Estée Lauder: Every Woman Has the Right to Be Beautiful

エスティ ローダーの世界観と代表製品「Beautiful Eau de Parfum 100ml」を表現したブランドイメージ
2026.10.21

“You do not smell fragrance with your nose. You smell it with your heart.”
— Estée Lauder (from a conversation with Jo Fairley of The Perfume Society)

Basic Information

Note on the Japanese rendering of Estée: The English name Estée Lauder is represented in Japanese spelling and pronunciation as “エスティー・ローダー,” while “エスティ ローダー” is the established form in the Japanese market.

The Founder and the Origins of the Brand

Girlhood: An Immigrant Family and an Awakening to Beauty

Josephine Esther Mentzer was born in Queens, New York, in 1908. Her father, Max, was a hardware-store owner from Pressburg, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary and now Bratislava, Slovakia; her mother, Rose, was a beautiful Hungarian woman. Captivated by her mother’s beauty from an early age, she developed the habit of brushing her mother’s hair and applying cream every morning.

“My first awareness of beauty was my mother.”
— Estée Lauder

The name Estée grew out of the nickname Esty, and its spelling became established when she entered school. Her exact date of birth was officially kept private, and she continued to brush aside questions about it lightly: “If you ask my age, that is something that does not matter.”

Meeting Uncle John Schotz: A Turning Point in Her Destiny

Around 1924, when Estée was sixteen, her Hungarian-born uncle, the chemist John Schotz, came to stay with the family. Schotz founded New Way Laboratories in Brooklyn, where he made his own skin creams and shampoos.

Estée watched every stage of her uncle’s mixing process, first in the kitchen and later in a small laboratory converted from a stable behind the house. She described the scene in these words.

“My uncle’s creams had a magical, melting texture and a sweet fragrance. They made the skin feel like silk and, by evening, made little imperfections disappear.”
— Estée Lauder

She went on to add:

“Do you know what it means to a young girl when someone comes along who takes her dreams seriously? To have someone share their secrets with her?”
— Estée Lauder

This encounter determined the course of her life. Estée eventually made her own blends based on her uncle’s Super-Rich All-Purpose Cream and began letting her school friends try them. While she was having her hair done at a beauty salon, its owner, Florence Morris, asked why her skin was so beautiful. Estée returned later with her creams to give a demonstration. Morris was completely won over and asked her to sell them in her new salon.

The Dream of Acting, and Another Path

Estée also had ambitions to become an actress. Believing that “actresses are the pinnacle of beauty,” she actually appeared onstage at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre. She continued rehearsing while her son Leonard watched from the back of the theater, but in the end it was skincare formulas, rather than stage lights, that captivated her.

“I wanted to see my name shining in neon lights. But I decided that having my name on a jar would be enough.”
— Estée Lauder

Marriage, the Company’s Founding, and a First Miracle

In the late 1920s, during a summer stay at Lake Mohegan in New York State, Estée met Joseph Lauter. She called him her first love. The couple married in 1930 and moved to Manhattan, changing their surname to Lauder to correct a misspelling dating from Joseph’s father’s immigration from Europe to the United States.

Estée began her business by demonstrating products beside women drying their hair in beauty salons. In 1946, she and her husband finally established the company formally. The following year, they secured their first order from Saks Fifth Avenue, worth $800, and the products sold out in two days.

Her motto was “Telephone, Telegraph, Tell a Woman.” Rather than relying on agency advertising, she put her entire $50,000 advertising budget into free samples and gifts with purchase. This idea of a purchase incentive later became standard practice throughout the industry.

What Defines the Brand

A Philosophy of Fragrance: “It Is the Heart That Smells”

Estée Lauder began as a beauty expert, but she also possessed an exceptional “nose.” The Perfume Society notes that she was described as “America’s only true nose.” She had friends try fragrance candidates and carefully observed their reactions.

“You can tell by looking into their eyes. Even if they smile, it is only when their eyes smile that I know the fragrance is right.”
— Estée Lauder

In her later years, Estée expressed her deep belief in fragrance in these words.

“We should never underestimate fragrance’s power to enrich our lives. Spray the first scent of the morning into the air and walk through it. That first spray stays on the skin longest throughout the day. It makes your spirit brighter and more youthful. You do not smell fragrance with your nose. You smell it with your heart.”
— Estée Lauder (from a conversation with The Perfume Society)

Turquoise-Blue Packaging: “A Color That Belongs in the Bathroom”

Estée herself chose pale turquoise, a light blue-green, for the brand’s cream jars. Her reasoning was that it “conveys luxury while harmonizing with every bathroom interior.” The color continues to serve as an emblem of Estée Lauder today.

