Smashbox gets Instagram-ready
The cosmetics firm opens its first U.S. beauty concept shop and photo studio in Venice. Come and pose.
In this digital era, looking camera ready at all times has become almost a necessity. So, the timing seems right for a beauty concept store and photo studio that caters to the Instagram crowd and the head shots required for online dating and business networking.
That’s the idea behind Smashbox Cosmetics’ first bricks-andmortar store in the U.S., which opened July 14 at 1335 Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice. It also makes sense given the brand’s history. In 1990, Dean and Davis Factor, greatgrandsons of Hollywood beauty guru Max Factor, co-founded the Culver City-based Smashbox Studios, frequented by famed photographers such as Annie Leibovitz.
In 1996, the brothers launched Smashbox Cosmetics to address a need for makeup that kept pace with lighting and photography advancements. Smashbox Cosmetics was acquired by the Estée Lauder Cos. in 2010, the same year Dean Factor left the company.
“When I was 7 or 8, I used to go to the [Max Factor] photo shoots with my mom, and it was so exciting to be at the studio,” said Davis Factor, senior vice president of global creative for Smashbox and a professional photographer. “I watched the models go into the makeup room and come out transformed. It was like magic to me.”
Factor’s father and grandfather, both named Davis, worked at Max Factor & Co. until the family sold the business in 1972.
“The [Max Factor] greasepaint came about [in 1914] because of silent movies,” Factor said. “They used to use a heavy makeup that would crack, so people couldn’t make expressions. So this allowed actors to actually smile. Pan-Cake makeup was created for Technicolor film [in 1935]. And when the television turned from black and white to color, my family adjusted the makeup again, because the light was so green. As technology changed, there was a need to have makeup change too. We are doing the same thing.”
Smashbox Cosmetics’ No. 1 seller is Photo Finish Foundation Primer, launched in 2000 as a solution to minimize photo retouching.
“You know what this really is?” asked Factor, gesturing around. “This is a big set. … It’s about collaboration, community, having people play with makeup, to experiment and shoot here. I don’t want anyone to feel pressured to have to buy something.”
The innovative design includes props, pull-down backdrops and a video booth. Lighting is a priority. Phone holders enable customers to tape tutorials, while an app lets you upload a selfie and virtually try on Smashbox Cosmetics’ makeup colors on a phone or tablet.
“Trying on all of our 120 lipstick shades takes a long time, but not if you’re just pressing buttons,” said Beth DiNardo, global brand president of Smashbox and Glamglow. “This way, you narrow it down to maybe three shades, and then you can try those on in the store.”
In rotation are machines that create 3-D-printed lipstick in unique designs and personalize packaging. Customers purchasing at least two products can mix their own lip gloss.
The Venice store features products that aren’t available anywhere else in the U.S., such as an exclusive matte version of the Be Legendary Lipstick Palette ($75).
Services range from a complimentary makeup touch-up to a $90 makeover and shoot with a professional photographer.
“Hollywood is great,” DiNardo said, “but we chose Venice because it’s like being at Smashbox Studios with the makeup artists and photographers and producers who are working behind the scenes to make all this beautiful stuff happen.”