Bobbi Brown: Makeup Artist, Entrepreneur, and Beauty Author

Bobbi Brown is a professional makeup artist who built a global beauty brand with Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bobbi’s early career included her calling photographers from the Yellow Pages to offer her makeup services before going on to land top-of-the-industry cover shoots. By 1991, she launched Bobbi Brown Essentials with ten lipsticks at Bergdorf Goodman.

On her mission to help women feel like themselves, Bobbi has created an international makeup line, written nine beauty books, and launched a modern lifestyle company for wellness, beauty, and everything in between.

With her beauty products and no-makeup makeup looks, Bobbi Brown has made her mark on the beauty industry. Learn more about her career:

• 1980: After graduating with a degree in theatrical makeup and photography from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, Bobbi moved to New York City to pursue a career as a makeup artist.
• 1991: Bobbi launched Bobbi Brown Essentials with ten lipsticks at Bergdorf Goodman. The makeup line focused on authenticity and products designed to enhance a makeup wearer’s natural beauty.
• 1995: Bobbi sold her makeup line to Estée Lauder and continued to work with her brand.
• 1997: With Annemarie Iverson, Bobbi authored Bobbi Brown Beauty, which covers versatile makeup tips and how to apply foundation the right way.
• 2014: From 2014–2016, Bobbi served as the editor-in-chief of beauty for Yahoo Lifestyle.
• 2016: Bobbi stepped down as Chief Creative Officer at Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and launched Beauty Evolution, a lifestyle brand.
• 2017: After leaving Estée Lauder in 2016, Bobbi launched Jones Road, a new skincare startup focusing on clean makeup products and skin wellness. Much like Bobbi’s past beauty products, Jones Road focuses on natural beauty.
• 2018: Along with husband Steven Plofker, Bobbi launched the George Inn, a boutique hotel, in Montclair, New Jersey.
• 2020: Bobbi’s podcast, Beyond the Beauty with Bobbi Brown, debuted in 2020. The podcast looks at the past, present, and future of the beauty industry.

MasterClass had an exclusive chat with Bobbi Brown about her career trajectory and summer makeup ideas.

• What’s one thing you wish you knew when starting your entrepreneurial journey with Bobbi Brown Cosmetics? Early in my career, I would get very intimidated by the executives in the boardrooms who all wore fancy suits and had MBAs and higher degrees. I’d always defer to them because I thought they were smarter than me, which really wasn’t true. I instinctively knew what products consumers would love and how we should market them. It took a while, but as I saw my ideas were getting traction, I started to trust my own abilities. That gave me the confidence and strength I needed to lead my team and build my first business into a billion-dollar brand.
• Starting your own business can be overwhelming. What do you recommend as the first step? First, try to focus on your best idea. True entrepreneurs have hundreds of ideas—pick your best two or three concepts, and direct all your energy towards them. Second, start working on a real product and get clear about what makes it different from anything else. I can’t tell you how many entrepreneurs come to me for advice, and they know the name of their product and they send me a pretty marketing deck about it, but they haven’t even started working on the actual product. The product is the ultimate proof of concept. Get to work on it right now.
• What advice do you have for people looking to take a leap of faith to follow their passion? Having a passion is great, but my best advice is: Don’t quit your day job. It’s all about the side hustle right now. You want to keep working so you have a steady income and can pay your rent while you start your passion project and transform it into a real business.
• You’ve been through multiple phases in your career. How do you know when it’s time for a change? Being an entrepreneur means being open to all possibilities and being nimble enough to make a change when it’s necessary. I’m a positive person, and I’m a little naive because I always think things are going to work out ... until they aren’t. Trust your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, then change it. And remember, nothing is a failure—it’s just a sign that it’s time for you to do something else.
• The summer is approaching—what’s your favorite summer makeup look? For me, the perfect summer beauty look is one that’s clean, simple and that can be done in your car if need be, in less than four minutes. Whatever the season, always start with sunscreen first. Then, I use Jones Road’s face pencils to spot-correct any redness on the cheeks and to cover any dark shadows under the eyes. For the eyes, I’m obsessed with our sparkle wash that adds a hint of glitter on the eyelids, and then I’ll finish it off with a coat or two of dark black mascara. Finally, complete the look with a multiuse product like Miracle Balm. This is a hero product that you can use on the cheeks as a blush, on the lips as a tint, and even in your hair to tame any strays. It comes in eight shades—my personal favorite is tawny—but in summertime, I’ll have Sunkissed and Magic Hour on repeat.

