Estée Lauder wants to transform the beauty landscape with its latest offering, the aptly titled New Dimension collection. Fronted by actress Eva Mendes, the two skin-care products, New Dimension Shape + Fill Expert Serum and New Dimension Expert Liquid Tape, will be launched in North America in July and worldwide in September. Lauder will also debut two contouring compacts, the Shape + Sculpt Face Kit and the Shape + Sculpt Eye Kit.
“Women have many dimensions. The new vision of beauty goes beyond skin to the whole face,” said Estée Lauder global brand president Jane Hertzmark Hudis. “The notion of structure and volume being the new beauty and wanting to look good from every angle are big ideas in our industry. It’s not about problem-solution, it’s about positive transformation.”
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Said Mendes, “When you’re on a red carpet, you’re photographed from every angle and you can’t control that. But if you have products you love, once you go out there, you don’t worry as much. It’s a confidence booster.”
Referring to the collection’s development and testing, which took two-and-a-half years, Hudis said, “Everything about it has been crafted differently.” The skin care is designed to work on multiple levels to plump and smooth skin from the outside and improve its volume and density within, using ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, filigrin, lipids and a pro-collagen complex to help strengthen skin’s natural elastin and fibronectin proteins. The serum ($89 for 30 ml.), is meant to work on the entire face, while the liquid tape ($70 for 15 ml.) targets the upper cheekbones, temples and the overall eye area.
In addition to studying how the products performed — in vitro lab tests showed that skin’s collagen and elastin levels nearly tripled after three days of use, while fibronectin quadrupled after two days — the company also used neuroscience to measure women’s happiness while using them.
Combining skin care and makeup into one collection also breaks with tradition. “We’re launching them together because people want immediate gratification. The skin-care products provide long-term benefits, but we’re also giving you the tools to transform the look of your face right away.” The face contouring compact will retail for $50, the eye kit for $40.
With New Dimension, Lauder is also broadening its target age from 40 to 25-plus. “This is not an antiaging line. It’s for women of all ages,” asserts Hudis. “It could be for a 25-year-old in Korea, a 40-year-old in the United States or a 35-year-old in Europe.”
Hudis said that Mendes, 41, fit the message. “Eva is aspirational and real at the same time. She’s beautiful but approachable. That’s what makes her different and so inspirational to us.”
“I love the idea of a skin-care routine and ritual. It grounds me no matter where I am,” Mendes said. “And obviously I love results. You feel the instant activation.” As a new mother to seven-month-old Esmeralda, Mendes said her recent lack of sleep is most visible in her eyelids. “I’m always desperate for products that help me look not as tired,” she said.
Sampling will have an unprecedented role, in what Hudis calls “the most massive pre- and ongoing sampling campaign in the history of the brand and our greatest opportunity to reach new consumers.” More than 13 million samples, ranging from single-use to three-day supplies to deluxe trial sizes, will be given out over the course of a year via omnichannel communication, meaning digital messaging supported by television ads encouraging women to come in-store to try it. The company also plans to launch an app that will take a 3-D selfie that will enable women to see themselves from every angle.
Industry sources estimate first-year, worldwide retail sales at $200 million. More products are in the offering, possibly cosmetics and definitely more performance skin care. “We want women to buy again and again,” Hudis said. “We see it as an opportunity to redefine the beauty landscape and transform the conversation.”