Honest Jones Road review: Miracle Balm, Gel Liner, The Best Pencil, & Mini Hippie Stick

Jones Road is one of those brands that splits opinions.

On the one hand, its hero products, the Miracle Balm and What the Foundation, are seen as hydrating must-haves for people with dry or mature skin. These products are praised for being skin-like, easy to work with, and giving skin a healthy appearance.

On the other hand, these same hero products are often dubbed as ones to avoid for people with oily skin. These products are criticised for leaving oily skin looking greasy and slippery within hours.

I’ve previously tried some Jones Road products. While What the Foundation wasn’t a good fit for my oily skin – it, unfortunately, did leave me looking like a sweaty mess by the end of the day – I got on well with the Miracle Balm if I used it sparingly. But I loved the brand’s vibe overall and appreciated how easy the products were to work.

Today, I’m reviewing 4 products from Jones Road: the Miracle Balm (new shade), Gel Liner, The Best Pencil, and Mini Hippie Stick. After putting them to the test, I share my honest thoughts on each product, how well they wear, if they’re effortless to apply, and whether they’re worth adding to your basket.

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Products in this review

I’m reviewing the following 4 Jones Road products:

1. Gel Liner
2. Miracle Balm
3. The Best Pencil
4. Mini Hippie Stick

I share my honest thoughts, swatches, and ratings for each product below before moving on to my overall review of the brand, including two makeup looks.

1. Jones Road Gel Liner

£24 for 3g

I got the Jones Road Gel Liner in the shade Navy, which is described as a midnight blue. The Gel Liner is a new Jones Road product launch. This creamy eyeliner is supposed to be transfer- and water-resistant. Jones Road says each shade is pigmented, glides on effortlessly, and stays put all day.

Review

I’d been after a deep blue eyeliner for a while, so this is the perfect addition to my makeup collection. And I’ve been blown away with the Jones Road Gel Liner.

Firstly, Navy is a stunning shade. It’s deep, rich, saturated in colour, and adds drama without being as bold as black. It’s a wearable yet versatile shade, as you could apply it in place of black for a slightly softer look and a subtle pop of colour, or you could do a graphic eyeliner look as a statement. I’ve got brown eyes, and blue is known to make brown eyes pop, so this is also a great shade for me.

I’m obsessed with the formula. It’s creamy and doesn’t drag across the eyelids or feel dry. However, it still has some firmness, which means the application doesn’t get messy or swipe away into nothingness. Applying the eyeliner is seamless.

The Gel Liner enables me to get precise and clean lines. I made a couple of mistakes when drawing a wing, but because the consistency is smooth, I could remove the errors with a cotton bud without removing the rest of the eyeliner or having to scrub really hard.

The liner is completely budge-proof and lasts all day. The liner dries down after a few minutes, which means you’ve got time to blend, build, smudge, and smoke as desired. Once dried down, this liner won’t transfer or smudge. After 6-8 hours of wear, my eyeliner looked like it had been freshly applied, with no fading or flaking.

Rating: 5 stars

This creamy eyeliner is excellent and totally lives up to its claims.

2. Jones Road Miracle Balm

£36 for 50g

I got the Jones Road Miracle Balm in the shade Sunkissed, which is described as a deep reddish bronze tint that is sheer to buildable for light to dark skin tones. The Miracle Balm is essentially a balmy highlighter that delivers soft-focus moisture to the face. It can be worn by itself or on top of makeup for instant dewiness.

There’s a wide range of shades for all skin tones, including clear with opal pearl, cool rosy pink, peachy coral with gold shimmer, deep plum bronze, and warm bronze with multidimensional shimmer.

Review

I’m really into blonzers at the minute, which are products with a reddish brown tone that sit somewhere in between a blush and a bronzer. The Miracle Balm in the shade Sunkissed sounded like the perfect option.

I love balmy highlighters and the glossiness they give skin. They feel like a makeup-skincare hybrid, which I enjoy. You have to break the seal on the Miracle Balm (I did this by using my nail to disturb the surface), but, once you’ve done that, you get a smooth and balmy texture.

This is a bit stickier than other balm highlighters I’ve tried, but it’s not uncomfortable on the skin. A tackier texture doesn’t bother me too much with makeup products anyway.

As for longevity, as you’d expect, the Miracle Balm isn’t long-wearing, particularly on my oily skin. After a few hours, my skin starts becoming greasier. However, if I concentrate the product on my cheekbones and don’t apply too much, then it doesn’t end up becoming too oily.

Despite loving the formula, I’m disappointed with the shade Sunkissed. I thought it’d be more pigmented, and I just can’t get the colour payoff that’s shown in the product pictures on the Jones Road website. While I like the actual colour, it’s very sheer.

I initially applied the balm by itself on my cheeks (on top of my foundation and concealer). To get any sort of colour payoff, I had to apply a lot of product. Rather than giving me a lovely sunkissed tint, my cheeks looked way too greasy. The balm also ended up looking patchy as if I blended too much it would end up disappearing.

