As part of her sales strategy, Estée Lauder personally demonstrated her early products at hair salons

With the advent of charge cards, Estée Lauder fought to get her products in department stores to benefit from impulse purchases

Because Estée Lauder focused on personal relationships and demonstrations as one of her primary sales strategies, getting her product in front of enough people was an early struggle. Similarly, many customers wanted to buy her products, but didn't always have the cash on hand. One of her biggest accomplishments was earning a retail spot at Saks on 5th Ave in Manhattan, which paved the way for her brand to become a household name and gave customers more flexibility to make purchases on the spot.

'Telephone, telegraph, tell a woman:' Listen to Estée Lauder's legendary vision for word-of-mouth marketing

Without a large advertising budget, Lauder focused her marketing strategy on making high-quality products that women would love enough to tell their friends about. Those friends would later inevitably buy Estée Lauder products.

Estée Lauder used wealthy people's bathrooms to curate the color of the jars her products were sold in

While Lauder herself was just starting her cosmetics empire, she knew wealthy people who could afford high-quality products would always be her target market. In order to make her products as appealing to this market as possible, Lauder held up different colors of glass bottles in people's bathrooms to see what would look best with their decorations before landing on a turquoise bottle with a gold cap.

Explore old photos of Estée Lauder's life

Despite her humble upbringing, Estée Lauder's love of beauty and glamour helped propel her social climb. Lauder became friends with many elites over the course of her life—including the late Princess Diana—owned homes in the Hamptons and the South of France, and turned her family business into a cosmetic empire. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Estée Lauder's family ran a hardware store in Corona, Queens

Estée Lauder grew up organizing the storefront window of her father's hardware store, which her family lived above. Lauder was reportedly a natural salesperson, and her experience working with her father is frequently cited as her earliest business training.

Read Time Magazine's profile of Estée Lauder—the only woman named to a list of the most influential business leaders of the 20th century

Time Magazine's 1998 profile of Estée Lauder credited much of Lauder's global success to her incredible work ethic and her dedication to creating the highest-quality products, even if those products weren't trendy.

Estée Lauder's son, Leonard Lauder, transformed Estée Lauder into a global powerhouse

Leonard Lauder became president of Estée Lauder Companies in 1972 and is credited with much of the brand's expansion. Under his leadership, the company launched new lines like Aramis and acquired luxury brands to bolster its position in the luxury beauty market.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Explore the brands owned by Estée Lauder Companies

While Estée Lauder remains the flagship brand and namesake of the cosmetic conglomerate, the company owns more than 20 premier brands. Some of the brands—like Clinique and Origin—were created in-house, but others—like Tom Ford and Jo Malone—are a result of the company's acquisition strategy, which often targets companies with high-end retail products.

Leonard Lauder, one of Estée's sons, invented the slant on a tube of lipstick

Leonard Lauder was known for being an innovator, both in business and in product. He's credited with creating the now-standard slant of a lipstick tube, slicing the top off a then-bullet-shaped lipstick to better fit women's lips. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Estée Lauder once broke a bottle of the hit perfume 'Youth Dew' to convince French department stores to carry the product

Youth Dew, originally launched in 1953 as a bath oil, was wildly successful in the American market and one of the early products that cemented Estée Lauder as a luxury cosmetics brand. When the Galeries Lafayette in Paris hesitated to sell the perfume, Lauder "accidentally" broke a bottle of Youth Dew, causing the smell to spread throughout the department store. Shoppers began asking for the scent, and the department store agreed to sell it.

To ward off competition from Revlon, Estée Lauder launched Clinique—the first dermatologist-approved skincare line—in 1968

Clinique launched in 1968 as an entire product line, as opposed to just a single product, which was rare for cosmetics brands at the time. Clinique marked Estée Lauder's first venture into a younger, less luxury-oriented retail market.

Estée Lauder divorced and later remarried Joseph Lauder, her husband and business partner

After first marrying in 1933, Estée Lauder divorced Joseph Lauder, primarily because he wasn't as driven and ambitious as Estée. They ultimately remarried in 1942 and were rarely seen apart. While Estée was a visionary leader for the company, Joseph handled much of the behind-the-scenes work.

Elizabeth I removed her eyebrows to draw attention to her chest

The queen thought that this kind of grooming (which sometimes even included shaving some of her forehead) would cause viewers to find her face blank and, as a result, look south to her breasts.

'I got my start by giving myself a start.'

- Businesswoman Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919)

Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign sparked conversations about beauty standards in media

For the 20-year anniversary of the campaign in 2024, Dove conducted a brand-commissioned study to gauge how perceptions of beauty standards have shifted since its launch. While 81% of US women thought “the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can’t ever achieve” in 2004, the share had shrunk to 69% in 2024. Watch the ad here.

Soap operas earned their name thanks to the sponsorships of soap brands

Many early 20th-century radio programs for women were sponsored by brands that introduced each new episode. Because these dramas were aimed at women, many of their sponsors were for household products, like soap. The association led some to refer to the shows as "soap operas," a title that stuck.

Jane Maas was one of the first prominent female ad executives on Madison Avenue

Jane Maas started as a copywriter at the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather in 1964. She’s known for working on the famous "I Heart NY" tourism campaign alongside artist Milton Glaser. This interview provides a glimpse into what life was like for women like her on Madison Avenue.

Advent calendars have become a major seasonal driver for brands

Companies now treat Advent calendars as key holiday products, expanding production as demand surges across categories. Retail data shows beauty and self-care calendars consistently rank among the most popular, as some brands report selling out yearly, and retailers order months in advance.

Liza Minnelli debuted her signature pixie cut in the mid-1960s, transforming her into a style icon

In addition to her performances, Minnelli is known for her glitzy outfits and short black haircut. After starting out with a more conventional look, her style evolved into something more extravagant, mirroring the boldness of her performance and public persona.

Before starting Apple, Steve Jobs cold-called HP at 12 years old and got a summer job

As a leader, Jobs was both admired and resented for his unwavering commitment to his vision, which led him to push his colleagues beyond their limits. Jobs once told a rival computer executive that he'd make a product so good, they'd buy one for their kid.

Watch Helen Keller visit Martha Graham's studio

The two women were friends, and Keller eventually visited Graham's studio while her company was rehearsing. In this footage of that encounter, Graham shows Keller the shape of her choreography.

‘Demo days’ are when founders at Y Combinator pitch their startup ideas

Investors sit in the audience, waiting to hear what this season’s batch of YC founders have cooked up. YC argues that going through the process of a demo day can help founders get a better understanding of their startup themselves.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Private schools are free to experiment with teaching styles

Because they’re not beholden to national curricula, private school teachers can use different pedagogical approaches, like Harkness, which was developed at New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy. The method brings students to a large round oval table and encourages them to lead the lesson through inquiry.

Nikola Tesla embraced showmanship when promoting ideas ahead of their time

He once electrified himself during a live demonstration to illustrate the safety and power of alternating current, and his presentations often featured arcing coils, glowing lights, and bold claims about a future of wireless power.

Cassatt participated in a fundraiser for women's suffrage against her family's wishes

The painter took part in a 1915 charity exhibition in support of women's right to vote. That offended some of her family members, especially her sister-in-law, who were opposed to the cause. In response, Cassatt sold works that had originally been designated for them.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.