Smashbox Cosmetics is one of the hottest Hollywood lines used by professional makeup artists both on stage and screen. I have used several of the products in the past, but nothing ever seemed that smashing about the line to me, and recently I tried three of the most popular products.

Limitless Lip Stain ($22.00)
This is Smashbox's top selling product that allows women to choose from various stains that will enable them to maintain long lasting color all day long. The dual sided wand has a stain on one side and a clear gloss on the other. I used Smashing Pink #7, which is a dark shade of pink and found that the way it's applied determines its depth. This is difficult to evenly apply, felt awful on my lips, and super sticky. It can be worn alone for a subtle natural look, or the gloss on the other side of the wand can be added for sheen. This is definitely a convenient 2 in 1 product and while it has great lasting power, it left my lips feeling dry and is just not something I'll be wearing. If however you love and are comfortable sporting a stained pucker, this is the best on the market because of its lasting power.

Diffuse ($28.00)
This is another dual sided product with a great concept, a lightener and concealer in one wand. The theory is that the gold be applied first as its light reflecting particles diffuse light from dark circles and fine lines under the eyes. The sheer concealer on the other side is then applied over the gold to camouflage shadows, and this is available in fair, medium and dark to suit all skin types. I found that the gold did nothing to diffuse attention from my inherent under eye bags, and the concealer was fat too sheer offering little coverage. In my opinion, this is another miss offering nothing to hide those under eye errors we were born with or have acquired.

Split Screen ($24.00)
This also is a dual sided wand with a lipstick on one side and matching liner on the other. Yes it's convenient, but there is absolutely no contrast between the two shades and doesn't accentuate the lips at all. This is a semi-matte invisible feel lipstick formula on one side with a complimentary liner on the other so you need not carry more than one lip product. I used Contact, which is a neutral brown shade that would probably work for all women, but just didn't find it to be special in any way.

All in all, I will not have any Smashbox staples in my cosmetics collection, yet I have friends that swear by the entire line and tell me they couldn't live without it. Whenever the line is featured on QVC, the items sell out so quickly that you usually end up being placed on a waiting list, so obviously many women don't share my opinion. Perhaps I have yet to stumble across a Smashbox must have, so I'll watch for new additions to the growing line. Available at QVC.com., Sephora.com, and Smashbox.com

review: 1/03