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Estée Lauder: A Beautiful Life

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As a businesswoman, matriarch, and innovator, Estée Lauder was in a league of her own. From a humble background growing up in Queens as the child of Hungarian immigrants, Estée’s ambition and hard work found her tremendous success, transforming a small skincare cream business she started in her kitchen into a worldwide portfolio of beauty brands. Ever principled and determined, her charming ebullience took her far— she was the first to harness the power of word-of-mouth advertising, and to realize that a free gift with purchase would do well to win her customer’s loyalty.

Crafted like a personal album with the help of her granddaughters, Aerin and Jane, this book opens the door to the legendary woman who made her name known all over the world. As a true visionary, Estée Lauder succeeded in building her cosmetics empire through talent, determination, hard work, and kindness, while still maintaining a rich and fulfilling family life. Adding to her iconic legacy was her eye for interiors, a reputation for hosting fabulous dinner parties, and her countless notable friends such as Princess Grace of Monaco, Hubert de Givenchy, Diana, Princess of Wales, Nancy Reagan, and Frank Sinatra, among other luminaries. To celebrate her life and important influence in business, at home, and on the town, Aerin and Jane Lauder along with Assouline, present an in-depth look at what a beloved tour de force Estée was, as expressed through her personal letters, family photographs, company archives, and more.

200 pages, Hardcover

Published October 6, 2021

16 people want to read

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Aerin Lauder

11 books9 followers

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Profile Image for Erica.
382 reviews11 followers
June 22, 2022
A really fun journey through through the life of Estée Lauder and makeup history. I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves the brand as much as I do, makes for a fun discussion amongst friends and makeup lovers, and for great historical context into makeup history.

Estée Lauder has been a brand that I’ve loved since I was a little girl. I loved the scents my grandmas wore, ones I love to reminisce over as I wear them today. I remember flipping through magazines, seeing the ads, thinking it was so neat how the makeup sets came with multiple items to complete a look and the free gift was everything.

It was the first brand I attempted to order on my own. I filled out the form, sent cash in the mail. Unfortunately my first attempt at ordering was rejected since I wasn’t of age at the time and I received a letter back telling me so. You had to be at least 16 years of age I think at the time and my heart was so sad. However being gifted makeup sets and perfumes from then on made for extra special birthdays and holidays.

The Story
Celebrates the sophisticated, feminine, beautiful, strong yet delicate, soft, luxurious Estée Lauder brand. Told in a semi-chronological order, it focuses on the life of Estée Lauder, from personhood to the brand and products, family role and dynamics.

Much interest includes elegance in exclusivity and foreign exoticism, along with plenty of the context through timeless celebration of women (as well as products for men), celebrating beauty and style, reflecting the way to take care of their body, skin, and facial attributes that make for an alluring beauty routine.

The Writing
Has a balance of narration, a great curation of high resolution photos, and illustrations.

The photographs are amazing in both quality and size, especially for the blown up size they were. As far as images and scenes, they ranged from department store events, product displays, memorabilia, and hand written letters. Scenes set amongst the ornate wood furniture, rugs, drapes, candles, and crystal glasses of the times really took me back to the setting and time of the day.

The illustrations and excerpts of product and display wallpaper type patterns were a fun touch.

The Book and Material
Makes for a gorgeous coffee table book!

Comes with an outer cover that is equally beautiful and fun to discover as you pull the book out of the slip. Clean, sharp binding with heavy weight and slightly glossy paper that allows each extent of the photo to be appreciated even across the centerfolds.

My Favorite Lines
“There are no homely women, only careless women.”

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