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Rant & Rave: Estee Lauder

Share: Tell us what you love and hate about Estee Lauder!

my answer: I love their newer Pure Color Envy lipstick range. I’d like their skincare, if only it wasn’t so heavily scented. I love their Gelee-based powder products, but I’m not as big of a fan of their regular powder eyeshadows.

41 Comments

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Krista Avatar

The double wear light foundation has been my go-to for years. I even mix it with other foundations to make them more long-lasting. Their double wear concealers are good as well. Their blushes are beautiful, as are their pure color envy lipsticks.

Jennifer Avatar

I love Estee Lauder’s Double Wear Light foundation…it’s long-wearing and light, I’ve repurchased it many times and I still enjoy using it!

patsyann Avatar

I don’t think I actually have a single EL product in my “collection”. I would like to try some of their double wear eye pencils, however. Years ago, I must have had some EL things but they are long gone now and I can’t even recall what I did have…maybe some lipsticks. I do remember not liking the scent of their products at that time.

xamyx Avatar

I stopped purchasing EL a while ago… They’re another brand that had fabulous, creamy, pigmented eyeshadows, but the most recent ones I bought were just a big, powdery mess. Besides, I’m just npt a fan of their marketing model.

Dustin Avatar

RAVE: Love most of their foundations. The new PC Envy Lipsticks are some of the best lipsticks available (I know it’s a little “old lady” too but they know how to do mauve lipstick like nobody else I know). The PC blushes don’t get nearly enough attention, I find the formula comparible to Tom Ford personally. The gelee products were kind of revolutionary but they need to make some permanent (like Modern Mercury), it seems like they want a trendier client base and that would do it. The new Little Black mascara primer surprised me by being as good as it is actually.

RANT: Much of the skincare is heavily scented and there are really far too many options to choose from in their skincare line-up (I do have several favorites that don’t smell to the heavens tho). The PC Envy Shines are horrible IMO. It’s mostly the smell and the taste. Just awful! The Courreges collection had a lot of duds in it too… WAY more than I was expecting and far more than it should have been allowed to have. Makes me wonder how much oversight there was when it was being developed because some of the products are just not worthy of asking money for (review will be forthcoming – I just ordered the last two lip products from Sephora last night).

ElKay Avatar

Bronze Goddess in medium is my holy grail thanks to Dusty. I’ve used Estee Lauder products on and off for almost 40 years. Double wear foundation is awesome when my skin isn’t acting super dry. I hate fragrance in skin care so I avoid Estee Lauder.

Em Avatar

I once went drunk river tubing with a girl and flipped her tube. When she surfaced, her makeup was still flawless. She was wearing 100% Estee Lauder.

Katherine T. Avatar

I haven’t bought anything from them for about 15 -20 years. I got turned off my the scent in their products and kind of old-fashioned image. I swatched their shadow kits and wasn’t too impressed. But I’ve been eyeing their new Color Envy lipsticks, and sounds like I need to check out their Double Wear foundation and pick up a GWP, which is usually pretty generous. Not too crazy about their latest spokes model, Kendall Jenner, but her and the latest Courreges collection gives me hope they will breathe some fresh air into this brand.

Rachel R. Avatar

I don’t own very much Estee Lauder. I have a couple of the Pure Color Lipsticks, and I love them. I have a Pure Color eye shadow quint in Surreal Violet, which is absolutely gorgeous. I think that’s it. But, they’re raves. 🙂 Pinkberry is a great MLBB shade for me.

Rant: They are kind of spendy, especially the skin care. Some of their skincare is too heavily scented.

calimom Avatar

I LOVE their foundations and perfume. My HG foundation is Double Wear Light. Nothing else really performs in the same way for me. My current signature scent is Knowing. Perfect combination of floral and spicy.

Fran Avatar

I have one Pure Color Envy lipstick, which I do like very much. The fragrance in the skin care really turns me off, makes me feel like they’re not interested in having me (as someone with sensitive skin) as a customer, so I just don’t bother to look at their products much!

charlotte Avatar

The only thing I’ve tried is the DW lite and concealer.. and I adore them both but the foundation shade range is horrible. I just got lucky and it’s still just a bit too dark.. but I deal with it because the performance is outstanding. I’ve just started branching into HE department store brands (EL, Clinique, etc).. they really don’t get a lot of attention so I’m never sure what to try.

