STORY BY SANDRA S. SORIA ✷ PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID ENGELHARDT ✷ SET DESIGN BY KEVIN HERTZOG ✷ MAKEUP BY CHEYENNE PELLICORO FOR JONES ROAD BEAUTY

For a woman who has the most recognizable name in makeup, Bobbi Brown doesn’t appear to be wearing any. And that is the point. And it’s been the point since the makeup artist launched her namesake Bobbi Brown brand in 1991. Through the ‘80s, she had been powdering and painting some of the most famous mugs in fashion and show biz. Then, the look involved heavy contouring and color so bright it seemed to have its own power source. Bobbi wasn’t into it—and she wasn’t seeing the right alternatives in the beauty world.

So, she went ahead and revolutionized the industry, almost inadvertently. Tired of ruby red lips, Bobbi tapped a chemist friend to work up improved formulas for lip products that actually looked like they belonged on lips. The idea, she says, “was to bring out a woman’s natural beauty, not bury it.” Thanks to some hi-fi contacts she’d earned in the magazine world through beautifying cover models, she sold her line to Bergdorf Goodman’s and Saks and so on—and then a mere four years later sold her super successful cosmetics business, along with her name, to Estée Lauder for close to $75 million (reportedly that is, because these things are, well, tight-lipped). 

For the big payday, she also agreed to a 25-year noncompete and signed on to be Creative Director of her namesake brand. For years she was part of the Estée Lauder corporation, until she rocked the cosmetics world again by walking away from the gig in 2016. An entrepreneur at heart, she was ready to shuck off the corporate layers and try her hand at new ideas. And she did—she wrote best-selling books on beauty, opened a boutique hotel in her hometown of Montclair, New Jersey, got a health-coach certification, launched the lifestyle website justbobbi.com, and was named Chief Creative Advisor for luxe skin care brand Augustinus Bader. 

But she was missing makeup—the thing she fell in love with as a child in the ‘60s as she watched her mom get dolled up for a night out (even though Bobbi never felt she could pull off the glam look herself). So, while the noncompete clock ticked, Bobbi began plotting her return with a small circle of folks. And on the very same day the clock ran out—October 26, 2020—she launched Jones Road Beauty. 

Her new line is Bobbi Brown and then some. The focus is on color that complements all skin tones and skin types worked into high-performance formulations that meet stringent standards for clean, cruelty-free beauty products. The cosmetics nourish the skin even as they put a bloom on your cheeks and blot out the blemishes. And all in her signature subtle palette.

The world had taken some mighty surprising spins between 1991 and 2020. But at the time of the Jones Road launch, a pandemic and politics seemed to propel it to warp speed. But Bobbi has rolled with it. Case in point: The 65-year-old is now a viral TikTok sensation, racking up millions of views since dipping her brush into the platform a couple of years ago. She’s done it by being just Bobbi, sharing her expert makeup tips while she intros her new products. She’s scored scads of views with her beauty secrets for the over-50 set—a commanding performance when you consider 43 percent of TikTokkers are between the ages of 18 and 24 and a mere three percent are over 55. Even the most basic of basic topics, like choosing the right foundation shade, draws millions. But her most popular video is one that brings her full circle: How to get the no-makeup makeup look. And her advice is so Bobbi: “You’re perfect how you are. You don’t need makeup to cover up. But when you want a bit of a glow, this is what I use.”

At this magazine, we are friends and fans of Bobbi. She is as real as she seems, and as gutsy as you might think. We sat down to chat with her about her line and her newfound TikTok fame. In her own unguarded, down-to-earth words, here’s what she had to say.

Q. I understand you launched the Jones Road brand 25 years to the day after you sold the Bobbi Brown brand to Estée Lauder, when your noncompete expired. Were you watching the clock?

A. When I left the Estée Lauder corporation, I had four and a half years left on a 25-year noncompete contract. Now, when I signed it, I had no intention or idea or anything about doing the same thing again, so I didn’t think a ton about it until I realized that makeup was my life. I had tried a whole bunch of other projects, which were fun and successful, but I really missed beauty. I saw that there were some more things to accomplish and more things to teach and more things to do. Once I had the idea, then I had to start the clock.

Q. You launched a makeup brand during the pandemic, when a lot of us didn’t have to worry about our makeup. What was that like?

A. It was a week before the presidential election, right in the middle of the pandemic, and I just did it because what was I going to wait for? When things were quiet? They haven’t been quiet since.

Q. Did it change your launch plans?

A: I mean, it totally did. The way we used to do things before the pandemic compared to now is completely different. I really believe that, before, a lot of things were an enormous amount of money, enormous amount of work, enormous amount of everything—and that just was not necessary. Jones Road is a direct-to-consumer brand. When we launched, we didn’t have parties with bells and whistles and little bags with bows on them, trying to get attention. We just did it really simple, really scrappy, our way. That actually got the most amount of attention.

