Friday, August 26, 2016

The Friday Forum - August 26 Plus an Exciting Estée Lauder Launch

There's hope for Estée Lauder. Most of you know that after years of profitable, but unexciting existence, Estée Lauder brought in Tom Pecheux, who reinvigorated the brand. Suddenly, Estée Lauder was hot again, and we bloggers had fun with all of the color products he created or inspired. Unfortunately, he left. From that point, the company became what I called the Aerin Lauder Company. Most of the new color introductions were Aerin's, and I found them boring - to the point that I seldom browsed the company's Web site.

More recently, in its efforts to attract Millennials, Estée Lauder made Kendall Jenner its new face (along with blogger Irene Kim) and rebranded many of its new products Estée Edit, which are "curated" by Ms. Jenner and guest bloggers. Intended for rule breakers and risk takers - the way Millennials like to think of themselves - Estée Edit products strike me as modern, but traditional at the same time. In other words, they are a product of marketing. If anything, Kendall Jenner was a turn-off to me.

Little of Estée Lauder's recent marketing has impressed me or enticed me to buy. Then the news broke. Estée Lauder would be partnering with Victoria Beckham to launch a limited-edition color cosmetics line. The collection is set to debut on September 13, with a preview at Beckham's runway show two days before. It will be sold in select retail outlets, including department stores and Victoria Beckham Dover Street, plus the retailer's Web sites. The full collection will be sold at Bergdorf Goodman and bergdorfgoodman.com, Selfridges, Victoria Beckham’s Dover Street store in London and on victoriabeckham.com and esteelauder.com starting September 13. It will launch in the rest of the world from October 1. I can't wait!

In an interview with WWD, Beckham said her aim is to empower women, fill a few market niches, complement her fashion collection, and relay some of the makeup and skin-care wisdom she’s gathered from a life spent on airplanes, red carpets, and in the full glare of paparazzi flashbulbs.

“I was very specific about what I wanted. It was about the must-have items that I felt everybody should have in their makeup bag, things that are really quite difficult to find because I know, I’ve searched,” Beckham told WWD. The aim was also to deliver products people could immediately associate with her, “whether it’s a smoky eye, a nude lip, or dewy skin. So I’ve been very honest, very true to myself. This has been something that I’ve wanted to do for so many years,” she said.

WWD told us there will be 15 units, including a limited-edition, portable mirror that casts a flattering light for makeup application. Prices will  range from $30 for the designer’s signature nude-matte lip pencil to $45 for an Eye Metals Eye Shadow, $95 for the Morning Aura Illuminating Crème and $1,200 for the Victoria Beckham Collection Daylight Edition, a light box that includes a removable lighted mirror as well as eight products.

While the focus will be mostly on lips and eyes, there will also be a bronzer, a highlighter (Beckham convinced Lauder to bring back a version of its limited-edition Modern Mercury highlighter - yea!) and the Morning Aura cream. There is more, but I'll save some surprises for you.

I finally have hope for Estée Lauder again. Victoria Beckham has proven that she has a talented eye, and her experience in the limelight as a celebrity and successful designer should give her the one-the-ground knowledge to develop a cosmetics line that will appeal to everyone, not just Millennials. Are you as excited as I am?

It's time for the Friday Forum. The Friday Forum has always been an opportunity to share information. Are you using a fabulous product and want to sing its praises? Tell us about it! Did you find a beauty product disappointing? Tell us why! Do you have questions others might be able to answer? We can help! Want to talk about skin care? I'm game. Just use the comments. We have busy weekends and slow ones on the forum. I hope to see you in the comments.

Photos courtesy of Estée Lauder and WWD

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never been drawn to Estee Lauder, but I might check this out. Could anyone tell me if Chantecaille gives samples when you order from their site? I'm thinking about purchasing the lion palette and blush and trying to decide if I should order from them or Neiman Marcus.

Happy Friday!
Pemberley

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Pemberley,

No, Chantecaille does not. I think that's a shame. Order from a source that sends samples.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much! I love Chantecaille, but I've never ordered directly from them. Pemberley

Jill said...

Thank you CG and Eileen for your helpful comments on foundation in last weeks forum! I did go back and read them but didn't want to leave a thank you comment there that might get missed. I really appreciate the input.