An Approach to Ingredients and Quality

Estée always made the use of high-quality raw materials a non-negotiable condition of the company. Guided by her conviction that every woman has the right to be beautiful, she personally oversaw everything from product formulas to selling methods. Karyn Khoury, who later led the brand’s fragrance division as senior vice president of fragrance development, had worked directly with Estée herself. Khoury described the company’s philosophy as “a delicate balance between business considerations and passionate creativity,” and said that Estée taught her to refine her emotional instincts.

Packaging Innovation in the Luxury Fragrance Collection

In fiscal 2023, Estée Lauder switched the bottles of its Luxury Fragrance Collection to recyclable, refillable glass. According to a life-cycle assessment, using one refill can reduce emissions and water consumption by 20% compared with the initial purchase, while packaging weight was reduced by 40%.

The Fragrance Lineup

From Youth-Dew in 1953 to the bridal imagery of Beautiful and the rain-fresh flowers of Pleasures, Estée Lauder’s perfumes have grown from changing visions of women and the occasions on which they wear fragrance. More recently, the Luxury Fragrance Collection has explored imagined landscapes, while The Legacy Collection reinterprets earlier classics.

Youth-Dew: The Fragrance That Changed the Rules in 1953

Estée Lauder’s first fragrance was Youth-Dew, a bath oil introduced in 1953. At the time, American women rarely bought perfume for themselves. It was a birthday or anniversary present from a husband or lover, something worn only on special occasions.

Estée cleverly found a way around this barrier. There was no need to call it perfume. With that thought, she brought the product to market as a bath oil.

“In those days, women waited for their husbands to give them perfume on birthdays or anniversaries. Women did not buy perfume for themselves. So I decided not to call my new product ‘perfume.’ I named it Youth-Dew.”
— Estée Lauder (from a conversation with The Perfume Society)

The name Youth-Dew was borrowed from an earlier skincare range. This sensual oriental floral, layering rose, lavender, jasmine, spices, vetiver, and patchouli, instantly captured women’s hearts. By being launched as a bath oil to pour generously into the tub rather than a perfume to use a few drops at a time, it also dramatically increased consumption.

It is said to have sold 50,000 bottles in its first year and to have reached cumulative sales of $150 million by 1984.

The company of Estée’s business partner, Arnold Lewis van Ameringen, was involved in composing Youth-Dew. IFF, International Flavors & Fragrances, which was later formed with that company as one of its predecessors, explicitly identifies Josephine Catapano as its creator in its official history of perfumery.

Private Collection: Her Own Secret Scent, Released in 1973

Whenever she was asked, “What perfume are you wearing?” Estée would answer only, “It’s from my private collection.” This was more than a stylish reply: the fragrance really had been made just for her.

Composed for Estée personally by Vincent Marcello, the perfumer behind Caron’s Yatagan and Halston’s Z-14, the fragrance was finally released commercially in 1973. Grace Kelly is also said to have worn it.

It is an elegant chypre, a broad fragrance family built on tree moss, oakmoss, and similar notes, in which green notes intertwine with florals. In its earliest days, it was marketed as Estée Lauder’s most expensive fragrance. Its notes include lemon, hyacinth, narcissus, rose, jasmine, galbanum, and amber.

Aerin Lauder, Estée’s granddaughter, revived the Private Collection name for a new group of fragrances in 2007. Tuberose Gardenia was followed by Amber Ylang Ylang in 2008 and Jasmine White Moss in 2009. The last of these continued an unfinished formula begun by her grandmother in the late 1980s and preserved in the archives. The original 1973 fragrance, Aerin’s later range and Private Collection Legacy are distinct creations.

White Linen: A Landmark of Freshness in 1978

In 1978, Estée Lauder introduced a trio of fragrances called the New Romantics: White Linen, Celadon, and Pavilion. The three proposed a concept that was forward-looking for its time: enjoying fragrances layered together.

White Linen overwhelmingly outsold the other two and became the enduring bestseller still sold today. Created by Sophia Grojsman, it boldly uses aldehydes, bright, effervescent chemical fragrance ingredients that evoke soap and laundry, to embody the clean freshness of a starched shirt drying in the sun.

Beautiful: A Bouquet of a Thousand Flowers in 1985

Introduced in 1985, Beautiful is one of Estée Lauder’s signature floral fragrances, known for the slogan “the fragrance of a thousand flowers.” With a bridal theme, it is said to express in scent “the moment when every woman shines at her most beautiful.”

Karyn Khoury was involved in its creation. It has a rich structure in which flowers including rose, lily, tuberose, orange blossom, mandarin, marigold, jasmine, and ylang-ylang are supported by a sandalwood and amber base. The bottle was designed by Ira Levy. Models and actresses including Paulina Porizkova (1988–1994) and Elizabeth Hurley (1995–1997) served as brand ambassadors in the years following the launch through the 1990s.

