I'll be the first to admit that beauty journalists never miss an opportunity for breathless hyperbole. Experts are 'gurus', face creams 'groundbreaking' and nail polish shades 'iconic.'
What can I say? We're an excitable bunch. But sometimes the puff is justified. When I tell you that Bobbi Brown is a legendary innovator who changed the landscape with her eponymous brand 30+ years ago, continues to do so with Jones Road Beauty and created one of the best eyeliners of all time, I truly hand-on-heart mean it.
So this week's Sunday Service is dedicated to, firstly, the brilliance of this makeup artist turned mogul and, secondly, a useful and flattering product invented by Brown herself, that's back with bells on for 2025.
Why an eyeliner for the ages is my beauty buy of the week
A potted history will give useful context here. In 1991, makeup artist Brown was feeling turned off by the bright, fashion-led and not especially wearable makeup available. So, she mixed up and developed an all-nude lipstick range - 10 total, an unheard-of variety of neutrals - and launched them in New York's Bergdorf Goodman department store.
It turned out other women craved a natural makeup look - many, many other women - and the range was a hit. So followed the 25-year ascent of a global beauty behemoth, laterally under Estee Lauder Companies, launching so many products nobody had thought of before. In 1992, foundation sticks for a diverse range of skins, in 2001, Face Base (essentially the first skincare-meets-makeup primer) in 2004, gel-based liner in a pot that Bobbi later told interviewers, "is a product category I 100% made up." Put a pin in that.
Brown left the company in 2016, and four years on, founded Jones Road Beauty, which feels like a homecoming: minimalist, life-friendly products released thoughtfully and not too often. The industry loves it, as do beauty shoppers and - hurrah - in 2025 we have been blessed with Jones Road Gel Eyeliner, a reinvented Bobbi classic:
Why I'm so excited about this - and the world was so excited about the OG - is that the texture is a gift for dry or lined lids. It never drags when applied and has a velvety look that's the opposite of a harsh liquid scribble. It's also magic for anyone with oily skin (hello) and/or hooded eyes (c'est moi) as it doesn't messily dissolve or transfer. A pot and brush sounds like it'd be fiddly - being two pieces of equipment vs one - but I get neater results with this than anything. And while the currently sold-out precision liner brush is a nice add-on if you can get it, any thin, firm angled brush will do nicely.
Think no amount of clever product can make up for your lack of eyeliner-applying skill? I'd steer your attention towards woman&home's Instagram, where you'll find another brilliant makeup artist who gets what women want - Heather Marnie. In a series of tutorials, Heather demonstrates (on Yours Truly) how to create soft definition with a pencil, a tight-lining trick and applying liquid eyeliner on hooded eyes.
Even I, an old dog beauty editor of 10+ years and an eyeliner wearer of - oh lordy - 2.5 decades managed to learn some new tricks. So I don't doubt you'd pick something useful up too. Sound good? Great! Let's chat next Sunday.
