Estée Lauder

Hello! My name is Estée Lauder, but I was born Josephine Esther Mentzer on July 1st, 1908. I grew up in a part of New York City called Queens. My parents, Rose and Max, were from Hungary, and they worked very hard to build a life for our family. My whole world changed when my uncle, John Schotz, came to live with us. He was a chemist, which is a type of scientist who works with different substances. In a small lab he built in our home, he mixed and measured ingredients to create the most wonderful, velvety skin creams. I was completely fascinated by his work. He was like a magician, turning simple things into something special. I spent as much time as I could watching him, learning his secrets. It was then that I started dreaming that one day, I could create my own beauty products to help women feel beautiful.

In 1930, I married a wonderful man named Joseph Lauder, who truly believed in my dream. Together, we decided to start our own business. In the beginning, our 'factory' was just our kitchen! I would stand over the stove, cooking up batches of my uncle's special creams. I knew the creams were amazing, but I had to find a way to show other people how great they were. I came up with an idea. I started visiting hair salons, where women came to get their hair done. I would offer them free makeovers, gently applying the creams to their skin to show them how soft and glowing it could look. In 1946, Joseph and I officially started our company, and we called it Estée Lauder Companies. I was in charge of developing the products and showing people how to use them, while Joseph handled the business side of things. We made a perfect team.

My first big breakthrough came in 1947. I walked into a very famous and fancy department store in New York City called Saks Fifth Avenue. I was determined to sell my products there. I convinced the managers to give me a small space, a tiny counter where I could display my jars of cream. I was so excited for the opportunity. On the first day, women started trying the creams, and they loved them. In just two days, we had sold out of every single product I brought! Then, in 1953, I had another important idea. Back then, women usually received perfume as a special gift from their husbands or fathers. I wanted women to feel they could buy a beautiful fragrance for themselves anytime they wanted. So, I created a product called Youth-Dew. It was a bath oil that had a rich, wonderful scent that stayed on the skin, so it also worked as a perfume. Women adored it, and Youth-Dew turned my small company into a huge success.

After our products became popular in America, I knew that women all over the world would love them, too. It was time to grow our business. In 1960, we opened our very first international counter at Harrods, a famous department store in London, England. This was a huge step for us, and from there, our company began to open counters in cities across the globe. I had a favorite saying: 'Telephone, Telegraph, Tell a Woman'. I believed that if one woman loved a product, she would naturally tell all of her friends about it, and that was the best advertisement we could ever have. I traveled constantly, visiting our stores, training the women who worked at our counters, and making sure that every jar of cream and every bottle of perfume was absolutely perfect for our customers.

I worked hard my entire life, and I was lucky to do something I truly loved every single day. I lived to be 95 years old, and I was able to watch the little company I started in my kitchen grow into one of the most famous beauty brands in the entire world. Today, my company is still run by my family, and it continues to create products that help people feel beautiful and confident in their own skin. I hope my story shows you that with a big dream, a lot of hard work, and a strong belief in yourself, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.