Pleasures: “A Bouquet After the Rain” in 1995

Launched in 1995, Pleasures is a fresh floral created by a team of perfumers at Firmenich. Built around white lily, white peony, jasmine, and baie rose, or pink pepper, it received a FiFi Award from the Fragrance Foundation. It was designed as “a fragrance for every season and every moment.”

Karyn Khoury was deeply involved in developing Pleasures as well, connecting the concept of “a fresh bouquet after the rain” with a contemporary vision of womanhood.

Bronze Goddess: “A Beach in a Bottle”

Bronze Goddess is a series evoking a summer beach. The Eau Fraîche version is currently presented under the product name Eau Fraîche Eau de Toilette, combining amber, vanilla, coconut milk and sandalwood with notes including bergamot and jasmine.

An eau de parfum was added in 2017. Eau Fraîche, Eau de Parfum and seasonal variations should be distinguished by version rather than treated simply as different concentrations of one formula. The current eau de parfum highlights tiare, coconut, amber, sandalwood and vanilla; those notes should not be applied indiscriminately to every earlier version.

Modern Muse: A Contemporary Vision of Women in 2013

Introduced in 2013, Modern Muse has a multifaceted composition in which mandarin, honeysuckle nectar, tuberose, lily, patchouli, amberwood, suede musk, and vanilla intertwine intricately. It was created under Karyn Khoury’s direction. Its sister fragrance, Modern Muse Le Rouge Eau de Parfum, won the 360-Degree Marketing Campaign category at the Fragrance Foundation’s 2016 Awards.

Modern Muse was developed around a dual-impression structure with two points of entry: the bright floral character of jasmine, and the quieter impression of woods and patchouli. Khoury described it as a composition open both to those drawn to the flowers’ radiance and to those who perceive the warm woods at its center.

Knowing and Sensuous

Knowing belongs to the chypre tradition, with rose overlapping woody and mossy impressions. Knowing Legacy, a separate reinterpretation, followed in 2024. Sensuous centers on molten woods and amber, joined by jasmine, magnolia, pepper and honey-like elements. Unlike the flower-led Beautiful and Pleasures, it builds its character around the warmth of wood.

Mystique Collection

Wood Mystique, launched in 2011, was conceived as a fragrance for both women and men, responding to fragrance preferences in the Middle East. Karyn Khoury, who led fragrance development, described responding to regional cultures and tastes as part of the development strategy. The work was intended for customers who valued a strong presence and a lasting scent trail. Rose is surrounded by jasmine, mimosa and other flowers, with oud, patchouli, benzoin, cedarwood and leathery impressions.

Amber Mystique followed as the second fragrance in 2013. Blackcurrant and raspberry lead towards floral impressions of Bulgarian and Taif roses, followed by amber, oud, incense and sandalwood. Khoury said its creation returned to the foundations of Wood Mystique. The two share a regional brief and form a group distinct from the Luxury Fragrance Collection introduced in 2021.

Luxury Fragrance Collection

Launched with eight eaux de parfum in 2021, the collection expands natural scenes into imaginary landscapes: sunset, moonlight, dawn in the desert and gardens in bloom. Rather than listing specific travel destinations, it translates changes of light and time into combinations of flowers, woods, fruit and spices.

Tender Light takes warm sunlight as its subject, layering a Chinese tea accord, bergamot and Florentine iris. Sensuous Stars shifts the scene to a quiet moonlit walk, bringing together Chinese plum, French lavender and Italian orris. It is a separate fragrance from the wood-and-amber-centered Sensuous.

Dream Dusk depicts a garden at twilight with spring blossoms drifting through the air. Jean-Marc Chaillan composed a floral-marine fragrance around a cherry blossom accord, blackcurrant buds from Burgundy and Chinese geranium. The cherry blossom is a recreated scent impression, not a claim that essential oil has been extracted from the flower.

“I captured that ephemeral scent of Cherry Blossom to symbolize the hope of new beginnings.”

Jean-Marc Chaillan

Radiant Mirage takes an unfolding path and new possibilities as its subject. Chinese jasmine sambac meets Australian sandalwood and Indonesian patchouli, giving the white flowers a substantial woody support.

Desert Eden depicts dawn spreading across the desert with sandalwood, Turkish rose and olibanum. Anne Flipo drew on her own memories of incense and woods in ancient temples, bringing a specific olfactory memory to the collection’s desert landscape.

“My source of inspiration for this fragrance was the vivid memory of the spiritual atmosphere in ancient temples.”

Anne Flipo

Blushing Sands also takes sand as its subject, but imagines a rose-colored landscape through Haitian vetiver, pink pepper and a musk accord. Roots and musk provide its structure, in contrast to Desert Eden’s sandalwood and frankincense.

