Thirty-five years ago, Bobbi Brown created 10 natural lipstick shades that would set the foundation for Bobbi Brown Essentials. Five years later, the company sold to Estee Lauder – and the day the 25-year non-compete expired, she launched Jones Road, which opened a store on South Congress mid-April. Rounding out an epic year where she was also honored by Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people, Bobbi is releasing her tenth book later this month. We had an engaging chat with her on what keeps her motivated, how this book is different, makeup advice, life advice and more.
At what point did you know you wanted to start another line? When I left my namesake brand after spending over two decades creating it, I didn’t know what I was going to do next. I didn’t have a clue who I was without being on the corporate treadmill I had become accustomed to. But, I can’t sit still. I don’t have any hobbies, so I jumped into a few initiatives that I thought were cool and interesting. I launched a JustBobbi shop with Lord & Taylor. I partnered with my husband, Steven Plofker, and together, we created The George, a 31-room boutique hotel in our hometown, Montclair, NJ. And I launched a new editorial website, a podcast, and a line of wellness products.
I was the first makeup artist asked to create a MasterClass, which was such an honor. That project made me realize that, at my core, I am a makeup artist first, and that I needed to return to my roots and start developing a new makeup line. So, I started experimenting with some formulas, which later became the launch collection of Jones Road Beauty. We launched on October 26, 2020 - the day my 25-year non-compete with Estee Lauder expired - and I haven’t looked back since. I’m proud of my legacy, but I’ve learned that things change, and you always need to move forward.
Many people dream of retiring to a beach community or the countryside - what keeps you motivated to keep creating?
When I left my first company, I was 59 years old and I had no plan about what I was going to do next. But I don’t golf or play tennis. I love to create things – that’s my passion. I realized that I wasn’t done and that there was a need in the market for another clean beauty line, so I started envisioning Jones Road.
When I launched Jones Road Beauty at 63, I didn’t know if anyone would care. But one lesson I’ve learned as an entrepreneur is that if you wait for the “perfect time” to do anything, nothing happens. I don’t wait. I create. Sometimes you just feel it. It’s a quiet nudge or a whisper that says, there’s something more. That’s how it started for me. And once I listened to it, I couldn’t unhear it.
What are the biggest differences between Jones Road and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics?
Everything about Jones Road is different, mainly because everything about the business has changed. We have better product ingredients, so we can now create clean formulas that actually work. Also, everything about distribution has changed -- we don't need department stores because we sell online. And, the rise of social media has allowed brands like Jones Road to engage directly with customers. When I began envisioning a new brand, I didn’t think about what was already out there. I was focused on the changing beauty landscape and developing the products that I wanted, but that didn't exist yet.
Where did the name Jones Road come from?
We had worked with some copywriters and were racking our brains on the name for weeks, and nothing was sticking. Then one day, my husband and I were driving somewhere in the Hamptons, and I was navigating. I looked down and there it was on the WAZE navigation app: Jones Road. I immediately loved the name, and so did my husband. We checked to see if it was available, and it was, so the brand became Jones Road.
Austin is the 9th Jones Road store? And the biggest?
Our Austin store is 1,200 square feet and is the largest store we’ve opened to date. Located at 1714 B South Congress Avenue, it offers the full assortment of Jones Road products—currently over 250 SKUs—as well as limited edition kits curated around specific looks, seasons, or by customer demand.
Jones Road makeup artists are always on hand for shade matching, product inquiries, and makeup applications in the store (with advanced booking available). The new store will also carry exclusive Austin merch, and some of the artwork in the space will pay homage to old Austin.
Have you spent much time in Austin?
Opening the store in Austin has given me the chance to visit more often, and I’ve come to love the vibe of this town. It’s vibrant, cool, artistic, and the people are just so down to earth. I also love that it’s a college town and a city filled with so many entrepreneurs. These are my people.
You have your 10th book, but your first memoir coming out this month. How was the process of writing this book different?
All my other books have been books about beauty and wellness, but Still Bobbi is a very personal memoir, so unlike anything else I’ve written before. Writing about my own personal and professional journey has been both hard and very cathartic. The process has helped me understand myself a little bit better – what drives me, why I’ve been able to do the things I’ve done, and how I got to the happy place I’m in today. I hope people will relate to my story because it’s been full of ups and downs, but that’s life, right?
And for this one, there’s an audiobook version! I read it myself and I blocked out four days to get it done…that’s a new part of the process I’d never experienced for sure!
What are some takeaways or lessons you share in the book?
With Still Bobbi, I write about the moments that shaped me – not just the big wins, but the pivots, the doubts, the uncomfortable growth. Reinvention is rarely a straight line. It’s more like a patchwork quilt of risks, instincts, and gut feelings you learn to trust.
If you could give one piece of makeup advice, it would be…
What I hope to teach all women is that true beauty is not about makeup – it’s about being confident in your own skin. Embrace who you authentically are, flaws and all, because that is the true definition of beauty. When I was a young makeup artist coming up in the business I was surrounded by 6 foot tall supermodels who could wear anything they wanted and look amazing in it. I tried every fad diet hoping to look like them, but guess what – I’m 5 feet tall and that wasn’t going to happen! When I started embracing my 5-foot-tall frame and wearing clothes that fit me, I started to feel more confident in my own skin. My advice is to be happy, be kind to yourself, and set your own personal standards of beauty.
Is there a makeup trend you’d like to see go away?
Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows I still have a hard time understanding why people feel the need to contour their faces.
Jones Road is ‘clean makeup.’ What is in ordinary makeup that’s excluded from your products?
There was no question in my mind that as I was formulating the products, they would have to be clean. I eat organic. I use environmentally safe cleaning products in my home… so it was only natural that I’d want to create products with the same ethos. I also really like a challenge, and I honestly didn’t know If It was possible to create what I wanted using all clean formulations, but it was!
The Credo Clean Beauty standards are the most stringent, and that’s the bar I wanted to hold ourselves to. Jones Road products are made without 2,700 potentially toxic ingredients, including parabens, phthalates, sulfates, PEGs, cyclic silicones, BPA, and EDTA.
Take mascara, for example: Mascara is one of the hardest products to keep natural because in most mascaras, the four main ingredients – paraffin wax, polymers, disodium EDTA, and PEG – do not comply with our clean beauty standards. My product development team is exceptional, and the teams they work with were able to successfully replace these common ingredients with high-performing clean alternatives.
What’s your favorite quote?
“When you see a fork in the road, take it.” My dear friend and Montclair neighbor, the legendary Yogi Berra, said it, and it resonates with me now more than ever.