In 2020, Bobbi Brown debuted a brand new beauty startup called Jones Road (named after a street Brown and her husband happened upon during a drive). The concept was genius: Veteran makeup artist-approved products that anyone, of any age, could use. While products like What The Foundation and The Nail Polish Kit (specifically the ‘90s red) popped off on TikTok, one Jones Road launch rose above the rest in terms of praise and hype: Miracle Balm.
It’s the sort of product that could only have been dreamed up by a makeup artist with decades of experience under her belt. “When I first got the sample from the lab and put it on my cheeks, I looked in the mirror and said, ‘OMG. This is a miracle,’” founder and CEO Bobbi Brown tells Refinery29 — hence the name. “There was nothing like it on the market when we launched it. I’m very proud of that.”
Featuring a hydrating castor oil and beeswax base, the sheer balm isn’t like a typical lip and cheek tint. Instead, it more closely mimics skincare than makeup. Miracle Balm leaves skin looking dewy and hydrated because it actually hydrates skin, all while adding a kiss of colour (it’s available in coral, pale pink, and oxblood, too). Perhaps best of all, it looks good on people of all ages, from twenty-somethings to the 60+ set. (Jones Road also frequently features models of all ages in its campaigns and product imagery.)
Miracle Balm in Pinky Bronze, £36
If none of those aforementioned colours do it for you, the brand is adding a previously limited-edition shade to the permanent lineup — and it’s my favorite one yet. “In October 2023, we previewed a shade named Pinky Bronze as a mini Miracle Balm and exclusive product in The Bobbi Kit 3.0 to celebrate our 3rd anniversary,” says Brown. “Within 15 days, over 25,000 units of the kit were sold.” At the time, the brand had no plans to release the shade as a standalone product, but Brown was swayed after seeing fans online share recipes to recreate the shade using a cocktail of other Miracle Balm hues. “The enthusiasm was unprecedented and we were constantly asked to add the shade to our collection,” she adds.
As the name suggests, Pinky Bronze is a burnished rose gold with a hint of pink shimmer; a summer sunset in beauty product form. In the pan, it resembles Tawny (my previous go-to shade), a gorgeous reddish-brown, but once you “break the seal” (press into the balm to get through the upper layer), it reads as more metallic and illuminating than Tawny — almost like a filter for your skin versus a tint. (As with all other full-size Miracle Balms, it retails at £36 for a generous 1.75-ounce pan.)
“The versatility of the shade reflects the brand’s vision for effortless, multipurpose makeup.”
bobbi brown
“The first iteration of the Pinky Bronze shade was made as a lipstick I created called Batch 18 because I needed a product to give out for Halloween 2020 — something that I’m known for in my hometown,” Brown reveals. “After Jones Road launched and Miracle Balm became our most popular product, we started considering different shade extensions and I remembered how much I loved the Batch 18 lip colour shade,” Brown explains. She took it to the lab to see if the colour could be readapted into the Miracle Balm formulation and consistency, and after a couple of goes, it worked. “It’s rare to find a shade like Pinky Bronze that naturally checks off so many boxes,” says Brown. “It can be used as a dewy bronzer, a luminous blush, a shimmering highlight, and a moisturising all-over tint.”
On my olive complexion, Pinky Bronze lent the prettiest warm flush when I dabbed it on my lips, cheeks, and anywhere else I wanted to glow. I like to use clean fingers to warm up the product and melt it into my skin; one layer adds an instant sheen to wherever it’s applied, and you can definitely build this shade to your liking by applying more. (I’m already quite oily and acne-prone, so while the oils and waxes in the product don’t break me out, I personally don’t need to add a ton of shine.)
Compared to other cream lip and cheek tints in my collection (namely Tower 28 Beach Please, and Rhode Pocket Blush), it’s definitely more sheer and balmy rather than lending longwear pigment. Still, the staying power is impressive. (Depending on the Miracle Balm shade, I like to dust a bit of powder blush in a similar shade on top to boost intensity.)
Having spoken to my Refinery29 colleagues and countless beauty editor peers, one thing is true: Almost all of them would choose Miracle Balm if they had to pinpoint their favourite Jones Road product — and Pinky Bronze certainly gets my vote. It seems Brown knows this all too well. “I love how invested our customers are in Miracle Balm,” Brown tells us. “Every day, they tell us how they use it and they’re vocal about the shades they want in the collection. Creating a product that our customers are so invested in makes being a makeup artist for 40 years all worth it.”
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