The most beautiful face in the world? It is yours.
Estee Lauder
She shows us her passion for the beauty through this quote. It is the very famous Estee Lauder! This lovely lady has completely revolutionized the world of cosmetics in 1946.
Did you know that Estee Lauder was at the origin of the samples, serum, the first line treatments for men, the muses and many others things that seem so normal to us today, and was simply yet revolutionaries at the time? Touch the heart, the spirit and the face of every woman, such was the philosophy of Estée Lauder, this visionary woman who revolutionized the beauty industry.
Estée Lauder at work (Click photo to enlarge).
With a journey like his, carved on the determination and the frenzy, there are what become a true legend. Zoom on Estée Lauder, quite surprisingly wife, saleswoman and marketeuse outstanding… and his eponymous line of cosmetics… to become an empire!
A true passionate of beauty! Estée Lauder, of his real name Josephine Esther Mentzer, born July 1, 1906 into a family of Czech-Hungarian Jewish immigrants has always been drawn by aesthetics. And to increase his drinking for this magnificent universe, from a young age she decided to join his uncle John Schötz – brother of his mother – who worked in the field of chemistry. His goal? Estée wanted at any price creating beauty products. His many years of work and research alongside his uncle marked the beginning of the beginning.
Even if his dream of becoming dermatologist failed, Estee was motivated to start something again. Between the hours spent in the laboratory and in the kitchen, she managed to concoct care for home-made skin for his family. And in 1946 with the help of her husband, Joseph, she designs a range consisting of a lotion, a cleansing oil and two creams.
Estée Lauder Privat Collection 1970’s ad
And it is in her own hairdressing salon, called The House of Ash Blondes, she was doing his marketing. The women of the neighborhood came not only for hair care, but also to discover the labeled earnings Estée Lauder. While these ladies were ‘imprisoned’ in the heated helmet, Mrs. Lauder was personally and for free to beautify their face. Very quickly, the new toured the region and sales figures rose dramatically
To top it all, Estée gave samples of its new products to its customers. At times, she scratched a small piece of red lipstick, just to give it to the ladies so they can try it at home, and of course they came back immediately! Namely that the concept of the free gift for any purchase is actually inspired by Mrs.
It is with the help of her husband (design, manufacture…) Joseph Lauder, it managed to attract clients and proudly presented these first four products: Super Rich All – Purpose cream, cream Pack, Cleansing Oil and Skin Lotion. After the tour of New York, these products home made specially by the Lauder couple, gave life to a real cosmetic empire. And this empire is now one of the world leaders in the world of beauty!
A true classic: Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II
To return to her love life, it is found that Estée was immediately charmed by Joseph Lauder. Real name Lauter, he decided to change it to Lauder before he married her in 1930. From this union was born their first child Leonard, three in later. In 1939, the couple divorced!
During their separation, Estée will be a meeting that will change his life, that of the wealthy Dutch industrialist Arnold Lewis Van Ameringen, who will become her lover (they will break apart because he refused to leave his wife but will remain very good friends) but also and above all ‘financial’ mentor. After their separation, she returned to New York to rebuild ties with Joseph. This is so in 1942 the couple remarried. A love that will last until the last breath of Joseph…
I wanted to see my name in lights, but I was willing to settle for my name on a jar.
Estée Lauder
The company began in 1946 when Estée Lauder and her husband Joseph Lauder began producing cosmetics in New York City. They first carried only four products: Cleansing Oil, Skin Lotion, Super Rich All purpose Creme, and Creme Pack. Two years later, in 1948 they established their first department store account with Saks Fith Avenue in New York.
In 1953, Lauder introduced her first fragrance, Youth Dew, a bath oil that doubled as a perfume. Instead of using French perfumes by the drop behind each ear, women began using Youth Dew by the bottle in their bath water. In the first year, it sold 50,000 bottles, and by 1984, the figure had jumped to 150 million. Lauder was a subject of a 1985 TV documentary, Estée Lauder: The Sweet Smell of Success. Explaining her success, she said, “I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard”.
Estée Lauder Youth Dew Eau de Parfum (Click photo to enlarge).
They expanded the range and continued to sell their products in the United States. In 1960, the company started its first international account in the London department store Harrods. The following year it opened an office in Hong Kong.
In 1964, they started Aramis Inc., designed by Arame Yeranyan, with the fragrance named after Yeremes, a city in Armenia, producing fragrances and grooming products for men. In 1967, Estée Lauder herself was named one of ten Outstanding Women in Business in the United States by business and financial editors. This was followed by a Spirit of Achievement Award from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in 1968. In that year, the company expanded again, opening Clinique Laboratories, Inc. Clinique was the first dermatologist guided (Dr. Norman Orentreich), allergy tested, fragrance-free cosmetic brand created by Estée Lauder.
Estée Lauder and her husband Joseph in 1972
Estée Lauder’s Clinique brand became the first women’s cosmetic company to introduce a second line for men when, in 1976, they began a separate line called ‘Skin Supplies for Men’, which continues to be sold at Clinique counters worldwide. In 1981, the company’s products became available in the Soviet Union.
