Estée Lauder beauty products

Estée Lauder is a preeminent global leader in the prestige beauty market, recognized for its luxury skincare, makeup, and fragrance lines. Founded in 1946 by Estée and Joseph Lauder in New York City, the brand began with a humble kitchen-based production of four signature skincare items. It revolutionized the industry with a focus on high-quality ingredients and a personalized 'high-touch' customer experience, including the invention of the 'gift with purchase' concept.

In 2026, Estée Lauder remains the cornerstone brand of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., which has grown into the world's second-largest cosmetics corporation. The company's manufacturing footprint is truly global, with major production facilities located in the United States, the United Kingdom (Whitman Laboratories), Switzerland, and a significant state-of-the-art facility in Japan (Ibaraki Prefecture) serving the Asia-Pacific market. Despite its status as a publicly traded entity on the New York Stock Exchange, the company maintains a unique ownership structure where the Lauder family retains approximately 80-86% of the voting power, ensuring that the brand's original heritage and long-term vision continue to guide its global operations.