estee lauder 1906-2004.('Estee, a Success Story')(Biography)(Column)

Byline: Shirley Lord

I remember my friend Estee Lauder standing in the sunshine one spring morning in the late sixties at the marina in Palm Beach. She was intent on applying her first men's cologne, Aramis, to the wrists of some reluctant males about to depart on a deep-sea fishing trip with her beloved husband, Joe. "It will bring you luck," she said firmly. "Isn't it wonderful?" she asked in a voice that demanded an answer. The banker, the prince, the movie star-and my husband-found themselves dutifully inhaling. It was wonderful, they agreed, as they went on their way to the big marlin. "We'll break records for you today, Estee!" one roared back.

Estee's belief in her products was not only unequivocal, it was mesmerizing, inspiring. Her purse was a treasury. Whether it was a rosy lipstick or a skin serum that felt like velvet, she made a habit of sweeping these out, like Houdini, to transmit "luck," to transform faces, and especially-her favorite phrase-to "add glow."

I saw that evangelical fervor the first time we met, before she had become the most famous name in beauty. It was 1963, at a dinner party at Claridge's in London. Estee stood at the door greeting her guests. She was a small but stately figure in a chic fuchsia toque exactly matching her silk Dior suit, and she welcomed me with a radiant smile and arms outstretched, as if we had known each other for years. I was blown out of my cocksure mind by her all-enveloping warmth, and the most flawless skin I had ever seen. Many of the invited guests were no surprise, but they were far outnumbered by women I didn't know. We had hardly been seated a second when Estee rose, champagne glass in hand, and bubbling with excitement asked us to toast "my wonderful guests of honor." These were the women I hadn't known. Seated at every table, among society figures and actresses, these were the women who spent their days selling behind the Lauder counters. She knew their names, their birthdays, their life stories-and as the years passed and their numbers grew, she always did.

Nothing and no one could spoil her love affair with her work. Once, Gloria Guinness, an immutable fixture on the International ...