Bobbi Brown's new make-up line, Jones Road
We’re doing something we never, ever normally do – which is to tell you about something that you can’t get your hands on, yet. (Unless you have friends/family in the States, who can order and international mail it to you.)
But when Bobbi Brown – yes, THAT Bobbi Brown – launches a new make-up line, and she sends it to us with a handwritten postcard (after we’d tried and failed to buy from the UK via her website)… Well. You need to be primed for when this launches in the New Year on this side of the Atlantic (you’ll be first to know, we promise).
We go back with Bobbi a l-o-n-g way. Jo first ‘talent-spotted’ her very first capsule collection of lipsticks at the bottom of an escalator in Bergdorf Goodman, and when she got to the top, took the escalator straight back down again to check them out. (And shop.)
Then when Bobbi launched in the UK, Jo did the very first interview with her, in YOU Magazine – which so inspired the nation’s beauty-hounds, the response crashed the switchboard at exclusive stockist Harrods. Later, when Bobbi sold her brand to Estée Lauder, Jo flew to interview her at home in New Jersey, for that exclusive, too.
We never imagined our old friend would start all over – but once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur – and whaddya know: Bobbi’s back in the make-up game.
This time, there’s a difference. These are super-simple products which deliver a bare-faced, you-but-prettier look, and are free from – well, a long list of things.
As the Jones Road website puts it: ‘No phthalates, sulfates, petrolatum, PEGs, cyclic silicones, EDTA, or BPA. (Among many others.) We follow guidelines even more stringent than those of the E.U. to eliminate over 2,700 potentially harmful ingredients from our formulas. Because clean beauty is a no-brainer.’ As someone who’s studied nutrition and is very much into ‘clean living’, we’re not surprised that she’s set the bar high for this new range.
Equally encouragingly, meanwhile, the models used by Bobbi for her campaign come from a wide span of ages and backgrounds – see them on @jonesroadbeauty Instagram.
Anyway, UNBELIEVABLY EXCITINGLY, Bobbi sent Jo a selection of the Jones Road products – and here are her thoughts. Not a dud among them. (And why are we not surprised?)
Miracle Balm/$38. This is probably the hero of the range: a sheer, moisturising balm which delivers a whispery veil of colour. The shade Bobbi sent Jo was Dusty Rose, a flattering pink (and it can be used on lips and indeed all over the face – though we’d probably wait for the bronzing balm to do that).
The Mascara/$26. Jo really had her doubts about this because only a slender, long wand generally does anything at all to her lashes. But this curved brush grabs every lash and accesses inner lashes easily, lifting and volumising. For a ‘clean’ mascara, the performance is super-impressive.
Just A Sec/£26. A teensy pot of shimmering highlighter eyeshadow for browbone and lids. It has a bouncy, mousse-y texture; Jo accidentally dropped this just before she took the photo above, and it didn’t crack and break as a powder would have.
The Best Eyeshadow (Dark Brown) – part of the Start-up Kit of four products, which is $68. This lives up to its ‘best’ name. Dark. Chocolate-y. Smoky. Yet glides on so smoothly it can be blended with a finger for a super-quick look. (Jo normally uses a palette to do her eyes; this simplifies things HUGELY.)
The Best Pencil (will be $22 when it launches). This – for now – is also only available as part of the kit, above: a very pigmented, kohl-like wooden pencil that works as a liner but can be smudged to deliver the smokey eye that Jo likes. Honestly brilliant.
Cool Gloss/£22 each. Ever-so-slightly tingly (thanks to a touch of peppermint): an absolutely fabulous balm-y glass that comes in an untinted version as well as a cherry red and a nude (thanks, Bobbi, for both of those). Not sticky. Nicely shiny, but not TOO shiny. Honestly, the lip balm that Goldilocks would settle on after she’d tried all the others.
Count the days, readers, count the days. (We suggest a special piggy bank, labelled: ‘JONES ROAD’.) ‘Cos this is beauty history, in the making.