My Velvet Orchid came this week and I'm smitten :)

Anonymous said...

My latest purchase I want to share w/you all is the new-to-me Lorac Unzipped Gold eye palette. It's been around for years I think, but it's incredible, smooth shimmers and mattes that last all day with the little free Lorac eye primer that came with it. Wore like iron in this obscene Florida heat and humidity, hope that tropical storm stays away.....Truly, I highly recommend to go check out the Lorac eyeshadows. I'm headed back to Ulta tomorrow to look at the other Lorac makeup and palettes! Years ago I had her lipstick in "Rita" which I loved, and then the brand kinda disappeared from dept. stores and now it's at Ulta and Kohls too, I think.

Of course that doesn't eliminate the Chanel Candeur et Experience worm from living in my brain, I may need to get it this weekend too!!!

Eileen said...

I, too, remember when Estée Lauder was "that little old lady" stuff. I always laughed about it because I was in my sixties at the time and even I couldn't see the relevance of EL's offerings to what was fashionable. Then along came Pecheux and really turned EL around. We started getting silky, deeply pigmented eyeshadows in modern colors, creamy gel highlighters to die for, buttery lipsticks, and an expansion of foundation shades that gave meaning to the word "inclusive". Then Aerin Lauder took over the helm and the EL line became nothing more than an expansion of her über-neutral Aerin line. I love a good neutral and respect that some work environments require a minimal makeup look, but sheesh! Much of AL's stuff is boring to the point of being drab and, under her leadership, EL has been headed in the same direction. I'm sure there are lots of fans--primarily light to medium complexed women who love or need a no makeup makeup--but that's a pretty narrow niche. Beckham to the rescue--I hope! I like VB's linear, architectural, no fuss fashion sense and her throw back to the sixties makeup style. She manages to pull it all off with great élan. I've only seen a few obscure pictures of the products, but I've seen enough to have me eagerly awaiting the arrival of her collection. If her collection is a success, perhaps it will signal the decision makers at EL that many women want to enhance their beauty; not downplay it.

On a side note, Charlestongirl, I'm with you regarding Kendall Jenner. I can't say Kendall and "rule breaker" or "risk taker" with a straight face. She's a lovely young woman and I applaud her for taking modeling seriously and steering clear of the breast implants, over-inflated lips, and the trying too hard ensembles that her sisters have embraced, but when it comes to wild and crazy, we cahnleave that to Kylie! LOL

This was a very busy and productive week, but there was absolutley nothing beauty related going on and so I'll just wish you all a very happy and restful weekend.

Charlestongirl said...

You're welcome, Jill. Eileen did most of the helping.

Velvet Orchid is a dreamy lip color. So glad you ordered it!

Charlestongirl said...

Anonymous, I always ordered Lorac directly from Lorac. Very nice makeup!

Charlestongirl said...

Eileen, it has been slow, but look out! Fall is arriving.

Nan P said...

Hi Pemberley,
Barney's beauty event starts Sep. 7 which includes a cosmetics bag full of deluxe samples and mine always seems to include a few Chantecaille samples. If you call the store to place your order with an SA, just tell them you want some Chantecaille samples. In my experience they're always glad to accommodate these requests. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much, Nan. I may just do that! Pemberley

LadyJicky said...

I am looking forward to the new Dior Rouge lipsticks ... love a Dior lipstick and I do love those Lauder Envy ones too..... sort of turned the house around when those lippies came out but it does need to keep it coming! I hope Lauder hears this :)

We do not have the Aerin makeup line here in Australia and , according to Eileen - I am not missing much! LOL
**** Eileen ... when I see a photo of Aerin in the magazines I just want to run at her with a bright lipstick and blusher!! LOL

Wendy said...

Hi Charleston Girl!! Did you see Armani's new Fall Runway Collection? The images look very pretty! xo.

Charlestongirl said...

Wendy, I saw photos on Tavia's blog. The palette looks fabulous!

Eileen said...

Hi LadyJicky,

That's my reaction, too! And, I know from what's been said by beauty insiders about the late, great Estée, that she would have been after her, too. Blusher in one hand, lipstick in the other :-)

Anonymous said...

