Estée Lauder

A Queens-born saleswoman gave her face powder away, put an accent on her name and built a prestige beauty group around it.

Big name·Global·Founded 1946·Members

At a glance

Founded: 1946, when Estée and Joseph Lauder launched Estée Lauder Cosmetics in New York.³
Founded by: Estée Lauder, born Josephine Esther Mentzer in Queens, and her husband Joseph. She ran product and sales, and he ran finance and operations.²³
Home: New York City, where it was founded.⁴
Owned by: The Estée Lauder Companies, listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 1995 and run since January 2025 by Stéphane de La Faverie, who led this brand from 2016 to 2020.¹⁶⁷
What it sells: Skincare, make-up and fragrance, in more than 150 countries.⁵
Size: 22 bottles of Advanced Night Repair sold every minute around the world in 2019, by the company's count.⁴

How it got here

1946

1 of 3

Estée and Joseph Lauder launch Estée Lauder Cosmetics with four products, among them an all-purpose skin cream Estée had been selling in Manhattan beauty salons.³¹

Member

The rest of this is for members.

You have read the opening of this brand breakdown. The rest of it comes with a membership.

One membership covers all four courses and Brands.

All lessons in the four Learn courses
All brand breakdowns in the Brands section
All quizzes, flashcards and crosswords
An AI teacher on every lesson, for up to 60 questions a day
All course material published during the membership

Price

Membership is from $12 a month on the Yearly plan, which is charged at $144 once a year. Lifetime access is $59, paid once.Membership is from ₹200 a month on the Yearly plan, which is charged at ₹2,400 + GST once a year. Lifetime access is ₹3,999 + GST, paid once.

See membership Already a member? Sign in

Sources for what is above

Next in Beauty and skincare

Lancôme

A Paris perfume house named after a château, owned by L'Oréal since 1964 and carried by famous women it sometimes drops and then hires back.

All of Beauty and skincare →