Smashing beauty

IT is the season to have more parties, so it‘s also the time when women deal with more beauty dilemmas. What are the in colors for the season? How do we make our makeup last until the break of dawn? And when do we finally let go of our must-have bronzer? A-list celebrities and supermodels, have makeup artists that change their Plain Jane looks into gorgeous bombshells every season. Lucky them!

Unfortunately, average gals like us we don’t have the luxury of having makeup artists who offer their expert services and, of course, tips of the trade. Thankfully, Smashbox Cosmetics from the City of Angels is now here to help transform our looks from free-spirited indie chick to either a radiant romantic or dramatic diva for the holidays.

"Smashbox Cosmetics is the largest professional makeup studio in the world founded by Dean and Davis Factor, grandsons of makeup legend Max Factor," says Norman J. Barsky, international VP for Smashbox Cosmetics. "On any given day, our state-of-the-art facility is inundated with the most sought-after celebrities, models, photographers and musicians. From Drew Barrymore to Charlize Theron, Gisele Bundchen, and Madonna – we’ve seen them all and more importantly, swapped beauty secrets with their makeup artists."

Smashbox specifically created problem-solving products to make the face picture-perfect. Actually, the brand’s signature product is oh-so-interesting. Smashbox’s primer is a colorless, silicone-based product, which fills in tiny lines and wrinkles, and makes the foundation very smooth and long-lasting.

"We really own the primer category. Smashbox has lip and lid primer, lash primer and these items are not normally regular color cosmetics items," explains Barsky. "At first, we originally developed this line only for use at the studio for magazine shoots. But they became so popular that the celebrities and models took them home after the shoot."

Recently, Smashbox Cosmetics launched the White Nights Holiday Sets at Beauty Bar in Rockwell. Irma Dabro, the brand’s international training manager, was in the country to give the latest holiday looks that will surely keep you glowing like an ultimate celebrity from dusk to dawn.

There are two stunning looks for the holidays. First is the sultry eye look, which Valerie de los Santos sported. For a gorgeous smoky eye, Irma applied caviar cream eyeliner across the top and lower lash line with the Derby trio eyeliner set. Then, a shimmery white color was used to highlight the eyes. Second is the angelic holiday collection look, which was modeled by Rissa Samson. Irma applied white cream eye shadow, silver eyeliner and a shimmer clear gel with glitter on the lids. Her bright eyes paired with a bold, rock-me-baby red lipstick made her positively stunning.

So, do you want to achieve these looks? Here are Smashbox’s White Nights Holiday sets packed full with sweet treats for you. Perfect gifts for your friends that will surely make your friendship last forever:

Troubadour

A lip gloss addict’s dream come true – three scented high-shimmer lacquered glosses and a mini lip liner in a cutesy faux leather pearlized pouch for P1,850. Glossy lips are super-sexy and kissable, especially when they come in cinnamon, apricot (vanilla scented) and sparkling clear pink in spearmint. Plus, the mini lip liner in metallic nude will match everything. Time to pucker up!

AValon

Color your lids with these double-duty eye shimmers. This chic set of double-ended mini limitless lid and lid shimmer duo features a metallic shade and sheer sparkle. It comes in Smashing Gin/Smashing Tonic for a bronze shimmer and sheer copper sparkle or Smashing Vodka/Smashing Soda for a soft pink shimmer and sheer pink sparkle for P1,150. The great thing about this product is that it has a long-lasting formula. Smashing, indeed!

Derby

The Derby cream eyeliner set was named after the legendary nightclub featured in the cult movie Swingers. It comes in three metallic shades of teal green, bronze, and charcoal sparkle for the perfect smoky eyes as well as a mini cream eye liner brush number nine for just P1,400. Hey, this can also be used as an eye shadow. Just smudge whatever color you want and highlight for a two-toned effect.

Roxy Brush Roll

From foundation to lip, you get all the brushes you need to paint your way to perfection with the White Nights the Roxy limited-edition deluxe brush roll. Made with the finest goat hair, this brush set will help you avoid makeup boo-boos. With the right tools, applying makeup is now a breeze. Definitely a must-have! The set includes full-size brushes: powder, foundation, blending, eye liner, double-ended smudger, retractable lip brush for P5,000.

We can now look haute and hot with Smashbox’s White Nights holiday collection. From these sets, you’ll get sparkling lips and shimmering eyes that will make you shine like a Hollywood star.

Barsky concludes, "At Smashbox, our knowledge is your beauty."

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Smashbox is exclusively available at Beauty Bar stores in Glorietta, Rockwell, Greenbelt, Robinsons Galleria, The Podium, and Alabang Town Center. Beauty Bar is owned and operated by Stores Specialists, Inc.