It was the best beauty intro I never got, mid-way through an interview Bobbi Brown paused and said she wanted to sort out a better foundation skin match for the interviewer. Proceedings were delayed for a mini makeover and another beauty editor and I who were waiting in the Sydney
Janetta Mackay: Me and Bobbi B
Subscribe to listen
A Bobbi Brown makeup lesson. Picture / Supplied.

As far as Brown goes, I've interviewed her twice and thrown a few quick questions her way backstage at New York Fashion Week, where I also saw her work the room for a book launch. She's tiny and lively. This time round, I wanted to talk more about her approach to being a brand rather than do a bio or ask for makeup tips.
We didn't have a lot of time, but she was as free of artifice and as incisively direct as I remembered. She also seemed more relaxed. The empathy with women struggling with work-life balance and appearance issues are ones she also genuinely grapples with, which saves her positive messages from being glib or saccharine.
You get the impression she would be a tough boss and a staunch friend. (She said no to doing Nicole Kidman's makeup for a big event in favour of attending a friend's 40th birthday).
At a function later that evening, Brown came over and asked me a few genuinely curious questions about New Zealand. I'm hoping she will make it here one of these days. I'd really love to chat over coffee. But I'm sure she would rather head for the hills with her family.
• Read Janetta's interview with Bobbi Brown here.
- VIVA