Vieve sunset blush review: Does Jamie Genevieve’s latest launch deliver?

From packaging and wearability to formula and shade range, we put the YouTuber's new product to the test

Genevieve centered the brand around inclusivity from the offset, but how does its first complexion product fare? (The Independent)

Known for her glowy skin, signature warm-toned smokey eye, beaming highlight and Nineties nude lip, Scottish make-up artist Jamie Genevieve went from working on a make-up counter in Debenhams to counting Drew Barrymore as one of her clients, before starring in a BBC documentary last year about her rise to internet stardom.

Genevieve is now a digital creator and has built a 1.4 million-strong following in the past four years, thanks to her obsession for all things beauty and her refreshingly authentic content on both YouTube and Instagram.

The YouTuber launched her own brand in November 2020, entering the increasingly saturated market of beauty ventures with influencers at the helm. To name just a few, Manchester-based artist Mitchell Halliday made his bold debut to the market last year, while Irish influencer and artist Keilish Cashell launched the grungier make-up line in the form of Kash Beauty, and American influencer Samanttha Ravndahl revealed her cool-girl beauty brand, Auric, just last month.

Read more: This £11 lipstick has gone viral on TikTok for being completely smudge-proof

The competition is fierce, but Vieve’s launch certainly felt authentic to Genevieve’s routes. Promising a brand that’s inclusive, accessible and inspiring, led by her background in artistry, the YouTuber wanted to create high performance products that felt versatile yet impactful. 

Cutting through the beauty noise, she wanted her first launch to act as a foundation to build the rest of her line on, revealing a warm-toned eyeshadow palette, nude lipsticks, liners and highlighters that felt familiar to her audience. Genevieve is a self-proclaimed luxury beauty lover, whether it’s make-up or skincare, so the mid-market price range felt like a natural move for the brand when it launched.

What was more unexpected, however, was the beauty influencer’s next move: blush. Genevieve has openly admitted her prior adversity to the complexion product, confessing that she’d never used blusher “in a big way” until 2019, when she realised the power it had to lift her complexion. She’s not the only one, as blush has been experiencing somewhat of a renaissance in recent years. Novices and artists alike have been rejecting the purely bronzed look in favour of a flush of colour on the cheeks.

Releasing five shades in her new sunset blush range, the launch feels far less safe than her debut collection, as a product that garners far less attention than the likes of a foundation, bronzer or mascara. We got our hands on three of the shades from the latest collection to put them to the test.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. 

Vieve sunset blush: £23 each, Cult Beauty – Buy now

(Vieve )

Packaging

With gold detailing and black faux-leather compacts, Vieve’s branding feels emblematic of Genevieve's personal style, as she often wears all black outfits and lives in gold jewellery. Our package arrived beautifully presented, with no plastic wrapping in sight – everything is recyclable, right down to the labels. The outer packaging is also made from recyclable card, but the real fun begins inside: we love the leather-style look and feel of the compact, which is surprisingly lightweight, and the raised, gold embossed logo on the front. The design is simple yet classic, and each blush compact features a mirror inside, with the brand’s signature V printed onto it. 

The formula and shade range

Genevieve has centered Vieve’s branding around inclusivity since its launch, with self-expression being at the foreground of her ethos. Thankfully, its first complexion product launch has delivered on that front, with five matte shades that we think will cater to all skin tones. 

We got our hands on three of them; Cherub, a warm true-pink that truly does feel plucked out of a Renaissance painting; Pesca, a warmer-toned but soft peach that’s designed to suit pale skin tones and Sorbet, a hot coral pink that can be worn on all skin tones, depending how much you build the product up. Other shades include Malbec, a darker berry shade that will add depth to deeper skin tones, and Piazza, a bronzy rose that would warm up the skin. The spectrum of shades for an initial launch is impressive, particularly for a smaller brand just starting out.

Read more: 9 best vegan foundations for every skin type

But how do they perform on the skin? It’s safe to say this is our new favourite blush formula. The vegan, finely milled powder proves that blusher doesn’t have to be chalky and unflattering like many earlier iterations can be, and instead this blended beautifully with little effort. Applying, as advised, on the high points of our cheeks and on the temples, we barely had to touch the pan to achieve serious pigment, but rather than ending up with too much product sat on top of the skin, the blush melts into your other complexion products to create a genuine-looking flush of colour that isn’t overbearing. 

A side by side difference between blush and no blush, which we found really lifted the face (Ellie Fry/Vieve)

Cherub was our favourite shade, as it debunked our fear of true-pink blush with its blendable yet bright hue. We felt it really lifted our face, as seen in our side-by-side comparison picture, giving a fresh look to our complexion while giving us cheekbones we never knew we had. It’s the perfect shade for spring. If you’re looking for a hot orange-toned pink, Sorbet is your winner, and performed equally as well on the skin.

Wearability

Unlike other blushers that either look great in the pan and don’t translate on the skin, or look perfect on the skin for an hour and fade soon after, Vieve’s blushers stay pigmented on the skin all day. We received compliments over Zoom, of course, while wearing it, and it survived both snowy walks and hours sat by the light of our laptop screen. If you did want to touch up, layering the product presented no issues, nor did it disrupt any of our other complexion products or become muted once we added a highlight.

The verdict: Vieve sunset blush

While we were fans of the brand’s first launch last year, it did feel a bit safe. The latest sunset blush reveal, however, feels far more daring, tapping into a resurging market with seriously impressive results. The shades are pigmented yet effortlessly blendable – we’d go as far to say that we haven’t tried any other powder blush formula that sits so naturally on the skin. With an inclusive colour offering and recyclable packaging, Vieve’s latest launch has made us fall back in love with blush and we can’t wait to see what the brand does next.