Estee Lauder adds spice to life's little 'pleasures'

By Parvathi Nayar Narayan

JAKARTA (JP): From the creators of White Linen and Beautiful comes Estee Lauder's pleasures, the new offering that vies for one's olfactory attention in the fragrance market. It is certainly easy on the nose being an exceptionally light perfume, which assures a broad based appeal over a large age group. In fact, at Lauder, they hope to see it become the first fragrance that a girl buys. Appropriate, then, that Elizabeth Hurley's is the face launching the perfume, for she has made no secret of her dependency on makeup since a very young age.

"My sister and I were given an electric blue eyeshadow to sharewhen we were about nine years old. I've never looked back," saysHurley. "People often complement me on how 'natural and fresh' Ilook. Little do they know that I've craftily applied all theright products to make me look so 'natural'," adds Hurley.

Light, airy and flowery Estee Lauder pleasures would seem to strike the right note for a young girl just beginning to experiment with femininity and allure.

Femininity -- now that's very important to the decision makers at Estee Lauder Companies, despite the current fragrance climatethat is supportive of unisex perfumes. Estee Lauder products areaimed at highlighting and enhancing a woman's femininity, unisex is not their way. Thus Estee Lauder Companies keep as very distinct their products for men and new or experimental ventures, such as a recently acquired majority share in Mac the exclusive new line of professional make-up (named after the make-up artist who is its creator).

Estee Lauder pleasures was launched in Indonesia in June 1996 and is available from Estee Lauder counters. In terms of pricing, the eau de parfum (30 ml, 50 ml, 100 ml) is from Rp 93,000 to Rp 200,000. It was launched along with a matching body lotion (250 ml, Rp 96,000).

It seems one can't escape from "high-tech" these days, even inthe sensual world of perfumes. In the creation of the pleasures fragrance, the extraction of the subtle essence of Baie Rose, oneof its main ingredients, promised to be a tricky problem. EsteeLauder, however, came up with a revolutionary method of perfumeextraction. Called "soft extraction" using Co2, it results in apurer, non-toxic extract.

Actually, Baie Rose is the first new, natural ingredient inperfume manufacturing in 25 years. It is a kind of berry from theisland of Reunion. Other ingredients that go to make up the sheerfloral feel of Estee Lauder pleasures include white lilies,violet leaves, black lilacs, karo karounde blossoms and Indiansandalwood. The air of lightness is carried to the almostminimalist design of the bottle, plain, elegantly shaped glasswith an unadorned platinum colored cap.

The size and scope of the media blitz introducing the new perfumeto the world has been quite staggering. For example, over 22million scent strips were sent around the world, "...enough toreach all the way to the moon," adds Nim Ming Decloitre-Nguy, Estee Lauder's brand manager. At the recent 24th Annual Fragrance Foundation's International Awards, the perfume equivalent of the Oscars, Estee Lauder pleasures walked away with two prestigious awards.

"It took us three years to perfect it, but everywhere it has launched, it's been a winner, " says Leonard A. Lauder, chairman and CEO of the Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.

Elizabeth Hurley is not just the model for their new perfume but the new face and spokeswoman for Estee Lauder Companies. No doubt she constantly seems to make the headlines whether as Hugh Grant's girlfriend or wearer of that dress held together withsafety pins. However, she was chosen because it was felt that sheepitomized the new 90s look, warm and friendly.

Estee Lauder pleasures has received a warm reception from women all over the world, but aims to do more. "A really successful perfume captures 1 percent of the perfume market but our target is to do even better and eventually capture 1.5 percent," says Decloitre-Nguy.