Brickfish invites you to read about Daya81, our Grand Prize Beauty Guru, as she chronicles her journey to Los Angeles to spend a week with Smashbox. Her trip sounds like it was an amazing and life changing experience. Make sure to check back for updates on her future trip to Fashion Week!

Being a lover of anything involving cosmetics & fashion I knew that winning this contest would be a dream come true. Not too many opportunities come along where you get to be part of a hugely popular makeup brand! As an admirer of Smashbox I was ecstatic when I discovered I had been chosen as the winner.

My experience in L.A. was extremely exciting and rewarding. Words can't even describe how amazing my week was - it was better than I ever imagined. While I was in LA my boyfriend and I stayed right in Hollywood. I even had my own driver, Fred, who was hilarious. Every morning he picked me up to take me to Smashbox. I really liked him. The girls at Smashbox took every opportunity to make this trip special. So I wanted to make every moment count! The Smashbox Cosmetics office and Studios were amazing! On my first day I gave a presentation of my winning idea. I was really nervous, but the people at Smashbox tried to put me at ease. Lunch came next with the amazing marketing team - these ladies were so funny. Dean Factor even stopped by our table to shake my hand and welcome me! Afterwards I met with the VPs of Global Marketing, Product Development, and the Creative Director, and also the President of Smashbox! Of course these one-on-ones made me nervous but I was so eager to connect with them. The next day I started right away with Marketing working on trend research and style forecasting. These predictions were then taken to "The Fabulous" makeup artist Lori Taylor to brainstorm ideal colors for Spring 2009! Exchanging ideas with Lori was a definite highlight! She's truly a fierce woman. And the day just kept getting better if you can believe it. I sat down with Product Development to pick shades for the Fashion Week palette. There was a "Wall-Of-Pigments" that had me so excited, lol! We tried makeup on our arms and faces - I was a mess and loved it! All of our collaborations came together and I would have to say it was amazing! They even customized my own eye shadow color to take home! I presented the shades and my reasoning to the Smashbox team in another presentation the next day.

On my last day I worked on unit carton designs with the Creative Director. This was the hardest part since I had the least amount of time. I wanted to make everything perfect. Later I got to sit in on a communications meeting which was so cool! I just kept looking around at everyone's faces thinking how amazing each person was! And there was a ton of great news spread throughout! You could tell the environment was a happy one! At the end of the day they threw me a mini going-away party. We had champagne and dessert! I definitely needed the champagne - I couldn't believe the week was done and I cried like a baby, lol! After each day at Smashbox, my boyfriend and I really soaked up L.A. We experienced "Wicked" at the Pantages Theatre and also got our first tattoos on Hollywood Blvd.! Smashbox sent me home with the most amazing makeup collection on my 2nd day there. So, of course, I had to experiment with my huge treasure box of goodies. What's great is there's still more to come! I can't wait until the palette is completed and I get to hold it in my hand. I'm really looking forward to returning to L.A. For now I can only imagine how arriving at Fashion Week will be. It's amazing how winning this contest has impacted my life. Thank you Brickfish, Sephora, and the Smashbox Team for making it possible!

View all entries in Are You the Next Beauty Guru? Round 1 here!