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1991 Vs 2021 - Bobbi Brown’s 4 Essential Tips For Updating Your Make-Up

Photo credit: .
Photo credit: .

She's the industry icon that changed how we apply our make-up forever, founded a world-famous beauty brand, and then left it, and reimagined eyebrows for an entire generation. In fact, we challenge you to name someone who's had as big an impact on the way we view our faces as legendary make-up artist, Bobbi Brown. We'll wait...

Having founded her eponymous brand back in 1991 with just a capsule collection of lipsticks, Brown has spent the past 30 years transforming the beauty industry, one make-up innovation at a time. Now, with her latest venture, Jones Road Beauty, launching in the UK, Brown is back and on a mission to modernise the way we do our faces.

From regretful super skinny brows ('I never liked them, even at the time'), to heavily layered foundation, read on for Bobbi Brown's pro secrets to ditching the dodgy nineties beauty trends by giving them a thoroughly modern 2021 twist...

Base make-up in 1991 was...

'About using a lot of products to get one look. So many layers, the bases, the foundation, the powder, the blush, it was a lot of products. I just don't like that look when it's all so done.'

Base make-up in 2021 is...

'Easy! You don't need a chart telling you what to do, you should just apply the make-up you need that day. In the 25 years that I was working on one range, it was really about make-up and more make-up, and I realised towards the end of my journey there that I didn't really like make-up! I didn't like when people looked made up. I would always struggle because I wanted to take the foundation off somebody when I would see them in a store. Now, I'm trying to teach people a new way to wear base make-up.'

Bobbi's Secret To Modern Foundation

'Start with a balm like my Jones Road Beauty balm (the secret is to break the seal before you use it), then take the Jones Road Beauty face pencils, and get three shades. I use the lightest one under my eyes, then I take the medium colour and put it around my nose and around my mouth. Lastly, I apply the darker colour to my forehead and on my cheeks. I only put it where I want either brightness or to cover spots - you don't need it everywhere.'

Photo credit: Jones Road Beauty
Photo credit: Jones Road Beauty

Eyebrows in 1991 were...

'Skinny! It was that Linda Evangelista look. I never liked them, but I ended up allowing some make-up artists to pluck my brows at the time because it was in style. You know what? My eyebrows never grew back the same again. I was the one trying to make everyone look like Brooke Shields instead. I would have all these models come to work without any eyebrows and I've have to fill them in.'

Eyebrows in 2021 are...

'Full and fluffy. My advice to women, if you have those big brows, just clean them up a bit, but leave them full because they're going to get lighter as you get older.'

Bobbi's Secret To Modern Eyebrows

'Take a brow brush and brush your brows up first. Then take your eyebrow pencil - my top tip is try using two different colours to get a more natural finish - and draw on individual feathery strokes to fill in any gaps. Honestly, it's so easy.'

Eye make-up in 1991 was...

'It was the end of the 1980s so eye make-up was all triple eyeshadow colours and all this stuff that I never thought looked good, and my style of make-up was much more about subtle blending.'

Eye make-up in 2021 is...

'After COVID everyone has either taken things down a notch, or brought it up 300%. It's not about not wearing colour like before, it's just about different textures and shimmers and colours looking different on your face.'

Bobbi's Secret To Modern Eye Make-Up

'Old fashioned isn't always bad. My eyeliner pencil is an old formula that people had actually stopped making. I was sent hundreds of others instead but they just weren't the same. It's an old formula but it works. It's a no brainer for lining your eyes because it's so dense. You could even use it on your eyelids as a shadow and sheer it out.

'If you like dark lipstick, you can mix it in with a lip balm and make it into a lip product.'

Contouring in 1991 was...

'Heavy. Everyone was doing that heavily contoured look with so many layers of product.'

Contouring in 2021 is...

'Unnecessary! Everyone has natural structure to their face and I love rounder faces, they look so youthful. I recently did my daughter-in-law's make-up for her wedding, she's beautiful, she looks like Priyanka Chopra. She wanted me to contour her face and I had to make her happy so I pretended...'

Bobbi's Secret To Modern Contouring

'Take a powder bronzer with a really fluffy brush and the littlest bit and blend it in really well. You could also take a little bit of the Jones Road balm and do the same with that for a dewy finish. If you want to highlight, I always tell people to find the most flattering feature on your face and add a little sparkle or shine there.'

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