The last few days have been so very hot. Yesterday, we had a bird tragedy. The just hatched baby swallows fled their nest under the roof over the deck due to the heat. I carefully put them back in the nest, only touching them with a piece of cloth so that the parents wouldn't be turned off by the human touch. Last night, the parents went back to them. This morning, one baby was on the ground dead - I am not sure if the others made it. I hope so.
When it's this hot, I cannot even think of make-up or fragrance, everything feels like it is wilting: hair, skin, energy. Earlier, I wore the Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Creme Brulee with only mascara and liked it.
Have a great weekend.
Tanja

LadyJicky said...

Oh Eileen ...you gave me the best laugh.... I have this picture in my mind of them both running around Estee's desk in her office screaming! LOL

Eileen said...

Hi Tanja,

I hope the other swallows have survived. Nature can be brutal on the babies :-( We have beautiful morning doves in our neighborhood. They love to nest in our palm trees. Last week one teeny-tiny baby fell out of the nest. There was no way we could get it back up seeing as some of our palms are about 100 feet tall and we couldn't tell where the nest was. Fortunately, you can handle a morning dove chick and the parents won't abandon it. They're very sweet, gentle birds so I thought I could perhaps build a nest in the vicinity of where it landed and at least get the little one off the ground. Just about that time, though, the mother bird came swooping down with some long grasses. She eye-balled me for awhile and then put the grass down next to her baby and took off again. She didnt seem bothered by me and just carried on building a little nest on the ground while I watched from a respectful distance. Once she finished, she nudged the baby into the nest and snuggled down on top of it. I gathered some branches and put them around the area to obscure the nest so she'd feel more secure. I also put some wild bird seed out so she wouldn't have to go far. Day by day, I've watched the little chick grow. Today it was exploring its surroundings and exercising its wings. I hope it will eventually be able to follow its mom up into the trees where it will be much safer. I can't help but wonder, though, where the other chicks are. I never see the male around and I wonder if mom and dad are tending two nests. It's a beautiful thing to see the mama bird's devotion to her young chick.

Anonymous said...

Hi Eileen,
Thank you for this most beautiful story. You really lifted my spirits and I am so happy to hear the baby turtle dove is thriving. Both swallow parents returned but there is no more hungry chirping so I assume the baby swallows didn't make it. We have two pairs of turtle doves by the feeder and about 10 humming birds who also hatched quite a few little ones here. Aren't the turtle doves sticking with their mates for life?
Tomorrow school/in-service starts for me. Were you a teacher or counselor? You have such an eloquent writing style.
Thanks again and happy Sunday,
Tanja

Eileen said...

Hi Tanja,

I was an educator for over forty years. I worked as a teacher for half that time; then as a counselor along with being the coordinator for categorical programs, compliance, and testing. Before I started my family, I also taught some graduate courses at Cal State Dominguez Hills--in my spare time! LOL I wore many hats over the years and loved each and every one :-) When I retired, I took with me so many wonderful memories from all my different positions, but none of them equal the memories I have of being a classroom teacher.

And, yes, morning doves (aka turtle doves) do mate for life. They're such gentle, sweet birds and their gentle cooing is some of nature's best music--at least to my ears.

Unknown said...

Ooh I really admire Victoria Beckham! She is sassy, talented, a high achiever, beautiful......what a great coup for Estée Lauder.....

Charli's Daily Diary said...

I am very excited for the VBxEsteeLauder collab but when I saw that the price for the lighted mirror plus 8 makeup items will $1,200 my heart broke. That is so expensive! I was hoping to get that. Oh well. I want to get all of the items but obviously I am budgeted to only a few. Any recommendations as which I should get? I would enjoy input from anyone who is willing :)
I love the bird story Eileen. Beautiful.
I'm so sorry about the other bird story. My cat is too good of a bird hunter and has managed to lose every collar we have ever gotten her. I just ask her not to hunt please when ever I let her out to go explore. That seems to work better.
I hope everyone is enjoying their week.

Charlestongirl said...

Charli, I won't know what to recommend until I see them. I suspect they will be priced like Tom Ford, which means I'll only be able to purchase the pieces I think are the best for me.