Bobbi Brown on starting over at 63

It's no small feat that Bobbi Brown is starting over at 63. For the 30 years she was at the helm, her namesake brand earned her accolades for the best foundation (opens in new tab), the best mascara (opens in new tab)and a legion of loyal fans. So stepping down left both a personal and professional gap in her life.

After all, Bobbi Brown was a brand she took a leap of faith creating in the ’80s when her natural-looking cosmetic line was at odds with the color trends of the time. 

But it didn't take Brown long to get her teeth stuck into a new venture and crystallize her reputation as a serial entrepreneur. She pursued a new-found interest in the wellness space — becoming a certified wellness coach, writing the book Beauty from the Inside Out and launching Evolution_18 (a line of supplements for Walmart).

With this in mind, perhaps what came next wasn't such a giant leap for the imagination. Brown's new brand Jones Road is, after all, a collection of makeup with clean, skin-loving ingredients and a nod to Brown's new wellness credentials.

"Four years ago, after I left Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, one of those questions was: Why can't I find makeup products that are both clean and high-performance — that don't sacrifice one for the other?" Brown said at the time of launch.

To that end, all the products including the Miracle Gel, The Best Pencil and Cool Gloss are free from pthalates, sulphates, petroleum, PEGs, cyclic silicones, EDTA and BPA (you can read about the full Jones Road makeup (opens in new tab) lineup here).

But launching one new product - let alone a new brand - during a pandemic isn't easy. Brown has revealed to PEOPLE magazine that her "fearless" mindset and "positive attitude" are what have kept her going as she embarks on this new beauty journey in her 60s.

"I realized that if I didn't have an upbeat, positive attitude and I weren't open to change, I never could have done this," she told the title. Quarantine, she adds, "teaches you that you have to really reinvent everything. Every single thing."

Wise words, indeed, no matter what your age.