Genevieve Avatar

I think lots of people have an Estee Lauder item in their stash – mostly the perfumes which have been very popular over the years. I love their Knowing and Modern Muse the best.
As for makeup – my very first eye shadow palette was the EL Sea and Sky. I was in love. It still remains a great product and I still love the EL Film Noir for greys. I don’t know about their current shadows as I have not purchased any. I also have the Emerald Oasis – which is also of great quality.
Their new Colour Envy lipsticks are fantastic – especially Emotional (a marsala colour), but their price in Australia is $50 – way too expensive for most people to spend on a lipstick. I haven’t liked their lipsticks in the past because they were too soft and the pigmentation was poor.
I haven’t purchased their skincare range because, again, of the high price.

Lisa C Avatar

There’s not much from EL that I don’t love. The only thing I can think of that I don’t like is their new Shine lipsticks. But I LOVE the pure color envy lipsticks and I love all their skincare. My absolute favorite is Perfectionist. I’ve never found anything that works as good as that for me.

Kelsey Avatar

In the summer of 2014, Estee Lauder Companies discriminated against me (I am legally blind) and the battle went on for almost six months. Because of this I will never buy another thing from them or any of their companies (this includes MAC, Clinique, Smashbox, etc.).

Melody Paul Avatar

Rave: Love most of the skincare as this was my first introduction to Estee Lauder. I will not be without a morning and night Serum from the line. The new PC eye pencils are soo nice they stay on, are easy to apply with out tugging your skin and very pigmented. Ditto for the PC Envy blushes and lipsticks. Oh and I am over the moon in love with the Enlighten EE cream spf 30 and the new Perfectionist foundation.

Rant: I think the Sumptuous mascara formula has changed. It’s not as voluminous for me as before and I don’t like the little black primer after all, it’s not water resistant as it makes my eyes teary and then smears. They have too many skincare options as mentioned.

Melody Paul Avatar

Rave: Love most of the skincare as this was my first introduction to Estee Lauder. I will not be without a morning and night Serum from the line. The new DW eye pencils are soo nice they stay on, are easy to apply with out tugging your skin and very pigmented. Ditto for the PC Envy blushes and lipsticks. Oh and I am over the moon in love with the Enlighten EE cream spf 30 and the new Perfectionist foundation.

Rant: I think the Sumptuous mascara formula has changed. It’s not as voluminous for me as before and I don’t like the little black primer after all, it’s not water resistant as it makes my eyes teary and then smears. They have too many skincare options as mentioned.

Helen Avatar

I only have one EL item in my whole collection that was given to me by my sister as she hated the colour; a GWP lipstick in Bois De Rose. I like the colour but I hate the smell of it, so I never wear it. I also don’t find it a particularly great lipstick, so I’ve just never really been intrigued by the brand.

Fiona M Avatar

Double Wear is my go to foundation, and has been for a long time, the only thing I don’t love about it is the packaging. The glass bottle is awkward for travelling, and its difficult to get the last few drops out of the bottle. When I decant DW for travel, it doesn’t seem to work as well either! (Strange!)

Not a major fan of their packaging in general, but the sales assistants I’ve met here (I’m in Ireland) are generally lovely people, and I’ve never got the hard sell from them..

Sarah Avatar

I love their double wear mascara, but I hate how fragranced everything else is! I can’t get passed the way their lipstick tastes, even if I like their colors. And the majority of their lipsticks are sooooo drying. I like their skincare, but again the fragrance leaves me feeling (or smelling) 20 years older.

Lisa Avatar

I never think to check out their counters. I have a few lipsticks from years ago that are pretty nudes but nothing spectacular. When I think of EL I think an older customer with more classic style.

Jane Avatar

I’m a third generation Lauder lover and a former counter employee. I have thoughts galore on the subject of Estée Lauder products and their company.

What I have disliked about the company lately is that it seems to be less and less a family corporation and more of an MBA-driven corporate entity. I do not like Arizona Muse or Kendall Jenner, and I miss when they’d have a face for a long time (they had the gorgeous Liya Kebede for a short while – I loved her!). Their foundation colors are now far too dark. Gift with Purchase time is just sad. I don’t want more bags or Tiger Eye – bring new colors, new formulas, new products! I hate the new classic fragrance bottles, and Modern Muse is just disappointing. Unfortunately, I am getting priced out of their skincare.

