Jones Road

A frank yet sycophantic review

by Claire

The important thing to get out of the way is that I love Bobbi Brown. I had a book called ‘Teenage Beauty’ when I was about 12, which I could probably recite full paragraphs of now. It was a super-American guide to grooming and makeup, drenched in her signature effortless, naturally polished style. A lot of the advice didn’t really apply to a pudgy tween from Willesden Green (how’s that for an epitaph?), but I really took it on in that way you only can when you are young and at your most absorbent.

Bobbi’s notion was that makeup should be more about enhancement than artifice - much easier if you happen to be absolutely gorgeous in the first place, but as they say at my son’s nursery: ‘You get what you get and you don’t get upset’.

For decades her namesake brand was synonymous with American laid-back glamour, luxe black counters with rows of nude lipstick and iconic products like Pot Rouge cream blusher and those little pots of gel eyeliner. The look is classic, polished, a little conservative. It was where you went to buy makeup for your job interview, your graduation, your wedding day - in fact, I wore Bobbi Brown lipstick on mine (in ‘Sandwash Pink’, a beloved mauvey nude).

Estee Lauder bought the company early doors in 1995, with a non-compete clause that prevented Bobbi from creating any other cosmetics elsewhere for 25 years. Bobbi ran it with creative control before leaving in 2016. In 2020, she was free to launch her own brand again: enter Jones Road.