I Tried A Full Face Of Jones Road Beauty — & These Are My Favorites

There are so many beauty brands nowadays that it's sometimes hard to keep track. It's a sentiment echoed by makeup artist, entrepreneur, and general industry legend Bobbi Brown, whose clean beauty brand Jones Road was founded on the belief that the world needs better beauty products — not just more products for the purpose of filling shelves. Enter: A tightly-edited range of chic, uncomplicated products that didn't require you to be a makeup master like Brown herself. The mogul first splashed onto the scene with her early-1990s eponymous cosmetics imprint that “revolutionized the beauty industry by glamorizing natural tones in makeup,” according to Entrepreneur. She stepped away from the brand in 2016 and later launched Jones Road with the same less-is-more ethos, this time updated for the 2020s. Another Jones Road core tenet: An extensive no-no list of ingredients that would never find their way into Jones Road products. (These include, but are not limited to: phthalates, sulfates, petrolatum, PEGs, cyclic silicones, EDTA, or BPA.)

As a lifelong beauty lover, I was intrigued by the prospect of better, safer makeup, and thus embarked on a journey of testing out several of Jones Road's most popular products to see if they were worth the hype. Keep reading for my honest take on six bestsellers ranging from the Miracle Balm to its shimmery Just A Sec cream eyeshadow.

I don't wear eye cream every day, but Jones Road's just might become my new go-to for the summer. Eye creams can sometimes be buttery and rich, but this one is very light and has a whipped, gel-like texture. I also don't always wear under-eye concealer, but this eye cream isn't too slippery that it wouldn't cause problems under makeup. But even sans concealer, it instantly hydrates and brightens my eye area.

This eyeshadow is capital-P pretty and was definitely one of my favorite products I tried from the brand. I got the shade Golden Peach, a shimmery, warm light gold. The texture of this cream shadow is pretty incredible. It's cushiony and soft, making it really easy to apply and blend. It's a teeny-tiny pot, but you don't need a ton of product to get impressive payoff. I also dotted my cheekbones to add a subtle highlight. I would like to think Bobbi would be proud of the artistry.

My first thought: This stuff is seriously pigmented. I got the shade Dark Brown, a matte espresso shade. (There are also plenty of neutral mattes and shimmer shades as well.) For a more natural effect, you can use this alone to define the lash line, or over eyeliner for a little more impact. (To line my eyes, I used Bobbi Brown's Ultra Fine Eye Liner Brush, which is amazing for detail.) For a recent dinner date, I attempted a smoky eye by starting out little by little, keeping the eyeshadow saturated at the lash line. From there, I carefully blended up and out to create a gradient that didn't look too muddy. If you want to get more advanced, you can add some lighter shadows on the lid and inner corner for some dimension, but I actually loved how the Jones Road shadow alone had an effortless, one-and-done feel. For a powder, it was very silky and blendable. It may be a small amount of product, but I feel like I'll still never hit pan because it's so pigmented. (A good problem to have!)

Eyeliner is one of my favorite products to use, whether I'm doing a cat-eye, tight-lining my upper waterline for a smudged, smoky effect, or adding a fun pop of color with a bright blue or bright white. A black pencil is a staple, so I wanted to see how Jones Road's stacked up. I will say that it's very difficult-slash-borderline-impossible to achieve an intense, inky black with a “clean” product because of the lack of carbon pigments that can be found in many conventional black eyeliners. Ergo, I wasn't too surprised that Jones Road's pencil was more of a soft black. Using small strokes, I lined the outer corner of my eyes and blended it out to create the littlest wing. (I almost never line my entire lash line since I find it makes my eyes appear smaller.) For subtle definition, this gets the job done — and I can appreciate that it's a clean formula that I feel good about wearing and applying to an area as sensitive as my eyes. However, this might not be the best choice if you're looking for a more dramatic, long-wear, or waterproof formula.

Onto my favorite product from my Jones Road test-o-rama: The Miracle Balm. I got Tawny, which is the perfect terracotta, bronze-y shade. The pigmentation is very sheer, but can be built up if desired. I'm a big fan of multipurpose lip and cheek cream tints since they give the prettiest, natural-looking flush. I've been using this nonstop, but it earned full MVP status during a recent ski trip in Sun Valley. Whenever I'm in the mountains, my normally oily skin becomes insanely dry and flaky. The texture of this balm is very emollient and gentle, making it perfect for adding some much-needed moisture to my cheeks, which typically get the driest. It also was great for adding a barely-there tint to my chapped lips, as well as prepping them for lipstick while I do the rest of my makeup. The balm itself needs to be warmed up before you apply it, making it perfect for people like me who love applying makeup with (clean!) fingers whenever possible. At $38, it's tied for the most expensive product in the Jones Road range, but the amount of product you get is pretty generous. The packaging is about the size of a petri dish, which is a lot for a balm! I don't see myself finishing it anytime soon.

This was another fave of my mine, especially as someone who came of age in the 2000s — aka *the* era of glossy lips. The squeezy tube reminds me of the many glosses I carried with me in my Dooney & Bourke purse in middle school. Unlike the sticky, mirror-like pouts of the aughts, however, Jones Road's gloss is soft and comfortable to wear. It has a tingly, minty feeling that I personally love, and the original shade is a perfect clear gloss that I can wear alone or over a lip color. The tinted shades range from shimmery beige to juicy pink, so there's truly something for everyone.

After doing a full look using only Jones Road products, I'm overall impressed with the effortless, simple look I was able to achieve. My skin is gleamin' and my eyes are subtly defined — and the entire thing took me less than ten minutes. While there truly isn't a bad product in the bunch, I will say that the products are on the pricey end of things — as clean products, unfortunately, tend to be. But if you're truly passionate about supporting brands that are holding the industry to a higher standard, then this won't shock you. While the brand kindly provided me with gratis products to review, I can say with confidence are solidly some gems that I'd gladly spend my own money on (i.e. Miracle Balm). I may have missed out on Bobbi Brown the first time around, but I'm definitely a Jones Road girl through and through.