Meet the Latinx beauty brand that caught the attention of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Vive Cosmetics founders Joanna Rosario and Leslie Valdivia have created their own lane in the beauty industry with a line that is rich in color and cultura.

Video Transcript

NURYS CASTILLO: Hi, everybody. I'm Nurys Castillo, and this is "Accidental Beauty Blogger At Home Edition." Today, I'm joined by Leslie and Joanna, the co-founders of the Latinx beauty brand Vive Cosmetics, where beauty meets cultura. Hi, ladies.

JOANNA ROSARIO: Hi.

LESLIE VALDIVIA: How are you?

NURYS CASTILLO: Let's start with the first product, which is so freaking cute. I'm obsessed with it.

JOANNA ROSARIO: Yeah. So it is our "Eres Magia" which, we launched in the summer. This basically is the design, with crystals, and it says, "Eres magia," on here. And it has our logo in the front.

LESLIE VALDIVIA: This was actually really inspired by community feedback. We had a sticker that we would send in out order that said, "Eres magia." Very, very similar to the design. And people loved it. They put it on their water bottle, on their computers.

This is a great affirmation. And we need to put it into something else. And the mirror was just the perfect transition from that.

NURYS CASTILLO: I love it because I'm holding it right now.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

LESLIE VALDIVIA: Channel it.

JOANNA ROSARIO: So our second product that we want to show is our Luz and Glow highlighter duo. It's basically two shades. And they're very golden-y. One's name is Diosa, the other name is Reina. Easy to mix to match. It's a very versatile duo that you can wear on your cheekbones. You can wear on your nose, on your eyes. And I always use it even as a lip topper as well.

LESLIE VALDIVIA: This is two shades that are going to work with everyone's skin tone. And we wanted it to be that way. We know Latinas and Latinx community literally come in all shades.

NURYS CASTILLO: Looking good. I want to put a little bit on my eyelid. You said that it works for the eyelids as well, right?

LESLIE VALDIVIA: If you take your finger, dab it, you can apply it. I'm actually going to apply it right now with my hand. Do a little dab here, and you have a look.

NURYS CASTILLO: And you had said that this highlighter works for all skin tones. Do you factor that type of inclusion and representation with all your products?

JOANNA ROSARIO: Yeah. For sure, yeah. Any product, we want to make sure it fits all skin tones. And then it could be multi-use for everybody. Again, we're all very diverse. And we have to acknowledge that and celebrate that.

NURYS CASTILLO: That's why I love the brand so much because I see myself represented in this. I'm someone that, with my skin color, it makes it so hard to find something that works for me. When I saw your brand, I was obsessed.

LESLIE VALDIVIA: So one of our best selling shades that the community loves is our Que Matte liquid lipstick, and Luchadora. This has such an amazing story. Because of this shade, we got AOC, AOC to follow Vive Cosmetics.

We got a notification on the Vive account. And it said, AOC is now following you. Even though we, we launched this shade back in 2017 as our original color. It's people like her that really inspire everything we do. And that's just a testament to that.

AOC is somebody we look up to. She truly represents the power of our community.

JOANNA ROSARIO: We're excited for you to try it on and tell us what you think.

NURYS CASTILLO: I'm loading up right now. Do you have any advice for people wearing red lips? Sometimes having a bold lip is pretty scary.

LESLIE VALDIVIA: I think one of the biggest things to get over is just the fear of it not looking good. And just trying it. And that's the beauty about makeup. That you can apply it, and if you don't like it, you just take it off.

JOANNA ROSARIO: So our number one tip is just try it. But we recommend a really thin layer of this. This lipstick is a liquid to matte. So once it dries, it's going to stay on all day. It's not going to go anywhere. Make out proof, food proof, you know, even mask proof now, with all of us wearing masks. How does it make you feel, the red?

NURYS CASTILLO: Luchadora, like I'm empowered right now. You combine our Latinx cultura through the names of your products. Tell us about some of the names of your lip colors, and why it's so important to give that Spanglish flair.

JOANNA ROSARIO: It's not about the lipstick. It's about the feeling of how it makes you feel when you wear it. Just like the red Luchadora. You're going to pop that on and conquer your day.

We have names like Janguear, which is more of a Puerto Rican slang word. So I'm half Puerto Rican. And we definitely try to bring other cultures and other Latinx cultures so we make sure we have everything.

NURYS CASTILLO: And the idea of Vive started in 2016. What was your motivation for creating a Latinx owned and operated brand?

JOANNA ROSARIO: I never saw myself represented in any of the influencers, in any of the campaigns, in any of the brands. My dream was always to create something because I love makeup.

LESLIE VALDIVIA: And we're just so excited and thankful of the community and reaction that we've gotten. It just kind of proves, something like this needed to exist.

NURYS CASTILLO: Leslie and Joanna, thank you so much for joining me, and for bringing us a brand that truly is about beauty and cultura. Thank you.

JOANNA ROSARIO: Thank you.

LESLIE VALDIVIA: Thank you so much.