Vivo Las Tesco: My Introduction to Vivo Make-Up

I’ve heard good things about Vivo, so during my trip to Tesco today I decided to investigate the brand further. I’m always a bit wary of low priced make-up as I’ve been burnt before (not literally, you know what I mean…) and whilst it’s only a few quid here and there, with the amount of make-up I seem to manage to find an excuse to buy in an average month, it all adds up! So rather than throwing myself in at the deep end by seeing something pretty and buying it, I decided to spend a good 20 minutes familiarising myself with the brand (boyfriend was thrilled about this, before discovering the technology aisle).

I tested a few bits and bobs before finding and trying the Primer. I’m ‘lucky’ to have fairly obvious pores on my hand, so I can test primers on the back of my hand and see if it has any impact before buying and this gives me an idea of how the product might perform on my face. I applied the primer and my pores disappeared, so this piqued my interest immediately! I also ended up trying and the eventually buying the Ultimate Base Concealer Kit (not really caring whether it worked or not, just loved the look of it), the Under Eye Concealer Roll-on in Light and finally the Pearl Eyeshadow in Mink. Here are my thoughts:

Primer

I’m on a bit of a primer mission at the moment and I’m trying quite a few different brands to put together a list of what I feel are the best on offer. Obviously I’ve only just purchased this primer, so I haven’t had a chance to try it on my face, but my initial thoughts are that it’s very similar, both in texture and consistency, to the L’Oreal Studio Secrets primer, although this one is a little thinner which I think I might prefer. RRP £6.

As it comes out of the tube.

Slightly pressed in to the skin.

Completely blended in: I’ve left the picture larger so you can hopefully see that the central area is where the primer is, and the area surrounding (with the little dots) is the untouched skin.

Ultimate Base Concealer Kit

Hello lovely, pretty kit that’ll look ever so serious on my make-up counter but will probably never get used….I’ll certainly give it a shot, but having used some seriously hardcore concealers in the past to always be disappointed one way or another (too shiny, too matte, too thick, too thin, etc) I’m not holding out hopes for the two concealers featured in this kit. However, having swatched them on my hand, I am really impressed with the consistency and blendability, so I’ll definitely give this kit a fair shot. Included is 2 different shades of concealer, 1 setting powder, 1 illuminator pen and a double ended brush. I’m quite fascinated by the sponge end of the brush as a possible concealer applicator, as it’s never occurred to me to try such a brush for applying concealer; maybe this is where I’ve been going wrong! We’ll see. At the very least, the illuminator pen is rather lovely and will certainly get some use. RRP £5.

L-R: Darker concealer, lighter concealer, pressed powder, illuminator.

Same order as above, slightly more blended in.

Under Eye Concealer Roll-On

This appears to be quite a decent take on the similar Garnier version. I didn’t get on too well with the Garnier one as I found the shade didn’t match my skin and the consistency was too runny, plus the applicator dispensed too much. I’ve tried this one on both my hand and my eye and I’m really impressed so far, although it’s only been on for an hour so it’ll be interesting to see if it creases or disappears; so far, so good. It comes out very lightly, which I prefer as I like to build coverage under my eye rather than have to tone it down and the coverage looks good, but what I’m most impressed with at this stage is the actual concealer itself, which has a lovely sheer, buildable, creamy and slightly shiny consistency. Really looking forward to trying this properly tomorrow. RRP £3.59.

It comes out really sheer which made it difficult to swatch, but it’s also a great colour match for me.

Pearl Eyeshadow

I’m a bit stuck in my ways with eyeshadow; I prefer to stick to the colours I know well and that flatter my colourings which are mainly browns, greys and lighter pearl colours. The shade I bought was Mink and whilst it hasn’t deviated too far from my usual colours, it’s still a bit different and yet very pretty. The shade is a slightly purpley, grey colour with a high shimmer and a lovely payoff. It’s also very buildable and just doesn’t come out like a cheap product. If I were to generally compare it to another brand, dare I say it, I’d have to say it’s not too different to what Bobbi Brown has on offer……RRP £1.50.

Not the greatest swatch as it looks too brown, plus in reality it’s much more shimmery.

My initial impression of this brand is pretty startling; all the products on the surface seem to be of unbelievably decent quality and I’m really very surprised. It does seem that 2011 has been the year that cheaper make-up brands have upped their game and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into my purchases.

Have you used any Vivo products? Any recommendations?