Smashbox Cosmetics Launches Jefacon, Uniting Latinx Entrepreneurs

Smashbox Cosmetics continues to engage the Latinx community in Los Angeles and beyond.

The Culver City, Calif.-based beauty brand has been organizing free digital events this year to support local L.A. businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Now, it’s hosting a larger, ticketed virtual initiative: Jefacon.

“The word jefa is the Spanish translation for boss,” explained Kimberly Villatoro, vice president of North America marketing at Smashbox Cosmetics. “The real inspiration for us was first and foremost finding these partners that truly inspired us and then reflecting back what makes them unique and what we feel as a brand, our brand purpose, can stand for at Smashbox.”

Taking place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PST, the programming is a partnership with Patty Delgado, founder of fashion brand Hija de Tu Madre, and Julissa Prado, creator of hair-care company Rizos Curls. A ticket costs $25, though purchasing one of two beauty boxes of cruelty-free Smashbox Cosmetics products (priced at $98 each, curated by Delgado and Prado) guarantees free admission to the online platform at smashboxjefacon.com. The day will include 12 panels, seminars and workshops, featuring Latinx women, including Lilliana Vazquez, Karla Martinez de Salas, Carmen Rita Wong, Janet Jones Veloso and Dulce Candy.

A look at one of the beauty boxes. Courtesy

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To bring impact beyond Jefacon, Smashbox Cosmetics — founded in 1996 by Dean and Davis Factor and now owned by Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. — is also working to collaborate with Google for Startups, the WeAllGrow Latina network and the Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, an L.A. nonprofit that helps advocate for the Latinx community.

“For us at Smashbox, L.A. has always been a source of inspiration, because, of course, it’s our own backyard, but it’s also a place where the cultural richness of the United States really is shown at its finest,” Villatoro said. “Los Angeles has a rich history of Latino culture, and it’s such a big part of L.A. We were really stuck and inspired by the fact that Latinx entrepreneurs in this country are among the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the U.S., despite what we see as a severe lack of funding. We really wanted to find a way to be part of that richness that was happening in our home city and to empower women and young entrepreneurs to find their inner boss, their own inspiration and help them on that next step forward.”

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