In October 1992, the BCA campaign was launched by Evelyn Lauder (Estée’s daughter in law) who co-created the ‘Pink Ribbon’ with SELF magazine as a symbol of breast health. Since then, millions of people globally have heard the message about the importance of breast health and early detection can save lives. The Estée Lauder Companies’ annual Breast Cancer Awareness campaign involves all of the 18 brands that make up the Estée Lauder Companies. They collectively represent The Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s first and largest corporate supporter. Estée’s daughter-in-law created BCRF’s signature pink ribbon. (Over $10 million were raised for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation between 1993 and summer 2003. Another $1 million were raised from their retail partners between July 2002 and summer 2003).
Since at least February 2001, Estée Lauder and its brands have been the target of a boycot campaign. The boycott has been led by pro-Palestinian activists who have targeted the corporation because of the pro-Israel activities of Ronald Lauder.
While Lauder’s son Ronald has been an outspoken conservative in most of his activities (including leadership of the World Jewish Congress), the Estée Lauder company has given most of its political contributions to liberal Democratic senatorial candidates in New York. Nevertheless, the company’s products, including Aramis, Prescriptives, Clinique, Aveda, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger and Tony Burch toiletries products, have been targeted for boycott by pro-Palestinian activists, in opposition to Ronald Lauder’s support for the Likud party and his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In June 2003, the San Francisco-based Queers Undermining Israëli Terrorism (QUIT) took up the boycott with their ‘Estée Slaughter’ campaign.
Estée Lauder and Princess Yasmin Aga Khan
At age 95, Estée Lauder died of cardiopulmonary arrest on April 24, 2004 at her home in Manhattan.
The company has had sometimes iconic spokesmodels, sometimes referred to simply as ‘faces’. Past ‘faces’ for Estée Lauder include Karen Graham (model), Bruce Boxleitner (actor), Shaun Casey (model), Willow Bay (television correspondent, editor, author, model). Pauline Porizkova (model), Elizabeth Hurley (actress and model), Anja Rubik (model), Carolyn Murphy (model) Hilary Rhonda (model), Liu Wen (model) and actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
As of 2010, Estée Lauder sold its products in department stores across the world and has a chain of freestanding retail outlets. On July 1, 2010, the company acquired Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics, Inc., a brand created in Smashbox Studios in Culver City, California by brothers Dean and Davis Factor (as in Max).
Estee Lauder ‘Mad Men Collection’ 2012 Ad.
The Mad Men Collection by Estee Lauder boasts vintage-inspired packaging much like the original Estee Lauder’s items of the ’60s
In 2012, the Company launched AERIN Beauty, a luxury lifestyle beauty and fragrance brand inspired by the signature style of its founder, Aerin Lauder.
In 2013, philanthropist and cosmetics tycoon Leonard Lauder donated a cubist art collection, worth $1 billion to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The enormous gift, estimated to be worth $1 billion, includes 78 works by Picasso, Braque, Gris, and Leger, and ‘will transform the museum’. That may seem extravagant, but Lauder can afford it, Forbes estimates he’s worth $8.5 billion, due mainly to the cosmetics empire founded by his mother, the late Estée Lauder.
In 2014, the Company acquired two insider beauty brands, RODIN olio lusso, a skin care brand renowned for its ‘Luxury Face Oil’, and Le Labo, a fragrance and sensory lifestyle brand with an emphasis on craftsmanship.
Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Energy Eye Crème
In 2015, the Company acquired Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, a fragrance brand dedicated to the art of perfumery, and GLAMGLOW, a Hollywood skin care brand that delivers camera-ready resultsl.
Tom Ford fragrances
Today, the Estée Lauder empire now owns 29 other big-name brands and reported sales of just over $9.7 billion to investors last year. Not that difficult with these brands: Aerin, Aramis, Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Bumble and Bumble, Clinique, Darphin, Donna Karan New York, DKNY, Editions de Parfums Frédèric Malle, Estée Lauder, Glamglow, Goodskin, Jo Malone London, Kiton, Lab Series, La Mer, Le Labo, M.A.C, Marni, Michael Kors, Ojon, Origins, Osiao, Prescriptives, RODIN olio lusso, Smashbox Cosmetics, Tommy Hilfinger, Tom Ford, Tory Burch, Ermenegildo Zegna.
And how the Lauders spend all that money is almost as interesting as the rags-to-riches story of how the daughter of two Hungarian Jewish immigrants left behind a beauty dynasty.
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex Synchronized Recovery features a refreshing gel-crème formula that absorbs quickly leaving the skin feeling soft and supple. It should be used daily, morning and evening, on clean skin around eye area. After use, skin around the eyes appears smoother and radiant with a soft, silky feel.
With this windy and rainy october weather, I’m looking for a skin saviour, one that hydrates and reduces fine lines. One of my all time favorites is Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II serum.
Yakymour 