Last spring, Neill rolled out Smashbox cosmetics to its network of Aveda salons to provide new retail and service opportunities.

Renowned for its Photo Finish Primer, Smashbox features an entire line of cruelty-free makeup with formulas created to stay put all day long. While makeup artists have loved Smashbox’s high-performance line for years, it’s new to some Aveda professionals, and at first glance, doesn’t seem to have much in common with the Aveda brand. But take a closer look, and the two are a perfect pair.

Emily Bardwell, esthetician at Jón Alan Salon in Nashville and educator for Neill/Smashbox, says the brands work together for several reasons.

“The ingredients in Smashbox aren’t natural, but they’re very clean,” she says “They don’t have a lot of additives or fragrance and some contain up to 98 percent skin care ingredients.”

Stevie Beech, owner of Natural Alternatives salon in Knoxville, Tennessee, says “Over the years, our artists have been asking for a performance line to create bolder looks.”

Smashbox does just that, and Bardwell says, “Like Aveda, Smashbox is a performance-based line, and they do have some vegan products, like the Halo BB cream.”

Smashbox also recently introduced carbon-neutral shipping, offsetting carbon emissions from shipping for every U.S. order placed on smashbox.com.

“Both brands are also cruelty-free, diverse and inclusive,” says Bardwell. “I can confidently match and use Smashbox on any race, ethnicity or gender in my chair.

“And the makeup lasts all day,” she adds. “Makeup for a wedding should last 20 hours—Smashbox delivers.”

Display units plant seeds

Carrinn Glenn, front desk manager at Arlette salon in Monroe, Louisiana, says they launched Smashbox over the summer and used it to market the salon to local high schools for homecoming makeup services.

“We packaged hair and makeup sessions, posted on social media, and were able to get students in to try it,” she says. “But our best marketing has been placing our Smashbox unit near the shampoo bowl. It piques clients’ interest while they’re getting their hair shampooed, and they ask about it.”

And at Arlette, the Smashbox upsell has been easy.

“The team wears the makeup themselves, and guests want to know how their stylists achieved their look,” Glenn says.

Bardwell says they have also been focusing on educating the team to generate excitement about the new line.

“We do an education segment on Smashbox once a week in our huddle and have incorporated the makeup touchup back into our service wheel, putting lipstick on every client,” she says.

At Natural Alternatives, Beech capitalized on the glow craze that’s sweeping social media with a glow event when the salon launched the Smashbox foundations.

“We created a fun backdrop for selfies, and our estheticians did complimentary foundation matches and three-step touch-ups,” she says. “It bumped up our sales that day, and educated guests on the performance of Smashbox foundations.”

Beech says makeup touch-ups are part of their ritual with every client, but now they are incorporating a variety of products into the conversation. “Right now, our focus is going to be the Becca Shimmer—it’s a great accent piece.”

While they focus on building trust and awareness with the brand, Natural Alternatives stylists are giving complimentary makeup touch-ups to each guest.

Bardwell often straps on her makeup belt and gives guests mini makeovers so they can experience Smashbox for themselves, and looks forward to in-salon holiday events.

“I’ve also taught a lot of the stylists in our salon how to do demonstrations where they show clients one half of their face made up vs the other half,” she says. “Product demos speak volumes.”

Best Sellers

As these beauty pros and their clients have tried the Smashbox products, a few favorites have emerged.

“By a landslide, our best seller is the Under Eye Brightening Corrector in the shade Fair Light,” says Glenn. “We cannot keep it in stock. A lot of people have dark circles under their eyes and that specific shade trumps all others.”

Arlette carries samples of the corrector for guests to dab on, and Glenn says as soon as they see it in action, they purchase one for home.

“The Photo Finish Primer, Super Fan Mascara and Lash Primer are also huge sellers,” she says. “You can’t buy the mascara without the lash primer, so it’s a win-win for us.”

Beech says her guests are also gravitating to the Photo Finish Primer, but they also love the eyeshadow palettes.

“We’re starting to play in the foundations now, too,” she says. “And with holiday, we’ll promote the shimmer and primer set to continue the glow conversation.”

The holiday mini sets featuring travel-sized products make great stocking stuffers and offer an introduction to the line, Bardwell says.

Source: Smashbox

“My favorite product is the Always On Skin-Balancing Foundation,” she adds. “I’m an esthetician and work with guests who struggle with acne and rosacea. Makeup can dry out skin and pores and throw off the skin’s natural moisture barrier. But this one is dermatologist-tested, non-acnegenic, appropriate for all skin types, vegan, and cruelty-free. It also has adaptogen technology to protect the skin’s natural barrier and help it stay in balance.”

Contact your SDP about bringing Smashbox into your salon.