Smash(box). Bang. Make-up wallop!

For those in the make-up know, the cult Californian brand Smashbox will be part of your beauty vocabulary. Now snapped up and living under the Estee Lauder umbrella, for those who don’t know, trust me, it will be a word mouthed on your glossy lips very soon thanks to its UK re-launch.

There’s nothing like a brand with a back story. One with an energetic thread and inspirational beginnings. This one kick-starts with Smashbox Studios being founded in 1990 by Dean and Davis Factor, the great grandsons of Hollywood make-up supremo Max Factor. Fast turning into a modern day image factory, it was a hub of creativity, spotlighting exciting new talent in both photographers and their starlet subjects. Riding on the coat-tails of the studio, in 1996 Smashbox Cosmetics was founded. The sell behind it was to create a range that solved the same problems at home that were solved in the studio. “If it works in the crazy demanding studio environment, it will work in the real word,” said Davis.

Smashbox Cosmetics was a success. Obviously! Professional make-up artists loved it – these ingenious products are now ever more relevant with high definition television and film picking up every misbehaved pore, and the fact we can apply this perfection at home makes them no-brainer beauty buys.

Hero products hailed by the good and the glamorous are their Photo Finish Foundation Primers (from £25) that work as your skin’s perfect canvas, the O-Glow Intuitive Cheek Colour (£21) – this is one of my personal favourites too. A clear gel, it reacts with your skin chemistry turning cheeks the colour you blush when you’ve been up to something naughty! And Photoset Finishing Powder (£29) – white in colour, this oil mopping powder goes on smooth to set a flawless complexion. Paps, train your lenses as we’re ready for our up-close photo moment!

Smashbox Cosmetics is now available on www.boots.com and www.smashbox.co.uk