The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
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A Dallas finance firm backed a competitor after a failed buyout
“And then there was a Dallas-based company that tried to buy us, a finance company, that basically finally said, if you won't sell to us, we're just gonna knock you off with another makeup artist, which they did which is fine.”
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics was outselling Estée Lauder at Neiman Marcus in 1995
“You are beating us In the stores, and we were beating Estee Lauder and Neiman Marcus at the time.”
Brown: Men could be brilliant when women are considered difficult
“You know, the thing is, unfortunately, men could be brilliant when women are considered difficult.”
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics outsold Estée Lauder at Neiman Marcus
“We were beating Estee Lauder and Neiman Marcus at the time.”
Brown: Men are considered brilliant when women are considered difficult
“You know, the thing is, unfortunately, men could be brilliant when women are considered difficult.”
Bobbi Brown: Jones Road launched the day her 25-year non-compete expired
“The day my 25 year non-compete expired, I did.”
Bobbi Brown ignores age demographics to target women seeking a natural look
“I don't market to the different age groups. I just market to women that want to look natural and pretty.”
Bobbi Brown: Giving up hiring control and detail attention harmed her brand
“I used to hire and interview every person that walked in that brand, and then I didn't anymore, and all of a sudden there were people working on my brand that I never met before, and that I might not have hired, and you know, it was a struggle, and I tried to …”
Brown's father advised focusing on earning more, not strict budgeting
“He said, stop trying to stick to a budget or create a budget. Why don't you figure out how you're going to make more money?”
The Today Show never paid Brown, and she never pitched products on-air
“They never paid me a nickel, and I never, ever pushed my brand.”
Estée Lauder eventually took over brand hiring without Brown's involvement
“I used to hire, approve and hire and interview every person that walked in that brand, and then I didn't anymore, and all of a sudden there were people Working on my brand that I never met before, and that I might not have hired”
Brown says she will never put her name on a product again
“Even if I could, I would not put my name on a product anymore, because I have to be the face of that product. I don't want to be responsible for everything.”
Brown sold the commercial rights to her personal name
“No, no, that's not accurate, you know, but I, my name, I sold my name.”
Bobbi Brown founded Jones Road Beauty at age 62
“First of all, I was 62 years old when I started this brand.”
Brown: 1970s and 1980s mainstream makeup was the epitome of unnatural
“The makeup back then was the epitome of unnatural. Foundation was pink, it stopped at the jawline, it was contour, eyes were, eyeshadow was yellow and purple and blue.”
Brown priced first lipsticks at $15, splitting proceeds 50/50 with a chemist
“He said, alright, why don't you sell it for 15 dollars? He said, I'll make it, you sell it, you'll get seven 50, I'll get seven 50. I thought, okay, that's a deal.”
Brown and her husband launched the brand with $10,000 in savings
“We pretty much emptied our bank account. Which was, I remember 5000, my husband remembers 10,000, I trust him more than I remember my memory, and we actually partnered with these friends of ours who one girl was in PR and the husband was in the cosmetics indus…”
Brown sold a month's projection of 100 lipsticks on day one
“Well, we thought we would sell a hundred lipsticks the first month, which, you know, that was the thought, and we did a hundred the first day.”
Brown left Estée Lauder in 2016 because she needed to be boss
“Honestly, if you really asked me why I left, I needed to be the boss again.”
Brown split her first $15 lipstick revenue 50/50 with a chemist
“He said, alright, why don't you sell it for 15 dollars? He said, I'll make it, you sell it, you'll get seven 50, I'll get seven 50. I thought, okay, that's a deal.”
Brown's original lipstick partnership started without a written contract
“Once we agreed that we would be partners, there was nothing in writing. It was just, wow, this could be interesting. It wasn't anything more than that.”
Brown found her first cosmetics manufacturing lab in an apartment elevator
“In, in, in, my apartment building in New York City, and I said hi. She said hi, and I said, what do you do? She said, oh, I work at a cosmetics Lab in Queens. And I said, oh, do you have a card? And I had my lipsticks recreated there, and they made my lipstick…”
Brown sold 100 lipsticks on her first day at Bergdorf Goodman
“Well, we thought we would sell a hundred lipsticks the first month, which, you know, that was the thought, and we did a hundred the first day.”
Becoming a Today Show regular established Brown's national prominence
“I was on the Today Show for about 12 years, 15 years, and honestly, being a beauty expert on the Today Show, probably put me on the map.”
NBC's Today Show never paid Brown for her regular appearances
“They never paid me a nickel, and I never, ever pushed my brand.”
Brown left Estée Lauder because she needed to be the boss
“Honestly, if you really asked me why I left, I needed to be the boss again.”
Brown vows to never put her name on a product again
“No, no, but I would never, you know, I wouldn't, I would never put, even if I could, I would not put my name on a product anymore, because I have to be the face of that product. I don't want to be responsible for everything. I did that already.”
Brown created a custom makeup major at Emerson College
“I flew up with my dad, went to Emerson, and they, and I asked if they had a makeup program, and they said no, but we have something called An interdisciplinary program, and you can create your own major. And sure, you can study makeup.”
Magazine editorial makeup jobs paid a flat $150 a day rate
“No matter how big it is, you still get a 150 dollars a day.”
Brown's initial lipstick partnership with her chemist lacked a written contract
“Once we agreed that we would be partners, there was nothing in writing, it was just, wow, this could be interesting. It wasn't anything more than that.”
Brown: Prestigious editorial makeup gigs only paid $150 a day
“You do magazine work and editorial, it's fantastic. You, no matter how big it is, you still get a 150 dollars a day.”