I caved to the Instagram ads for Jones Road and found the best makeup brand for a natural look

It takes a lot for me to fall for Instagram ads. I'm especially skeptical of the ones that promise me impossibly lustrous, glowing skin. As a former beauty editor, I know just how great a job makeup brands do at promising you an "even tone" or "instant glow" by featuring models whose skin is already basically perfect. It's an easy trap to fall into, but it's not so helpful for those of us with uneven skin textures or tones.

But Jones Road's ads felt different. They featured faces with wrinkles, crow's feet, uneven skin tones, freckles, and other very normal features. Bobbi Brown, the brand's legendary founder, can be seen swiping on uncomplicated products with her fingers, showing just how easily they glide onto cheeks of all ages and textures. And isn't that what we deserve to see more of?

I don't care to see how a brand's products look on someone's perfect skin. I want to know how they'll look on 34-year-old skin like mine, which is very dry, just beginning to wrinkle, uneven, and highly temperamental. I had been influenced by the targeted ads long enough, so I caved and bought several of its bestsellers. After almost two years of originally writing this review and continuing to use the products, here's what I've loved most.

The lightweight foundation is hydrating for dry skin and offers just enough coverage.

Most of Jones Road's products feature ingredients that are also common in skincare. The sheer-coverage foundation (called "What the Foundation") is basically a tinted moisturizer that comes in over 15 shades. It features humectants like sodium hyaluronate that keep my skin feeling plump and moisturized throughout the day, even in the winter when my skin gets exceptionally dry.

The foundation's texture is almost gel-like. It's incredibly hydrating and kind of feels like I'm just putting on a moisturizer. There's zero caking, it's easy to blend with your fingers or a brush, and it doesn't settle into wrinkles at all — it just makes skin look a little brighter and more even. It doesn't fully cover the redness caused by my rosacea, but it definitely helps to even things out.

I also bought the brand's "Everything Brush" thinking that I'd need it to get an even finish with this foundation, but it turns out that using my fingers to swipe and blend the product works just as well.

The gel bronzer is easy to apply and can be used for light contouring or general bronzing.

I'm not big on contouring, but I love this formula for adding an all-over bronze glow to my skin. I apply it with the Everything Brush to the area under my cheeks and around the edges of my forehead. It's much more subtle than a contouring or bronzing stick and gives me just a little bit of cheekbone lift and dimension.

This is probably the product that I use the least, just because it takes a little extra effort and I'm honestly pretty lazy about applying makeup these days. But every time I do use the gel bronzer, I'm reminded of how much I love the extra glow it gives me.

Jones Road's hero product is its silky, creamy Miracle Balm, which swipes effortlessly onto your cheeks for a dewy effect.

Not quite blush and not quite highlighter, the Miracle Balm is an all-purpose product. The consistency is like a mix of cream blush and lip balm, with an almost buttery texture. My dry skin loves this stuff. It comes in a ton of colors, including cool and warm pinks, beige neutrals, and even a colorless option, each with a bit of shimmer.

It can be applied with a brush, but I find it goes on smoother with a bit of warmth from my fingers. Once you break the seal on the surface of the balm, just pick up a small amount of product onto your finger and dab it across your cheeks. I love the gentle, natural glow it gives me while keeping my skin hydrated throughout the day.

My coworker also raves about Jones Road's eyeliner.

I asked my team if anyone else has caught the Jones Road bug, and my deputy, Bronwyn Barnes, immediately chimed in about how much she loves the eyeliner pencil. "As a minimalist with a pretty strict five-item makeup routine, The Best Pencil in Ivy has become a non-negotiable for me. The formula is soft and just smudgy enough for an effortless look, without ever crossing into messy territory," she said. "What really sealed the deal for me is the understated shimmer that catches the light to make my hazel eyes stand out. It's the low-maintenance liner I reach for when I want maximum effect with little effort."

The bottom line

I can't recommend Jones Road enough. I've loved every product I've tried so far. Each one feels as much like skincare as it does makeup — equal parts hydrating and lightly pigmented. If you were only going to pick one product, I'd say make it the Miracle Balm. But there are so many other products I can't wait to try soon, like the Shimmer Face Oil and all of the lip balms and tints.

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