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“Funny thing for a beauty expert to say, but I care more about how I feel than how I look,” Bobbi Brown tells me over Zoom. Same. “I find that sometimes I look in the mirror and say, ‘Oh my god, I look terrible,’ but then you know why? I realize I feel terrible.” Though she comes to our interview barefaced, with just a touch of awakening eye cream, she maintains a glowing visage that only the acclaimed makeup artist could achieve—and feels as empowered as ever to tackle her day.
Following suit, enabling women and men to feel good is also the aim of the business she’s built for herself. Nowadays, Brown is one of the most trusted voices in makeup—sharing loads of insights into making mature skin glow and launching products to match through her beauty brand Jones Road. In any case, it’s clear she believes an overarching wellness-first approach to beauty is key to any regimen, and something she takes personally.
Though she’s ready to share her self-care practices with Vogue, she admits she could do a better job prioritizing it amid a busy schedule. “What self-care means to me is doing all the things I can do so that I can do my job better—not just my job at work, but at home, as a friend, as a daughter, as a mother,” she says, continuing that this means taking time to recharge with mindless TV, an infrared sauna session, or walking as exercise. In a perfect world, she’d find a way to meditate and get regular massages too. Allow your self-care regimen to evolve as you get older, she bids. “I’ve given myself more permission and realized that it’s more of a necessity than an indulgence. It’s kind of counterintuitive, but self care allows me to work more. To work faster. To work better because I feel better.”
Ahead, Brown divulges her three essential tenets of looking and feeling good—from mood-boosting fragrance to caring for mature skin.
Exfoliate First
“I think body care is as important, more so, than facial care,” Brown instructs. “It’s bigger!” So, she always makes sure to exfoliate. Why? “I think exfoliating your body is so underrated. First of all, your moisturizer will absorb better if you do that.” A tool like an exfoliating towel or dry brush will do the trick, though, for a chemical treatment, formulas by First Aid Beauty and Nécessaire are Vogue editor–approved to slough away dead skin and relieve bumpy texture.
Prioritize Moisture
When I asked Brown what her number one rule for glowing skin was, she said moisture, period. People often ask her why their skin looks terrible even with makeup on, only for the person to reveal they went out drinking with friends the night before and had one too many Cosmos. “I’m like, you’re dehydrated. Drink water and just put moisturizer on,” she says, highlighting that aside from monitoring your water intake, choose products that have moisturizing agents in them. “It’s not about looking younger, it’s about looking fresher and healthier. So moisturizer is one of those things people don’t realize. It really does make your skin look so much better.”
One of her favorites at the moment is by Aveeno, an elixir she borrowed from her one-year-old granddaughter, Lily. She also keeps the Jones Road Hippie Stick next to her bed for nightly use, and often uses the brand’s facial moisturizer on her body. “I also use Miracle Balm on my body because if I’m wearing shorts or a skirt—it leaves such a nice gleam on my skin.”
Find an Energizing Fragrance
The mind-altering benefits of fragrance are not lost on Brown, whose inaugural Jones Road Fragrance—Shower is available to shop today. “It’s not your traditional fragrance, okay,” Brown muses. “When people smell it, they’re like, ‘Oh wow.’” The fragrance isn’t meant to smell musky, sweet, coconut-y, or sour, but like you’ve just got out of the shower—like soap.
The scent, which blends neroli, orange blossom, and sea spray, was inspired by that fresh-out-the-shower aroma. “I use it in the afternoon when I am exhausted, tired, and have to go do something where I really just want to go home and sit on my couch. I spray it, and it instantly revives me.”
Fragrance—Shower was initially designed to debut this past Mother’s Day, but a manufacturing issue delayed the launch. Instead, the brand put a small run of the fragrance into lab sample bottles and offered them to the brand’s private Facebook group JRB Roadies—who sold out the scent in a day and a half. Now, Brown is eager to release the scent, in its official sleek matte packaging, to her wider community—especially because she knows it’s already a hit. “I think the way that people don’t wear as much makeup anymore, you don’t wear these like old fashioned grandma fragrances anymore,” she says of her take on perfume as a means to improve your mood. “It’s very holistic that way because it does make you just feel, like, clean. Who doesn’t want to feel clean?”
