Makeup Guru Bobbi Brown’s Jones Road Beauty Comes to Boston
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The Emerson alum brings her Jones Road Beauty brand to the city that helped make her a household name.
Jones Road Beauty’s face oil, pencil-style concealer, blush, and eye cream. / Photograph by Leonard Greco. Styling by Madison Trapkin.
It’s safe to say that celebrity makeup artist and entrepreneur Bobbi Brown—who’s set to open her Jones Road Beauty brand’s first Boston-area boutique in Chestnut Hill this September—has a soft spot for the city. Boston, after all, is where she first found her calling at Emerson College in the late 1970s. “I had been at a couple of other colleges, and I couldn’t connect with them—they didn’t understand me,” she explains. “Emerson allowed me to custom-create a major in theatrical makeup and photography. Thanks to Emerson, Boston is where I discovered that I could make a living doing what I loved to do, which was doing makeup.”
In 1991, Brown launched her eponymous cosmetics line; four years later, the brand was acquired by Estée Lauder, with Brown staying on as chief creative officer as it grew into a billion-dollar business. But the role wasn’t without its challenges, and Brown often felt burnt out. “I was so busy, I barely knew what I was having for dinner each night,” she says.
Brown was a pioneer of the less-is-more movement when she debuted her first cosmetics line with a handful of nude lipsticks in 1991. / Rebecca Miller
When she left Bobbi Brown Cosmetics in 2016, she wasn’t immediately sure of her next move. She experienced an “aha” moment, however, as she prepared to film a MasterClass on makeup. “I started calling in all the different makeup brands in preparation for filming, and I quickly realized there was an opportunity in the market to create a cool, clean, easy-to-use collection of products that worked on all skin tones and types,” Brown says. “I started working with labs to create a few products I wanted in my personal makeup bag.”
Those versatile items—what Brown refers to as the makeup equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife, including the brand’s Miracle Balm, What the Foundation, and bestselling Face Pencil—became viral favorites following Jones Road’s launch in October 2020. Since then, the brand’s signature “less is more” aesthetic has gained cult status for its minimal, no-makeup-makeup aesthetic. “To me, whatever makes you feel the most confident is the best trend to follow,” Brown says.
The opening of the Chestnut Hill store—the brand’s 10th retail outpost—coincides with the release of Brown’s memoir, Still Bobbi, which chronicles her personal and professional journey—including the impact Boston has had on her trajectory. “Launching this store in a city that’s played such a pivotal role in my life and career is truly a ‘pinch me’ moment,” Brown says. “I want women to walk in, discover products they love, and leave feeling like the best version of themselves.”
Photograph by Leonard Greco. Styling by Madison Trapkin.
A version of this article was first published in the print edition of the July 2025 issue with the headline: “Gloss Boss.”
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