Out Of The Box

How do you keep those A-list looks as you swan from first-class lounge to hip hotel? You use SmashBox cosmetics. The brand is now available at high-street stores, giving you a chance to partake in what until recently has been a celebrity best-kept secret. Founded by Dean and David Factor — grandsons of makeup legend Max Factor — SmashBox cosmetics were created specifically to withstand hot lights at the brothers' Los Angeles photography studios.

The premises were practically a drop-in center for Hollywood royalty — Johnny Depp, Jodie Foster and Demi Moore have all been photographed there — and for them the brothers devised homemade antishine creams, indelible lip gels and "artificial-light luminizing lotion" (touted by the company as "like having your own personal lighting crew"). It wasn't long before these industry-only cosmetics were being talked about more than the photo studios that produced them, and the brothers decided to manufacture them on a commercial scale. SmashBox cosmetics don't come cheap, but for those who can't afford to travel with a Hollywood stylist (or a lighting crew), they could be the next best thing.