What I do love is the Pure Color Envy lipsticks, and I have loved the shade extension, too. Pure Color Plum Fizz is an always and forever color for me. Their blush is fantastic, especially Lover’s Blush. They have an amazing catalog of fragrances – Beyond Paradise, Pure White Linen, White Linen, Honeysuckle Splash, Tuberose Gardenia, Knowing… I love these and own all but Knowing. Caroline Murphy, Elizabeth Hurley, Paulina Porizkova have represented the brand so well. And I love the new Little Black Primer!

Wishes for products: I really dislike the strength of the skincare, but I would gladly wear the Resilience Lift Night or Idealist fragrances as perfume. I would love paler foundations (in neutral shades, please!). The reintroduction, if only seasonally, of body products and parfum for Beyond Paradise and Pure White Linen.

– With love from an unreasonably die hard Lauder fan.

Dustin Avatar

All of this! (Though I don’t mind the new bottles, but I like uniformity.) I can shade match myself in almost all of their foundations with my MAC NW15/20 skin but they don’t go lighter for anyone fairer than that (and I rmemeber how they got rid of their lightest shade when DW reformulated). I wouldn’t ever say I “don’t like” a model like Kendall Jenner but it smacks of a bit of desperation and I have been obsessing over Tom P’s exit from the brand and how it’s coincided with the obvious direction change in hunting down a younger demographic. It MAKES SENSE because, quite frankly, they need to cast aside the “old lady” image to stay afloat (old ladies don’t keep indefinitely after all)… however I prefer the direction it seemed like Tom was taking the brand: luxury instead of trendy. Make some outstanding new formulas that grab people’s attention because they are GOOD and put your trendy stuff in seasonal LE collections.

And I don’t know anyone who needs another Sunstone or Tigers Eye – or whatever the hell it’s called – lipstick. GWP needs a major revamping. Give the loyal customers something they can use and the newbies something to COME BACK and BUY once they’ve used up the sample.

Jane Avatar

You know, I thought and thought about your comment and realized one of the many reasons that Estee’s new “anti-old lady” direction gets under my skin so much: we’re all hurtling toward “old lady” status (well, I supposed you’re hurtling toward “old gentleman”), and I doubt we’ll stop buying cosmetics. It’s sad that a company feels that it’s primary clientele is no longer worth catering to. I would imagine sales were slipping, and I can respect the desire to change, but our cultural disdain for age, as reflected in cosmetics marketing, is just depressing. I had liked Tom Pechaux’s direction – it was sophisticated.

Aditi Avatar

I think they are a really good brand that is often overlooked. Some of the things I love from them are the advanced night repair, their lash primer and some mascaras and also their brushes are really great, with quality better than mac but similar price point.
although I dont know about their new lipstick but I really used to hate their old formula- it was frosty and smelled really strongly of figs

Ellen Avatar

I actually love the original pure color eyeshadows, they don’t show any crepiness in the eye area and come in great colors in a wide variety of finishes. Several of the original colors have been discontinued. I miss Kenyan Copper as a warm pop of color on the lid. Summer Linen and Ivory Slipper are great warm and cool mattes to use as base colors for everything! Glittering Gold is my favorite under brow and inner corner highlighter. I don’t own any of the palettes because I can get exactly what I need with the singles. The pure color blushes are very limited in color range, with warm tones sorely lacking. The package is also huge, and not suited for travel. I miss the old blushes. The lip glosses have a huge color range with a pleasant scent. I haven’t tried the new lipsticks, but some of my favorite shades were amount the old ones. The foundations that ate newer, are also excellent. There are some very old products that need to go, but this is not your grandmother’s makeup line anymore, not by a long shot!

Jennifer Lewis Avatar

I am obsessed with their PC Envy Lipsicks! I think I have about 14 or more of them now. I think they are by far the best lipstick I have in my collection next to my Guerlain. I would recommend them to anyone! I have been wanting to try their eyeliner but I haven’t pulled the trigger on them yet.

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