmer. A 10 shade-strong eyeshadow palette, three highlighters, five matte lipsticks and matching lip liners make up the range, which is already trending on Google and selling out fast. But does it live up to the hype? I tried everything in the collection and here are my honest thoughts as a makeup-obsessed beauty editor.

First up, lipstick. I tried Treasure, £19, which is the lightest shade in the collection, teamed with the Lip Definer in Velvet Sands, £15. It's a combination Jamie loves herself. Many lip pencils can drag but this is so good. It took seconds for me to outline my lips (I always over-line) and it didn't feel drying or rough.

At first glance, the lipstick packaging is very Tom Ford, the black tube and gold outlines incredibly chic. I think this is why the price is a little higher than a brand like MAC, for example. But what about the actual product? The creamy colour glides on and is very impressively pigmented but this shade is much too light for me. I prefer Comin' In Haute, £19. All lipsticks dry down to a matte finish, which I love. The staying power is good if you don't eat or drink anything but that goes for all nude lipsticks I've tried, as the pigment doesn't stick around as long as darker shades, such as red. I needed multiple touch-ups throughout the day to stop that dubious white line from appearing but the bullet is precise so it was easy to apply quickly. The best thing about it is that it doesn't completely suck the moisture from your lips, though I'd suggest teaming it with a lip balm first for more of a moisturised, plump finish.

I created a shimmery eye look using shades Delicious and Thea in The Essential Eyeshadow Palette, £43. At first I thought the price was a little steep compared to Huda Beauty or Too Faced, whose palettes boast more shades. But the colours in the VIEVE palette are almost double the size and there's a mirror which doesn't completely distort your face like cheaper palettes can do. The matte shades in particular are excellent. They are highly pigmented and suit a wide range of skin tones, blend easily, don't crease, and last all day. They can be applied with a brush but I'd suggest using your fingers to apply the glitter tones as brushes don't pick them up, and I struggled. As with all glitter shadows, there is some fallout. Similarly, the Nova Glow Highlighter, £27, is very glittery and hard to control with a dry brush but Jamie suggests spritzing a little setting spray onto the bristles for seamless application. The second time round, it worked! But I used Riches, which is just a little too sparkly for my liking.

There are some eyeshadow shades in the palette which I was a little scared of at first glance, namely Ciao (a yellow-taupe) and Buff (a sandy brown). On my light olive skin, I thought they'd make me look tired or ill but I mixed them together and quite liked the finished result. Again, I'm really impressed by how easy the matte eyeshadow is to blend with a fluffy brush and ended up creating this muted sunset-inspired eye look, which I finished with lashings of mascara instead of my usual winged eyeliner. I like KVD Vegan Beauty Go Big or Go Home Volumizing Mascara, £20.

Here, I'm wearing the lipstick in shade Ninetease, £19, which is very Victoria Beckham circa 1994. It doesn't look too wacky in my selfies but I wasn't too keen on this particular shade in person. It's very light and just a tad difficult to pull off, so I applied lashings of lip liner over the top in shade Bark, £15.

You need this palette if you want to create a smoky eye but don't know where to start; it's really easy. I dipped my eyeshadow brush into shades Lavarock and Delicious to create a smoky brown hue and blended all over my lid and lower lash line. I took a much smaller eyeliner brush and used shade Goodnight (a jet black), which I applied very close to my lash line, then took a fluffy brush and blended it out so it looked less harsh. I followed with eyeliner (I used MAC Eye Kohl in Feline, £16, because the VIEVE range doesn't include liner just yet) and lashings of mascara on my top and bottom lashes. I used Ted Baker 3-in-1 Mascara, £22.

I think this lip look suited me the most: a combination of Modern Lip Definer in Rumour, £15, and Modern Matte Lipstick in Power Suit, £19, with Vieve, £19, in the centre to give my lips dimension. What I would say is that each lipstick appears much lighter on the lips than it does in the bullet, so if you think you'd suit a certain shade just by looking at the images on site or on Instagram, I'd recommend going a little darker so you aren't disappointed.

I went all out for this look, so came back to the Nova Glow Highlighter to see if it would work. I dusted a little down the centre of my nose but the sparkle was still a little too much. I'd recommend using shades Glimmer (an opalescent champagne) or So Shy (a matte, creamy colour) to impart a more believable radiance instead.

Overall I'm a big fan of VIEVE. Even though I thought I'd ditched the heavy makeup for good thanks to lockdown, the brand has reminded me just how fun it is to play around with good quality products. The only major things missing are a blusher and bronzer, which I can't do without as they pull the entire look together. I rate Charlotte Tilbury Cheek To Chic Blush, £30, and NYX Professional Makeup Matte Bronzer, £8.

Everything is selling out fast but Jamie has reassured fans that products will be back in stock on the official website as well as Cult Beauty soon, so if you're looking to snap up a gift for the makeup lover in your life (or yourself), now is the time.