Leonard Lauder: Last News

Leonard Lauder – former chief executive of the Estée Lauder Companies – coined the “lipstick index” theory. He argued that during times of recession and hardship, beauty products serve as an affordable pick-me-up. More than 20 years later, the theory still stacks up, and it’s a trend that the retailer Net-a-Porter calls “Dopamine Beauty”.

johnlewis.com), you can buy an Hermes nail polish in its signature ‘Orange Boite’ - about as grown-up as bright colours come.Meanwhile, my colleague Lisa Armstrong has been garnering compliments this week on her pastel lilac manicure, and I loved the pale yellow I spotted on the Paul & Joe catwalk last month – now that my dark green mani has given me a little alternative colour confidence, I might try it in the summer when I have a bit of a tan.A post shared by RE:NEW Beauty (@biosculpturegelgb)“It used to be that our best sellers were red, pink, and dark colours,” says Claire Aggarwal of Biosculpture, the gel polish company which has partnered with Anya Hindmarch on the nail bar. “Now, bright greens and pastel colours are selling well – there's no one colour that is not popular.”And evidently, Lisa is on to something with her lilac nails: “We're just about to launch a new violet shade because there’s such demand for it,” Aggarwal says.So why are we all becoming bolder in our nail polish choices, all of a sudden? It could be a version of the Lipstick Index, the term coined by Leonard Lauder, son of Estée Lauder and the beauty giant’s chairman, to describe the spike in lipstick sales during the early 2000s recession.

the place to shop on the high street, it will be interesting to see whether Asos will bring back the Topshop Beauty range which was discontinued in 2019. Quite frankly, they’d be missing a trick if they didn’t.   Sales of skincare and eye make-up products have shot through the roof over the past 12 months, cementing truth in the ‘Lipstick Index’ - a term coined in the 1990s by Leonard Lauder, who said that in times of financial crisis, sales of beauty products will still perform well.It’s been true even with the backdrop of a pandemic, as lockdowns have meant we’ve invested more in our at-home beauty regimes, self-care wellness rituals and haircare.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation, £34.50Mac Matte Lipstick in various shades,  £17.50Mac Studio Fix Fluid SPF15 Foundation, £27Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronised Multi-Recovery Complex, £60Crème de la Mer La Mer, £130The Company I Keep: My Life in Beauty,  by Leonard Lauder, is published by Harper Business on Thursday, £25We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.Thank you for your support.Need help?Visit our page.

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