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Estée Lauder

Youth Dew

1953OrientalParfumUnited States

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Editorial notes

  1. 01

    The first major prestige fragrance sold as a bath oil, conceived by Estée Lauder to let American women buy fragrance for themselves rather than wait for a husband's Christmas gift.

  2. 02

    Within six years of launch, Youth Dew was responsible for roughly 80% of Estée Lauder's sales, turning the company from a small skincare brand into a perfume house.

  3. 03

    Lauder reportedly 'spilled' a bottle on the floor of the Galeries Lafayette counter in Paris in the 1950s so the scent would draw curious passing customers.

  4. 04

    Composed by Josephine Catapano in 1953 around peach, cinnamon and clove over an oakmoss-patchouli-frankincense base, in an apothecary flacon with a turquoise ribbon.

Dossier

Edition · 000

Status · Active. Reformulated.

A spicy oriental amber.

Composed by
Josephine Catapano
Founder
Estée Lauder
Country
United States

The pyramid

Top
aldehydespeachbergamotspices
Heart
cinnamoncloveroseylang-ylangjasmine
Base
patchoulioakmossamberfrankincensevetiver

The brief

Estée Lauder conceived it as a luxurious scented bath oil so American women would feel justified buying fragrance for themselves rather than waiting for it as a gift.

NameMarketed as 'Youth Dew' to suggest a youthful, intimate elixir worn directly on skin.

Why it mattered

  • First major prestige fragrance sold as a bath oil, bypassing department-store perfume-counter buying restrictions and letting women purchase scent for themselves

The flacon

Squat amber-glass apothecary bottle with a turquoise ribbon-tied stopper.

Worn by

  • Estée Lauder

    Reportedly 'spilled' Youth Dew at the Galeries Lafayette counter in Paris in the 1950s so the scent would draw customers.

Footnotes

  • Within six years of launch, Youth Dew was responsible for roughly 80% of Estée Lauder's sales, transforming the company from a small skincare brand into a perfume house.

The Curator's Note

A perfume that gave American women permission to buy perfume.

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