Bobbi has launched various beauty and skincare products to suit many skin types. Here are some of Bobbi’s makeup lines:

1. 1. Bobbi Brown Essentials: Bobbi launched the line that would become Bobbi Brown Cosmetics in 1991. Bobbi Brown Essentials was a limited collection of lipsticks that New York City–based luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman carried. It was an overnight success, with the line selling more than one hundred lipsticks in its first day on the market. Here are the twelve best lipsticks and lip products, according to Bobbi.
2. 2. Bobbi Brown Cosmetics: Following the positive reception of her first line, Bobbi released a full range of beauty and skincare products based on her beauty philosophy: Make people feel like enhanced versions of themselves. For the eyes, Bobbi released multicolor eye shadow palettes, cream eye shadow sticks, eye pencils, long-wear gel eyeliner, long-wear brow pencil, and smoky eye mascara. For the face, Bobbi developed a range of concealers and foundations that cover the skin without a cakey residue and an under-eye corrector to lighten dark circles and pressed powder for a luminous, sheer finish. Her lip line grew, notably with the popular Bobbi Brown luxe matte lip color. Bobbi Brown toner, serum, and SPF moisturizer to hydrate skin entered the line as the base of her skincare set. In 1995, Bobbi sold her makeup line to Estée Lauder. She stayed on with her namesake brand until 2016.
3. 3. Jones Road: After Estée Lauder, Bobbi launched Jones Road, a new skincare startup. Like Bobbi’s original line, Jones Road focuses on enhancing a person’s natural beauty with makeup. This line delivers classic makeup staples—such as brow pencils, eyeliner, lip gloss, highlighters, and moisturizing creams—to makeup fans of all skin types. Jones Road is more curated than the Bobbi Brown Cosmetics line, focusing only on the no-makeup makeup look essentials.

Bobbi Brown is also bestselling author who has written an impressive catalog of beauty books, including:

1. 1. Bobbi Brown Beauty (1997): Cowritten with Annemarie Iverson, Bobbi authored this instant bestseller while a beauty consultant for The Today Show. The book covers a series of versatile makeup tips, such as applying makeup quickly, making your lip color last, and how to apply foundation the right way.
2. 2. Bobbi Brown Teenage Beauty: Everything You Need to Look Pretty, Natural, Sexy and Awesome (2000): Also cowritten with Annemarie Iverson, this bestseller details various makeup tips to help teens harness their inner and outer beauty. She covers various topics such as prom makeup, pimples, and applying a natural face of makeup.
3. 3. Bobbi Brown Beauty Evolution: A Guide to a Lifetime of Beauty (2002): With this New York Times bestseller, Bobbi provides her readers with a guide to taking care of your skin, especially as you age. This book also includes varied skincare perspectives from women of different backgrounds and what beauty means to them. Check out Bobbi’s tips for healthier skin.
4. 4. Bobbi Brown Living Beauty (2007): Created with author Marie Clare Katigbak-Sillick and photographer Henry Leutwyler, this full-color photo book takes a deep look at aging skin, detailing the many ways people can use makeup for imperfections.
5. 5. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro (2008): Bobbi covers what you need to know about using beauty products in her fifth bestselling book. She shares everyday skincare knowledge and expert makeup application tips like finding the right foundation for your skin tone and type, applying bronzing powder and blush, and choosing the perfect lip color. Here is a list of the nine best foundations and concealers, according to Bobbi Brown.
6. 6. Bobbi Brown Beauty Rules: Fabulous Looks, Beauty Essentials, and Life Lessons (2010): This book—which features affirmations, styling tips, confidence boosters, and photographs—provides readers with helpful skincare techniques and products, as well as inspirational makeover looks.
7. 7. Pretty Powerful: Beauty Stories to Inspire Confidence (2012): This text is a collection of interviews showcasing the beauty stories of various women, from everyday people to celebrities. Bobbi also shares tips on how to achieve certain looks and get the most out of your skin, regardless of its type.
8. 8. Everything Eyes: Professional Techniques, Essential Tools, Gorgeous Makeup Looks (2014): Bobbi outlines her professional and expert eye makeup techniques in this helpful handbook. She covers everything from the best makeup brushes to insider makeup artist tips. She also provides step-by-step tutorials for certain looks like retro glam, smoky eye, nude, or sparkly. Learn how to do a smoky eye with tips from Bobbi.
9. 9. Beauty from the Inside Out: Makeup, Wellness, Confidence (2017): Bobbi shares more of her beauty secrets in this lifestyle guide, which includes food recipes and yoga and fitness tips all geared toward beauty starting from within. She also delves into the latest beauty treatments and trends, along with essential skincare routines.

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