Smashbox Cosmetics was built inside a working studio, a physical place where photographers, directors, makeup artists, and creatives of every kind came together to make things. That origin is the brand's most distinctive and underleveraged asset.

Smashbox Open Studios was developed to reanchor the brand in that founding truth: that Smashbox has always been a creative meeting ground, not just a cosmetics company.

The platform launches an artist residency program that invites emerging visual artists to participate in a month-long incubation. Each artist receives a grant to develop an original work, full access to Smashbox's studio space, tools, and resources, and mentorship from the brand's in-house team of veteran makeup artists, photographers, and creatives. Artists are selected for the quality and point of view of their work, not their follower count.

The inaugural cohort included Uzumaki Cepeda, a walk-in installation artist creating safe havens for communities of color; Randijah Simmons, a photographer and co-founder of The Babe Cave LA exploring the innovation and evolution of Black beauty; and Gabriela Ruiz, a mixed media artist reimagining beauty ideals from an altered point of view.

The program culminated in a group show at Smashbox Studios in Los Angeles in March 2022, bringing together press, industry voices, and creative communities from across the city. The debut also included a suite of digital content for artist and brand channels, and a toolkit designed to make future residencies repeatable and scalable.

Smashbox Open Studios is a long-term community building platform - one that turns the brand's physical and creative legacy into an ongoing engine for cultural relevance, authentic connection, and the next generation of creative voices.

Open Studios launched as a proof of concept designed to demonstrate the platform's potential and secure incremental funding for future scale. It worked. The inaugural program was called the “runaway hit” of Smashbox's three-year strategy presentation to the Estée Lauder Companies Executive Leadership Team and was immediately shortlisted for additional corporate investment. The launch event drew 150+ press, influencers, and creative community members, generated 100+ posts and 2.1M in reach, and doubled the brand's daily Instagram follower growth rate on the day of announcement.