Q. What is different about the product itself?

A: Everything. Starting with the boxes that Jones Road sends the products in. They’re all biodegradable. They’re very small. They come from a paper place, but a recyclable paper place. They’re not fancy. There’s no coding on them. They’re not shiny. There’s just some words stamped on them. They’re easy to take apart. I don’t look at the way other cosmetic companies do things. My aesthetic is more raw and real than it is polished.

Q. Simplicity seems to have been a big part of your ethos from the git-go, would you agree?

A. Yeah, I’ve always been that way. No amount of makeup that I would throw on my face would make me look or feel more beautiful than I feel when either I’m on vacation or I’m a little more relaxed. I’m my healthiest version of myself. A little balanced. That’s when I feel the most beautiful. It has nothing to do with cosmetics. It’s more a lifestyle. Luckily, I know how to use cosmetics for those times when I don’t look and feel my best. No one really knows I’m wearing makeup. I’m like, “Yeah, I am.” That’s how, really, Jones Road was born.

Q. Do you get people coming up to you on the street saying, “Why aren’t you wearing makeup, Bobbi Brown?”

A. I have had people say that. On social media, the meanies as I call them, have said everything from “If you have a makeup line, you should be wearing makeup.” I’ve had people tell me I should get plastic surgery done. I should fix my eyes and fill out my lips. I’m like, “Okay. Great. Thanks for your thoughts.”

Q. Speaking of social media, does it blow your mind that you are a viral TikTok star?

A. I was pretty, pretty surprised. I’m a curious person. I always looked at TikTok. I did a dancing one with my husband and my niece a while ago. I think I got 5,000 views, whatever it was, because I didn’t have a presence. We were having a lot of meetings about content because content is everything when you sell direct-to-consumer products. I had a meeting with this guy, Gary Vaynerchuk, who’s literally the brains of anything promotion-wise. He’s just super media savvy. He basically said to me, “Stop everything. Go hire teams of people and agencies to do TikToks. It’s all about TikTok.” I rolled my eyes. I’m like, “Yeah. Okay. Sure, Gary. I’ll get on that.”

Q. What convinced you to try it?

A. My son, who’s my head of marketing, took out his phone. He said, “Alright, Mom. Let’s do it.” He shot the first one, which was just me saying, “What do you guys want to hear from me? I’m on TikTok.” That one didn’t go viral, but we got hundreds and hundreds of people saying, “Oh, my God. Bobbi Brown is here. Will you show me how to line my eyes? Will you show me makeup after 50?” So, I was like, “Wow, there are real people here.” Then I did the next one about makeup over 50. That one went viral. I just couldn’t believe the 5,000 comments. I don’t even remember how many. They were, “I’m in my forties. I’m in my fifties. I have this problem. I have that.” So, I started just answering them. And then you know what happened? Our sales quadrupled.

Q. I think it’s interesting to watch your TikToks because I feel like I’m on the other side of your mirror, basically, getting some tips from the top makeup artist in the world.

A. It’s also an interesting thing being in my mid-60s and being a TikTok sensation. It’s not every day I feel like I look my best. So, I have to find the best lighting I can find, and I have to do a little prep so I don’t look as tired or dehydrated or whatever it is I am.

When we launched, we didn’t have parties with bells and whistles and little bags with bows on them, trying to get attention. 

Q. Do you feel pressure to post now? I mean, do you ever feel like you let a genie out of the bottle?

A. Yeah. I pretty much let a genie out of the bottle. I mean, the only pressure I get is from my daughter-in-law, who’s my director of social. “Bobbi, we’ve got to do 10 of these today.” I’m like, “Ugh. Just catch me after a blowout, and then I’ll do it.”

Q. How do you deal with negative comments on social media—the “meanies” as you called them—do you worry it might tarnish your brand?

A. Well, so much about the decisions I make, both from business to lifestyle to anything, really has so much to do with what I believe in. I’m someone who really believes in some very fundamental rules, similar to Danny, which is why we love each other so much. It’s so nice to surround yourself with really good people who are nice, and aren’t afraid to try things and suggest things and go places that no one’s gone before. Why not? If it doesn’t work, oh well. No big deal. When it comes to social media, all I have is my gut and my team. I try really hard to be a good person. I try really hard not to be inappropriate.

Q. So the benefits outweigh a few negative comments?

A. I just realized through all these years that the way you tell people is to just give people the product to try. They talk about it. They get excited about it. Then other people tell other people. That’s one form of marketing. Now you get to do that on social. I mean, I’m able to ask my audience a question. What do you guys think? What do you want? I get answers right away. I don’t have to hire focus groups.

Q. Where did the Jones Road name come from?

A. Well, when I was working on this company, it had to be very hush-hush because I still had a noncompete. I had literally, I think, two or three people in the office. We couldn’t agree on a name. We called up our friends who were writers. Everybody was trying to help us, and we couldn’t agree. If we did agree on something, it wasn’t available. I even had my friend Gloria Steinem work on names. She sent me a list of names. One of these days, I’ll find it. She’s like, “Oh, I love naming things.” I said, “Oh, that would be an awesome thing, that Gloria Steinem named my company.”

