Meeting Davis Factor and his lead makeup artist Lori Taylor was a big deal to me. I worked in the production department of Allure magazine when Smashbox first launched back in 1991. He is the co-founder of the much loved brand Smashbox Cosmetics and is extremely hands on and passionate about what he does.
Lori Taylor is the lead makeup artist and is part of his go-to team when making creative decisions for the brand. The products that are created by Smashbox have the picture perfect finish to them as they are based on photo finished looks created in their photography division, Smashbox Studios. Smashbox creates products that are meant to give you long lasting wear ability and were created based on their very own studio artists kits.
Their newly launched Snappy Holidays campaign, photographed by famed photographer Terry Richardson, says it all. It’s colorful, fun and edgy. Davis noted he wants the consumers to have fun with his line and see them as trend setting and innovative. Although they were bought by the Lauder Company a year ago, he and his team have managed to keep the integrity of the brand as a separate entity.
The holiday palettes available at www.smashbox.com are Click You’re It Holiday Eye Palette ( $49.00), Life Is Your Set Holiday Pencil Kit ($22.00), Snap You’re Fab Holiday Lip Gloss Set ($30.00), and Behind the Lens Prime & Set Kit ($39.00). Once again Smashbox studios is where a lot of these products were created. “Innovative photography related products that consumers can use” was Davis Factor’s theme. These palettes launched on 10/13 and the Spring palettes will launch the day after Christmas. While Smashbox concentrates on LA red carpet events, they really do want to reach out to consumers all over. Their tutorials on their website are intended to teach you all you need to know about how to use a multi colored palette or how to recreate a celeb’s look on your own, etc. Their products were among the first to incorporate QR Codes so that tutorials could be seen instantly after being scanned by a Smartphone.
After Christmas, a whole new lipstick line will be replacing the old with newer packaging, better formulas and more ranges in colors from nude to red. 18 colors will be launched on December 26th with four matte shades following soon after. Davis said the reason for the change was to make a better formula and he commented that these new lip colors had a stronger lasting power than previous ones.
Go to www.smashbox.com for video tutorials, behind the scene sneak peeks and a live chat option. Plus there are free shipping and samples with every order!
– Nicole Gordon Levine