The next time I tried the balm, I used it as a blush/bronzer topper. This worked way better, as it added a subtle sunkissed glow to my cheeks without looking overly glossy. But I still longed for more pigmentation.

Rating: 3 stars

I wanted to love this Miracle Balm shade, but it left me feeling underwhelmed.

3. Jones Road The Best Pencil

£22 for 1.14g

I got the Jones Road The Best Pencil in the shade Violet, which is described as a deep aubergine. This eyeliner glides on seamlessly for clean, precise lines. It can be worn by itself or on top of eyeshadow. The pencil can be blended, smoked out, or applied as a sharp line. Each shade is supposed to be pigmented.

Review

I love a good pencil eyeliner and have been enjoying exploring deep and rich colours that aren’t black recently. Shades like rich brown, smoky grey, or intense navy can add a lot of depth and a pop of colour to eye makeup looks.

Violet seemed like a great pick for me, as it’s still quite dark, but it’s nowhere near as intense as a black pencil eyeliner. In person, this shade was a bit lighter and more cool-toned than what I was expecting. It has a grey undertone, which I immediately thought would be great for smoking out for a sophisticated grungy makeup look. It offers medium intensity. I’d have preferred more pigmentation, as I like my eyeliners to be rich in colour.

The pencil is quite firm, which means it sharpens well without breaking. This means you can keep sharpening the pencil to a pointy tip for precise application, which is useful.

However, as the eyeliner isn’t rich in colour, a creamier consistency would’ve been better. I found it tugged on my eyelids when I applied it, especially as I had to keep drawing multiple layers to get my desired colour payoff.

But, I loved how well this eyeliner smoked out. It blended easily for an effortless smoky eye. This is the sort of eyeliner I’d use for a smudged-out effect rather than for a sharp wing, as the consistency lends itself well to being manipulated with a brush.

This eyeliner wears pretty well, but it fades after about 4 hours and begins to break down on oily parts of the eyelids.

Rating: 4 stars

I like this pencil eyeliner, but it’s not my fave formula.

4. Jones Road Mini Hippie Stick

£12 for 6g

The Jones Road Mini Hippie Stick is a buttery balm that’s designed to add instant moisture to anywhere that’s dry, like your forehead, the ends of your hair, cuticles, heels, or lips. The balm melts into the skin and acts as a barrier to the elements when you’re out and about.

Review

I think the Mini Hippie Stick is fab.

This is essentially a rich balm moisturiser that’s perfect for giving your skin a quick and effective nourishment boost. The formula is quite rich, so a little bit of product goes a long way. This would be ideal for someone with dry skin who’s looking for some quick TLC while on the go.

For my oily skin, I apply this sparingly to areas that could do with a quick hydration boost. For example, I apply this to my cheeks before going outside for a walk when harsh winds are blowing, as it helps protect my skin. I also love the instant glow this gives my skin. But it’s certainly not a must-have for oily skin.

If you’re sensitive to fragrance or dislike perfume in skincare, this is one to avoid. It has a strong minty – and slightly citrusy – scent and contains ingredients like orange peel oil, spearmint leaf oil, and linalool. Personally, fragranced skincare doesn’t bother me, so I quite like the refreshing scent.

Rating: 4 stars

This is a handy, versatile, and convenient moisturiser.

Jones Road makeup looks

To truly review and test the Jones Road products, I did a couple of makeup looks.

In the first makeup look (pictures below), I’m wearing the Miracle Balm in the shade Sunkissed and the Gel Liner in the shade Navy.

For this makeup look, I applied the Miracle Balm on top of a blonzer to get the glossy effect without looking overly oily or patchy. I love how this look turned out! The navy eyeliner adds a pop of colour but still looks understated.

In the second makeup look (pictures below), I’m wearing The Best Pencil in the shade Violet.

This look is quite different for me and has more of a grungy edge, but I’m happy with how it turned out! I applied the pencil eyeliner all over my lid and smudged this out for a quick smoky eye. Then, I concentrated a black pencil eyeliner on my upper and lower lashlines and buffed these out for added intensity and depth.

Overall Jones Road review

I think Jones Road, overall, is a good brand.

While this brand isn’t the cheapest and sits in the mid-price range, I feel this is reflected in how easy the products are to use and the sophisticated shades available. The colours for each product feel well thought out and intentional, and there are no two similar shades. Each shade has a purpose. All of the products are convenient, versatile, and effortless to apply.

While not all of the products I tried were long-wearing, the Gel Liner blew me away. The longevity, beautiful creamy formula, and gorgeous deep navy shade make for beautiful results. It’s become one of my fave eyeliners of all time, and it’s unique in my collection.

When Jones Road gets it right, the products are fantastic and well worth the investment. This is a brand that’s perfect for people with dry skin and who want a fuss-free application with a minimalist vibe.

Sarah Sarsby is the owner of A Woman's Confidence. With over 6 years' experience of writing in the fields of beauty and lifestyle, Sarah is passionate about all things content, makeup, skincare, wellness, and lifestyle. She has oily skin, is obsessed with lip gloss, and loves cookie dough.