Estee Lauder Biography

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FAMOUS WOMEN AND BEAUTY FEATURING: Estee Lauder Biography July 1, 1908 – April 24, 2004 Estee Lauder, born Josephine Esther Mentzer entrepreneur, the founder of Estee Lauder Cosmetics Company

As a teenager, Estee was "caught up with American glamour and dreamed of being a skin specialist and making women beautiful." (Estee Lauder autobiography). She loved to study all the products that came on the market, and worked on faces and hair of her family members. Her uncle John became her first and the most important mentor in the world of beauty. Uncle John was the chemist who had established his own laboratory in 1924. He taught Estee not to use soap and water, but to use oils to clean and moisten her skin. His work was his passion, and Estee became his eager student. She helped her uncle in his work, experimented with his creams and tested them on the faces of her family members and classmates.

Estee Lauder Biography – marriage and career

At the age of nineteen, Estee met Joe Lauter, the son of Hungarian immigrants. Joe had studied accounting and worked for various businesses. Joe and Estee married on January 15, 1930, and their first son Leonard Allan was born in 1933. By 1937, the couple had changed their name from Lauter to Lauder.

The role of a mother and housewife was not enough for Estee. She had a feeling she was meant for more. She decided to become an actress, and started taking acting course at New York Cherry Lane Theater. Her acting career was short. Soon, Estee realized that she would never be able to make it to the top. Her social ambitions frighted Joe Lauder, who was more solid, patient and serene by character. Their family problems grew, and the couple divorced in 1939.

By then, Estee started traveling to various resorts, arranging numerous "in-store" demonstrations in beauty salons, selling her creams and giving free facials. Her strength was in looking for the right people who promoted her products professionally and socially. One of such contacts was Dutch-born businessman A. I. van Amerigen, who later became the chief executive officer of International Flavors and Fragrances, the company which was an important creator of fragrances in America.

In 1943, Estee Lauder returned to her first and only love Joe Lauder. She revealed her sadness about the four years of their separation: "You cannot fly on one wing".

Estee Lauder biography – Estee Lauder cosmetics

Joe Lauder joined Estee’s business, and the first office of Estee Lauder, Inc. opened at 39 East Sixtieth Street in 1945.

Estee began introducing her products to the stores as Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, Bonwit Teller. During the 40’s Estee Lauder spent much time traveling to department stores, standing behind the cosmetic counters, introducing her products and giving free facials, training salespeople. She was the one who started giving gifts with a purchase of her products, the technique which is now used by all cosmetic companies.

The company’s biggest break-through came in 1953 with introduction of Youth Dew, which was first introduced as a bath oil. It was an overnight success. Youth Dew soon represented 80% of Estee Lauder business.

Other incredibly successful products followed. "Aramis", launched in 1965, was meant by it’s creators to be the most elegant cologne in the world. It still remains important in the world of men’s fragrances. "Lauder for Men" and "J. H. L." (named after Joe Lauder) followed the path of success.

Estee Lauder biography – challenges

In the early seventies Estee Lauder launched Clinique, which turned to be one of the big challenges to her business. The line Clinique was created for the younger women. Clinique cosmetics was meant by it’s creators to become a part of a younger woman daily fitness and grooming. The products were marketed for the therapeutic skin care, and no references to Estee Lauder was made. In the first two years of Clinique, the losses totaled 3 million dollars. Nevertheless, Estee refused to give up. She appointed Carol Phillips, the former editor of Vogue to run the division of Clinique. Since then, the product line never stopped growing.

Estee Lauder biography – her secret of success

Estee Lauder brand became successful also through the efforts of Estee to promote her products among her friends and acquaintances, which included royalties, presidents and celebrities. Commenting on her success, she admitted:

"I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard."

In the later years, the older son of Estee and Joe, Leonard Lauder became the chief executive, and then chairman of the board of the family business, while the younger son, Ronald Lauder left the business for the governmental service.

Joe Lauder died in 1983, and Estee Lauder died on the 24th of April 2004 in New York. Estee Lauder products are one of the most recognized brands in more than 120 countries.

Estee Lauder Biography - Books and Products

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