Paradise Moon is set in a moonlit forest, combining osmanthus with Spanish cistus and a leather accord. Infinite Sky depicts a sunset turning from amber to gold with Sichuan pepper, Madagascan vanilla and a smoky leatherwood impression. One brings flowers and leather to moonlight; the other gives the evening sky spice and sweetness.

The Legacy Collection

In 2024, perfume editor Frédéric Malle reinterpreted five Estée Lauder fragrances: Estée, Azurée, Private Collection, White Linen and Knowing. The work went beyond putting familiar names into new bottles. It involved rebuilding the formulas while retaining the idea at the center of each original fragrance.

“We just re-tuned them, but they are still themselves”

Frédéric Malle

Malle acted as editor, with Anne Flipo, Carlos Benaïm and Bruno Jovanovic responsible for perfumery. Flipo worked on Azurée and Private Collection, Benaïm on Estée and White Linen, and Jovanovic on Knowing. All five Legacy editions are eaux de parfum, distinct from the original works.

Estée Legacy combines a carnation impression built from clove, jasmine and rose with ylang-ylang, sandalwood, amber and musk. Malle explained that removing the honeyed aspect during development took away warmth and richness, so it was retained and supported by amber notes. The process tested what should remain as well as what could be reduced.

Azurée Legacy layers herbs and spices, including basil, tarragon and cardamom, with jasmine, patchouli, vetiver and leathery notes. Malle described the original Azurée as a long formula containing more than 200 materials. Working with Flipo, he sought to identify and clarify the central accord so that its character could come through.

Private Collection Legacy begins with the green-floral character of the 1973 fragrance. Basil, tarragon and galbanum lead towards jasmine sambac, rose, patchouli and sandalwood. It returns to that single original work rather than bringing together Aerin’s later creations such as Tuberose Gardenia.

White Linen Legacy supports aldehydes, rose and jasmine with an amber character centered on labdanum, alongside musk, vetiver and cedarwood. A bright outline suggesting white fabric stands against warmth beneath it.

“White Linen Legacy is fire under the ice, a seemingly classical woman, yet full of mystery.”

Frédéric Malle

Knowing Legacy combines raspberry-like notes and blackcurrant with Damask rose, orris, patchouli, labdanum and styrax. Malle described removing the embellishments of its 1980s background to reveal the central form. Within the five reinterpretations, it is a chypre connecting fruit and rose with resins and woods.

Glimmer

Introduced in 2026, Glimmer is an eau de parfum inspired by small moments of joy, hope and connection in everyday life. It was conceived for a new generation, with actor and singer Hailee Steinfeld appearing in its campaign.

Raspberry mousse and mandarin lead to a rose accord likened to a macaron, followed by vanilla, Cashmeran, patchouli and amber-like elements. Confectionery sweetness joins flowers and amber in a new creation, distinct from the reinterpretations of classics in The Legacy Collection.

By the Way…

The Galeries Lafayette Incident in Paris

One famous anecdote from Estée Lauder’s life is the “Youth-Dew incident at Galeries Lafayette.” In the 1960s, Estée approached Galeries Lafayette in Paris about carrying her products, but its buyer turned her down. As she was about to leave, she spilled Youth-Dew bath oil onto the store’s carpet, making it look accidental. A sensual fragrance immediately spread through the surrounding area, and customers began asking excitedly, “Where can we buy this?” The store is said to have had no choice but to stock the product.

This tactic of attracting attention by spilling a fragrance is also said to have been influenced by a similar anecdote about the early twentieth-century French perfumer François Coty. Some have suggested that Estée may have taken inspiration from him.

“I Wanted My Name in Lights”

As a young woman, Estée dreamed of becoming an actress. Believing that actresses were the very embodiment of beauty, she actually appeared onstage at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre, but was ultimately drawn back to the world of beauty.

“I wanted to see my name shining in neon lights. But I decided that having my name on a jar would be enough.”
— Estée Lauder

One of Time’s “Twenty Most Influential Business Geniuses of the Twentieth Century”

In 1998, Estée Lauder was selected for Time’s list of the twenty most influential business geniuses of the twentieth century. She was the only woman on the list.

The French Légion d’honneur and the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Estée received many honors during her lifetime. She described the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest distinction, as one of the honors of which she was proudest. In 2004, she was also posthumously awarded the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1994, the American Society of Perfumers presented her with its first Living Legend Award.

“Joan Crawford Attracted Her Fourth Husband”

In her later years, Estée sold Youth-Dew by the gallon, approximately 3.8 liters, to her Hollywood fans. They included Gloria Swanson, Dolores del Río, and Joan Crawford. Crawford is said to have remarked, “That scent helped me land my fourth husband.”

References