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American professional makeup artist and businessperson (born 1957) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bobbi Brown (born April 14, 1957)[2] is an American professional make-up artist, author, and the founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics.[3][4][5][6][7][8] She created ten natural-shade lipsticks which according to Entrepreneur "revolutionized the beauty industry".[9] She has written nine books about beauty and wellness.[10][11][12]
Bobbi Brown | |
---|---|
Born | |
Occupation(s) | Make-up artist, businesswoman, entrepreneur |
Years active | 1980−present |
Known for | Founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics |
Height | 5' 0[1] |
Spouse | Steven Plofker (m. 1988) |
Children | 3 |
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.[13][14][15] Brown also started a line of beauty-inspired wellness products.[16][17] She curates an editorial website.[18][19] She and her husband Steven Plofker redesigned The George, a boutique hotel located in Montclair, New Jersey.[20][21]
Born in Chicago, Illinois to a Jewish family, Joe and Sandra Brown,[22] Brown graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a degree in theatrical makeup and photography.[4][5][23][24] In 1980, she moved to New York City to work as a professional makeup artist.[4][10] Brown became known for a makeup style that included moderate and natural tones, which was a stark contrast to the bright colors used commonly at the time.[4][25][26]
In 1990, Brown worked with a chemist to come up with ten natural lipstick shades.[10][22] 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.[27] She was expecting to sell 100 in a month but instead sold 100 in a day.[28][23] The following year, she released yellow-toned foundation sticks.[27]
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.[22][4][5][29]
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.[4][2] In 2012, her cosmetics were estimated to represent approximately ten percent of Estée Lauder Companies' total sales.[22] As of January 2014, there were approximately thirty free-standing Bobbi Brown cosmetics stores.[29]
In December 2016, it was announced that Brown would step down from the company by the end of the year.[30][31][32] Following this, she continued creating new lines and participating in the beauty industry through other projects like beauty podcasts,[33] a makeup MasterClass,[34] and her website JustBobbi.com.[35]
In late October 2020, Bobbi Brown launched her second beauty brand, Jones Road.[36] The launch marked 25 years since she first sold her original line to Estee Lauder.[37] It has been described as a "clean beauty" brand.[38] 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."[39] 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.[40] In an interview with the Financial Times in September 2024, it was revealed that the brand's revenue in its first year was $20mn, and expected to be over $150mn in the current financial year, with a valuation approaching $1bln.[41]
Brown has a collection of fragrances[27][42] and a collaboration with In 2013 Safilo Group S.p.A. for an eyewear collection.[43][44] She is a creative consultant at Lord & Taylor.[45]
In 2019, she founded Evolution_18,[46] a “lifestyle-inspired wellness line”.[47] The products she developed for the line included supplements, collagen, and effervescent tablets,[48] and were sold at outlets including Walmart.[49]
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,[50] and after they purchased it, they renovated the property and renamed it the George Hotel.[51][52] The hotel was opened in 2018 and has 32 guest rooms.[50][53][54]
Brown cofounded 18 Label, a film and television studio based in New Jersey. Networks that have filmed in the studio include CNBC, BSTV,[55] and the Food Network.[56] The studio is housed in The Annex (also cofounded by Brown), an 11,000 square foot studio and event center.[57]
Brown has appeared on Food Network series, including The Kitchen.[58][59]
Brown is the Beauty & Lifestyle Editor of Elvis Duran and the Morning Show.[60] She partnered with Duran to produce a "Elvis Duran bronzer" as a part of her cosmetics line.[61] Brown served as Yahoo Beauty's Editor-in-Chief from February 2014 to February 2016.[30] 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.[62] Brown has also written columns for PureWow, Naturally, and Danny Seo.[63][64][65][66]
Year | Title | International Standard Book Number |
---|---|---|
1995 | Bobbi Brown Beauty: The Ultimate Resource[2][27] | (ISBN 0-446-58134-8) |
2000 | Bobbi Brown Teenage Beauty: Everything You Need to Look Pretty, Natural, Sexy and Awesome
with Annemarie Iverson, New York Times Best Seller [67] |
(ISBN 0-06-095724-7) |
2002 | Bobbi Brown Beauty Evolution: A Guide to a Lifetime of Beauty[23] | (ISBN 0-06-008881-8) |
2007 | Bobbi Brown Living Beauty | (ISBN 0-8212-5834-6) |
2008 | Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro | (ISBN 0-446-58134-8) |
2010 | Bobbi Brown Beauty Rules | (ISBN 0-811-87468-0) |
2012 | Bobbi Brown Pretty Powerful with Sara Bliss | (ISBN 0-811-87704-3) |
2014 | Everything Eyes with Sara Bliss | (ISBN 978-1-4521-1961-8) |
2017 | Beauty from the Inside Out [68] |
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics launched the Pretty Powerful Campaign for Women & Girls on International Women's Day in 2013.[69] Pretty Powerful supports organizations that seek to empower women through job skills training programs and girls through education.[29][70] Beneficiaries to date include Dress for Success (of which Brown is a former board member),[71] the Broome Street Academy High School, and the Girl Rising Fund.[29][72][73]
Brown married executive Steven Plofker on September 10, 1988[74] and together they have three sons.[75] They also have a daughter-in-law.[76] The family lives in Montclair, New Jersey.[77] She spends her summers in Sag Harbor of the Hamptons, New York.[78]
Her work has been featured on the covers of magazines such as Elle, Vogue, Self and Town & Country.[5][79][80][6]
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.[81][82][83] 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.[84][85] She holds honorary doctorates from Montclair State University, Fashion Institute of Technology, Monmouth University, and Emerson College.[86][87][88][89] Following the release of her second makeup company in 2020, Allure magazine labeled Brown the "world’s patron saint of 'natural makeup.'"[90]
She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2015.[91]
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