Bobbi Brown (born April 14, 1957)[1] is an American professional make-up artist, author, and the founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics.[2][3][4][5][6][7] She created ten natural-shade lipsticks which according to Entrepreneur "revolutionized the beauty industry".[8] She has written nine books about beauty and wellness.[9][10][11]
After leaving Bobbi Brown Cosmetics in 2016, she launched Beauty Evolution, LLC, and became certified as a health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.[12][13][14] Brown also started a line of beauty-inspired wellness products.[15][16] She curates an editorial website.[17][18] She and her husband Steven Plofker redesigned The George, a boutique hotel located in Montclair, New Jersey.[19][20]
In 1990, Brown worked with a chemist to come up with ten natural lipstick shades.[9][21] In 1991, Brown and her husband partnered with another couple to launch the brand Bobbi Brown Essentials, which debuted at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.[26] She was expecting to sell 100 in a month but instead sold 100 in a day.[27][22] The following year, she released yellow-toned foundation sticks.[26]
Estée Lauder bought the company in 1995, retaining Brown as an employee of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and Brown retained creative control of the makeup line.[21][3][4][28]
In 2011, the first freestanding Bobbi Brown Cosmetics retail store opened in Auckland, New Zealand with a makeup school in the back of the building.[3][1] In 2012, her cosmetics were estimated to represent approximately ten percent of Estée Lauder Companies' total sales.[21] As of January 2014, there were approximately thirty free-standing Bobbi Brown cosmetics stores.[28]
In December 2016, it was announced that Brown would step down from the company by the end of the year.[29][30][31] Following this, she continued creating new lines and participating in the beauty industry through other projects like beauty podcasts,[32] a makeup MasterClass,[33] and her website JustBobbi.com.[34]
In late October 2020, Bobbi Brown launched her second beauty brand, Jones Road.[35] The launch marked 25 years since she first sold her original line to Estee Lauder.[36] It has been described as a "clean beauty" brand.[37] According to Yahoo, which reviewed the line, this "approach is evident in the brand offering: a curated edit of makeup and skincare that doesn't overwhelm."[38] Its original offerings included balms, moisturizing cream colors, mascaras, glosses, washes, eye shadow, eye pencils. They were also sold in combination in a start-up kit.[39]
In 2019, she founded Evolution_18,[44] a “lifestyle-inspired wellness line”.[45] The products she developed for the line included supplements, collagen, and effervescent tablets,[46] and were sold at outlets including Walmart.[47]
In 2015, Brown and her husband acquired a historic inn located in Montclair, New Jersey, which was built as a private residence in 1902. It became the Georgian Inn in the 1940s,[48] and after they purchased it, they renovated the property and renamed it the George Hotel.[49][50] The hotel was opened in 2018 and has 32 guest rooms.[48][51][52]
Brown cofounded 18 Label, a film and television studio based in New Jersey. Networks that have filmed in the studio include CNBC, BSTV,[53] and the Food Network.[54] The studio is housed in The Annex (also cofounded by Brown), an 11,000 square foot studio and event center.[55]
Brown has appeared on Food Network series, including The Kitchen.[56][57]
Brown is the Beauty & Lifestyle Editor of Elvis Duran and the Morning Show.[58] She partnered with Duran to produce a "Elvis Duran bronzer" as a part of her cosmetics line.[59] Brown served as Yahoo Beauty's Editor-in-Chief from February 2014 to February 2016.[29] A chance meeting with the grandmother of a producer of NBC's Today led to a 12-year run as a regular beauty consultant on the show.[60] Brown has also written columns for PureWow, Naturally, and Danny Seo.[61][62][63][64]
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics launched the Pretty Powerful Campaign for Women & Girls on International Women's Day in 2013.[67] Pretty Powerful supports organizations that seek to empower women through job skills training programs and girls through education.[28][68] Beneficiaries to date include Dress for Success (of which Brown is a former board member),[69] the Broome Street Academy High School, and the Girl Rising Fund.[28][70][71]
Brown has received the Glamour Woman of the Year Award , The Fashion Group International Night of Stars Beauty Award, and the Jackie Robinson Foundation's ROBIE Humanitarian Award.[77][78][79] She was appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiation and has been inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.[80][81] She holds honorary doctorates from Montclair State University, Fashion Institute of Technology, Monmouth University, and Emerson College.[82][83][84][85] Following the release of her second makeup company in 2020, Allure magazine labeled Brown the "world’s patron saint of 'natural makeup.'"[86]
She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2015.[87]
^ abcdBuck, Joan Juliet (17 February 2012). "The Mogul Next Door". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
^ abcDanielle Cantor. "Bobbi Brown". Jewish Women's International, Jewish Woman Magazine. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2012.