Cosmetics magnate Estée Lauder was born to humble beginnings in the Queens borough of New York City, USA, in 1906. She began making and selling beauty products under Estée Lauder Cosmetics Inc. in 1946, but it was her Youth Dew bath oil that exploded in popularity and made Estée Lauder a globally known brand.

Born Josephine Esther Mentzer to Jewish immigrants in the Corona neighborhood of Queens, Estée Lauder showed an interest in beauty at an early age. Her first taste of entrepreneurship and business was through her family’s hardware store, where she helped out, along with her eight siblings. But it was alongside her uncle, Dr. John Schotz, a chemist, that she developed an affinity for beauty products. Schotz ran New Way Laboratories, which manufactured and sold creams, lotions, and rouges. Soon, Estée learned how to make her own beauty creams, and as a teenager she began peddling her products to local beauty salons, marketing them as “jars of hope” and providing free samples to potential clients.

Estée married Joseph H. Lauter (later Lauder) in 1930. In 1946, Estée officially formed and launched Estée Lauder Cosmetics Inc., and she and Joseph made each product by hand, using a former restaurant kitchen as their laboratory. In 1947, landmark New York City retailer Saks Fifth Avenue placed a US$800 order, which sold out in two days. In addition to her popular products, Estée pioneered the practice of “free gift with purchase,” which the company and its subsidiary brands still use today and replicated by other beauty companies.

In 1953, Estée Lauder Cosmetics launched its first fragrance, a bath oil called Youth Dew. Rather than the small amounts of perfume women traditionally used, customers poured entire bottles into their baths. The product sold 50,000 bottles in its first year, rising to 150 million by 1984. The company continued to flourish, reaching overseas markets in the late 1950s and launching new product lines, including Aramis, cosmetics for men, in 1964, and the fragrance-free Clinique line, launched in concert with medical experts, in 1968.

In 1973, Estée reduced her role in the company, stepping down from day-to-day operations but maintaining her role as Chairman of the Board. Estée penned her autobiography in 1985, which included the following 15 rules for aspiring entrepreneurs:

• Find the proper location.

• When you're angry, never put it in writing.

• You get more bees with honey.

• Keep your own image straight in your mind.

• Keep an eye on the competition.

• Divide and rule.

• Learn to say no.

• Trust your instincts.

• Act tough.

• Acknowledge your mistakes

• Write things down.

• Hire the best people.

• Break down barriers.

• Give credit where credit is due.

• Train the best sales force.

While Estée Lauder Cosmetics Inc. went public in 1995, the family, including her two sons and several grandchildren, remains heavily involved in its operations. The company also manages a portfolio of some of the most recognized cosmetics brands in the world, including Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Jo Malone, La Mer, Mac, and Too Faced, among many others. The company maintains an interactive web biography of Estée.

In addition to numerous awards in the cosmetics and fashion industries, Estée Lauder received the French government’s Insignia of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1978, the Gold Medal award of the City of Paris in 1979, the Crystal Apple from the Association for a Better New York in 1977, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Spirit of Achievement Award in 1968. In 1970 she was recognized by 575 business and financial editors as one of Ten Outstanding Women in Business. In 1984 she and seven others were chosen as Outstanding Mother of the Year, and in 1988, she was inducted into the Global Business Hall of Fame.