THE cosmetics market is so crowded today that women need to be extremely skilful to negotiate their way through to the products right for them. Cross the threshold of a department store or large pharmacy and the sheer number of brands on sale can look overwhelming. But just occasionally, an entirely new range arrives with seemingly instant appeal; customers discover items without any assistance or persuasion and spread the news by word of mouth.
Such was the case with Bobbi Brown Essentials, started by its eponymous creator in spring 1991 with just a small table of lipsticks in New York's Bergdorf Goodman department store. Within five weeks, half the first year's projected sales had been achieved and by October 1991, the range of products had more than doubled to meet demand.
It helped, of course, that Bobbi Brown was already a respected name as a make up artist, working in this field for the past 13 years. Like many other people in the same business, she decided to create her own line because she couldn't find the products she wanted.
"I wanted to use things that would make me look pretty," she says simply. Although the success of her cosmetics line means that she now spends most of her time with the business, Bobbi Brown still tries to keep in touch with current trends by working on fashion shows in New York (she has just been responsible for the make up at Mary McFadden and Oscar de la Renta's latest collections) and photographic shoots. "It's the most fun thing I do all year and the most creative outlet for me. This is what I started out with, when getting to do a show was a really big deal."
While remaining aware of what's fashionable right now, she prefers not to allow this influence her own line of make up. One of the main reasons Bobbi Brown cosmetics have proved so popular is that they never change from one season to the next and form a perfect core group of items in any woman's make up collection.
"I never drop but always add pieces, usually a couple each season. Nothing ever gets discontinued though occasionally I take something back to make it better. Other lines probably don't baby all their products as much as I do; I'm constantly quality controlling." This means customers can be confident their favourites colours will still be in production when they return for fresh supplies. "No women we know buy colours one season and throw them out the next."
Just as appealing to the consumer, the colours in her range are usually understated neutrals. Bobbi Brown Essentials does not offer brilliant hues of turquoise or green and, she promises, they will never be included in the range. Having built her reputation as a make up artist on advocating a fresh, seemingly untouched approach to cosmetics, she has carried the same idea into the range.
"There just aren't hundreds of shades that look good on most women," she argues. "Make up is not rocket science - it's about looking pretty. I don't look as pretty when I get out of bed in the morning as I do when I've put on my make up.
Looking pretty in as simple and unmade up a manner as possible is what Bobbi Brown likes to encourage among her clientele, although she does accept "makeup should be about personal choice". But she particularly advises Irish women with freckles to play down their cosmetics.
"If you've got a lot of freckles, forget about foundation," is her recommendation. "Just put a little bit of concealer under the eyes and around your nose to even out the colour and then a tinted powder will give overall evenness." All Bobbi Brown's base products, including her 10 different foundation shades, have yellow tones which tend to help fight against excessive redness in skin colouring. On the other hand, she advises Irish women "don't be afraid of pinks. Keep them under control and they can look really pretty. For spring I'm introducing a lot of pink, especially for lips."
With two young sons under the age of 10, she tries to spend as much time as possible at home in New York ("we all sit down to a regular family dinner every evening") but that hasn't hindered the steady global spread of Bobbi Brown Essentials. After making its debut in New York five years ago, the range spread throughout the United States and arrived across the Atlantic at London's Harrods in 1994.
She has no plans to open her own shops - "who needs all that headache?" - but prefers to go into established department stores, with a substantial new space devoted to her line just opened in Bloomingdales in New York. Two weeks ago, her line arrived in Dublin at Brown Thomas and she's hoping it will be as well received as has been the case elsewhere. Unless consumers here are quite radically different to those anywhere else around the world, it seems certain that Bobbi Brown's products are going to become an essential part of many Irish women's make up routine.