Q. So, did she pick the winning name?

A. What happened was, to meet the timeline to put the logo on things and to have our attorney make sure that we had the copyright, the clock was ticking. True story. I was driving in the car with my husband. When he drives, my job is to look at Google Maps and Waze. God forbid we go a minute out of our way. My job is to give him the shortcuts. When my eyes looked down on the map on my iPad, it said Jones Road. I don’t know. I said, “Oh, my God. Jones Road Beauty.” My husband said, “I like it.” We called the three employees I had and my kids, and everyone said they liked it. And it was available. And there you have it.

Q. Do you ever regret selling your name to Estée Lauder, especially given the noncompete? Was it worth it for the big payday?

A. I mean, I’ll never forget when my husband said, “We have a financial deal, but the only thing left on the table is they want to own the name in a 25-year noncompete.” I was like, “Well, they can have the name. I’m not going to want to work in my sixties.” But on the other hand, if you have a very successful company with your name on it, you can’t launch it again. The company still exists. So no, I don’t feel regretful that I don’t own my name. There are always ways around everything. If I started my first company now, I wouldn’t have named it in my name. Back then it was like, “Oh, okay. Why not?” But no, I would not want to do that now.

Q. When you launched Jones Road, were you seeing a gap in the cosmetics industry that you wanted to fill?

A. I didn’t set out to create a clean brand. I’m not the person to talk about the clean industry. There are plenty of people that do that. I wanted to create a brand that, when I say performance based, I don’t mean it stays on forever, but performance based because it includes just the best formulas. The eyeshadows are done so they’re easy to apply. The pencils are dense enough and creamy enough so they work. Everything really just has to be better than anything out there. I was very disillusioned with the makeup when I really stepped away from the brand, both from a traditional and a clean formulation perspective. I just didn’t have things I loved. There either wasn’t enough color, or it was too dry. It was too whispery. It didn’t cover. It was cakey. One of the reasons I wanted to do it again is because I knew that I could create formulas that I thought would be better and easier to apply.

Q. What I’ve always loved about your products is that they are inclusive, especially in terms of skin tones, and your message is one of positivity. How did you arrive at this?

A. I grew up in a time where if you weren’t a supermodel or if you weren’t tall, skinny, little, teeny nose, blonde, you weren’t considered beautiful. I was always feeling not enough. I wasn’t pretty enough. I wasn’t smart enough. I certainly wasn’t tall enough. All those things. Then I realized, at one point in my life, you know what? I’m okay. It’s all fine. I always used makeup to make myself feel better—just a better version of me. Then, when I started being a makeup artist, the makeup was godawful. It was contoured and overlined and everything that I personally didn’t like, and it’s still popular today. I was the one to say, “No, guys. You’re fine the way you are. And yes, you have the most incredibly beautiful skin color.” We might have to mix a few foundations together because no one makes the right colors. But I understood that we all have different issues, inside and out, and it’s okay. That’s always been my mantra. Now, I mean, this is really true. I don’t get injections. I have lines in my face, and I’m okay with it. I want to help teach other women that just because you’re not young, it doesn’t mean you’re any less attractive. You’re just different attractive.

Q. I could talk to you all day, but you’ve got TikToks to do. So, I’ll finish with a few rapid-fire questions. First, what is the question you’ve never been asked that you want to answer?

A. God, I’ve had so many questions. I guess no one’s ever asked me: Am I shocked at my success? No one’s ever really asked me that. The truth is I’m really shocked. I mean, I’m totally shocked because I’m just me. I just do things that are simple and make sense to me, but it seems to resonate.

Q. I’ve got $100 to spend on makeup…what Jones Road products should I buy?

A. Well, we actually curated something called the Start-Up Kit because that was the question people often asked, “Where do I start?” I think there’s four or five basic products in there, a mascara, a brown eyeshadow, a brown pencil, and a clear lip gloss. That’s a good place to start.

Q. How often do you go to the grocery store without a lick of makeup on?

A. Well, the better question is how often do I go to the grocery store wearing makeup? In my town, I am very comfortable walking around without a stitch of makeup on. So, I would say about 95 to 98 percent of the time. When I do go to the grocery store and run into someone after I’ve been on a shoot or I’ve been on camera, they’re like, “Wow, you look really good.” I think to myself, Well, I guess I could look like this all the time. But I don’t put the energy in.

Q. Do people find it ironic that you walk around without makeup on as the biggest name in makeup?

A. I think probably in the beginning. But now, at least the town where I live, people are very relaxed and down to earth. It’s normal to run into people
in the grocery store after you come from tennis or the gym or yoga or something.

Q. You’re the consummate entrepreneur. What is your top advice to others out there dreaming?

A. First of all, realize how much you have to learn. So many entrepreneurs think they know it all, and they don’t. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. And probably the most important thing is: Don’t spend money that you don’t have. Just know that what you’re doing takes time, so don’t be in a giant hurry.

For more info on the line, click over to jonesroadbeauty.com