SmashBox Gets Revamped by Estee Lauder to Compete with MAC

Can Smashbox compete with MAC?

Estée Lauder has big plans for Smashbox Beauty, but to build it up, it first had to tear it down. A year after acquiring the cosmetics brand, Lauder is restaging it with new products and packaging, a new national advertising campaign and a revamped website, which went live Thursday. It’s all part of CEO Fabrizio Freda’s plan to make it a prime vehicle for Estée Lauder’s future expansion. Some observers think Smashbox could one day rival the size of its behemoth sibling, MAC Cosmetics (which sources estimate is a billion-dollar-plus business), and lessons gleaned from the Hollywood brand could present additional distribution opportunities for Lauder’s other brands.

The Lauder team considers Smashbox to have huge global potential. Brothers Davis and Dean Factor, the great-grandsons of legendary makeup artist Max Factor, opened their Smashbox photography studios in 1990 before founding the cosmetics brand in 1996. In 2006, private-equity firm TSG Consumer Partners acquired a minority, noncontrolling stake in Smashbox; they are no longer involved.

The Pros and Cons with SmashBox vs MAC
SmashBox is the shit amazing but there are a few things Smashbox would have to do to compete with MAC cosmetics that I don’t think Estee Lauder is willing to do. First of all SmashBox doesn’t have the appeal that Make Up For Ever or MAC has. Smashbox has always been marketed as “Hollywood” makeup and Allure Magazine has always shot most of their editorials in the Smashbox studios in California.

Smashbox also doesn’t have deep concealer and foundation colors which turns away a lot of women. However, Smashbox does have promise and their tools, lipglosses and lipsticks are amazing. Smashbox is a professional brand that makeup artists love because the eyeshadows are super blendable and the tools are amazing. Smashbox also has great mascars, way better than MAC’s in my humble opinion and they glosses are better too. When I wear MAC’s lipglosses I get those lip boogers (yuck) and I feel a lot of MAC’s eyeshadows are just duplicates for consumers that can’t blend because I can’t understand how one line can have 30 purples and 100 browns. Again that is just me. If Smashbox wants to compete they need an urban look that shows party and sexy themes instead of the regular “Gossip Girl” Look.

Smashbox vs MAC ???

Source: WWD.com Happi.com