Bobbi Brown, makeup artist and founder of beauty brand Jones Road, wants consumers to wear SPF like they wear underwear — every day without thinking.
“It’s just a basic that you need,” she says over Zoom from her home office in New Jersey. It’s why the brand is launching a £40 mineral-based SPF 30, called Everyday Sunscreen — a notable departure for the five-year-old startup, which has become known for its hard-working cosmetics including the Miracle Balm and What The Foundation.
The brand quickly hit its stride with a stripped-back, community-led approach to makeup, reaching $100 million revenue in 2023 and $160 million in 2024, according to the brand. The brand’s next phase of growth will see it embrace the competitive world of suncare; a litmus test for how well its minimalist, founder-led approach can translate beyond colour cosmetics. Bodycare will follow in January 2026. To support the category expansion, it is reviewing its approach to retail — which comes with its own set of challenges.
“Business growth has been insane,” says Brown. “I was hoping that we could do $1 million in the first year — we did $18 million. I don’t even know how that happened, it just hit a nerve. The scary thing is, I know it’s not going to last. You can’t keep doubling, you can’t keep tripling; it just doesn’t happen.”
Cody Plofker, the brand’s CEO and Brown’s son, was also pleasantly surprised, but says he has worked to manage expectations around its growth trajectory. “I don’t know if we want [such fast growth] because it’s difficult to sustain long term.” Instead, they’re taking a more measured approach. “I didn’t start this brand for a fast sale. I want a healthy brand,” says Brown.
Striving for perfection
Brown’s approach to product launches at Jones Road is a departure from her eponymous brand, which was sold to Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) in 1995. Brown left in 2016, and Jones Road has been like a clean slate, with the founder letting her customers guide what to launch next.
“I came from a brand that had a lot of products,” she says. “When I started Jones Road, I wanted to look at what was missing and fill that need.” Brown has more freedom now to do so. “Luckily, I don’t have teams and people telling me how I have to be different, which I had to face many times in my previous career. ‘You have to do this, the market wants this, you have to do this’: I’m sorry, I don’t believe in contour and just because something is a market trend doesn’t mean I should do it,” Brown adds.
Miracle Balm and What The Foundation have followed this idea — both are moisturising and take inspiration from the time Brown spent working in women’s skin. Everyday Sunscreen represents a calculated extension of its core model: disciplined product development, direct consumer engagement and a focus on essentials over trends.
In a crowded and scrutinised category, the brand is betting that simplicity and wearability can set it apart, while laying the foundation for broader credibility over time. Rather than entering with a hybrid, multi-purpose product — as its makeup products are marketed and formulated to do (case in point: the Miracle Balm) — the brand is starting with a standalone mineral SPF, a daily-use essential that addresses a persistent pain point in the category: a visible cast and poor texture. “It’s not a tinted moisturiser or a foundation with SPF,” says Brown. “It’s skincare. It just works and doesn’t mess with your makeup.”
Brown wanted a mineral SPF whose tint counteracts white cast on all skin tones, but was still mineral-based, rather than chemical, so it suits even the most sensitive skin types. “I went into development as a makeup artist and to answer a need among makeup wearers. It needed to look natural on all skin types, pair incredibly well with makeup and not leave a dry or sticky finish,” she explains. Most mineral SPFs leave a white cast on the skin thanks to the zinc oxide.
Initially teased in late 2023 and then planned for January 2025, Everyday Sunscreen was pulled from production just a week before launch because Brown wanted to ensure that there was product suited for all skin tones which is why she added ‘Golden’ to the lineup: a golden hue to offset the white cast on medium-dark to dark skin tones. “It had to be perfect,” says Brown. “If it’s not perfect, I won’t release it,” she says. “That’s the luxury of running your own business.”
The decision came at a cost. Brown says the biggest impact was having to adjust budget projections for 2025 since Everyday Sunscreen was planned to launch in the first quarter of the year. The resulting product roster now comes in four colour-correcting shades — Sandy, Peachy, Golden and Apricot — and a fifth untinted, colourless shade for consumers with a fair complexion. The sunscreen launches on 10 July and will be available on the brand’s website, in stores and at British retailer Liberty London.
“Our customers want excellent no-makeup days just as much as they want great makeup days,” says Brown. “That’s why this had to function as skincare; comfortable, light and able to work with whatever else someone wears.”
Tapping into new audiences
As Jones Road expands into new categories, retail is becoming a key focus to meet more customers IRL. Plofker sees physical stores as critical to educating customers in additional categories and building deeper trust beyond makeup. “Retail becomes a channel for greater product education and a tool to build trust and engagement in more categories,” he says.
Currently, Jones Road has seven stores across New Jersey, New York, Florida and Chicago, which altogether account for 8 per cent of sales. The goal is to grow to 50 locations within the next three to five years, with Boston, the West Coast, London and France among targets.
“We’re still a lean, privately funded team, so we won’t grow too fast,” Plofker says. “But stores have performed really well for us. We just know stores are hard to nail from an operations and cost perspective. For a very lean new company, it is a big undertaking to open a freestanding store, so slow and steady.”
The brand’s marketing strategy is evolving in tandem. With category expansion now a major focus, Jones Road is looking to broaden its identity beyond Brown’s personal brand, and tap into new, younger audiences through content and creators. In 2025, the company plans to expand its influencer network — it currently works with creators such as @WhiteHairWisdom, @ allieredmondd and @AgingWith_Style_And_Grays — to reach these audiences.
“We think we can do a better job at reaching people who didn’t grow up with Bobbi [namely, Gen X], or know her legacy,” says Plofker. “Our next phase will focus a lot more on education, skin-first storytelling and growing our creator community.”
Even as the brand grows across categories, channels and markets, Brown says she has no plans to seek investment. “We have a very healthy business, and I’d rather reinvest our profits and open stores as we go,” she says. “Brands today get into trouble when they overspend, and then suddenly realise they’ve lost the heart and soul of the brand.”
That doesn’t mean she’s ruling out future conversations. “I can’t say never, but I’m certainly not looking right now. It’s only been five years, and I love what I do every single day. If it does happen in the future, it would have to be the right partner, who, by the way, would see my value and want me to continue doing exactly what I’m doing for the brand,” Brown says.
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