Evelyn Lauder Dies Leaving a Legacy of Breast...

Evelyn Lauder died in her home today at 75 in Manhattan, New York. The Senior Corporate Vice President for Estee Lauder Cosmetics leaves a rich legacy in the worlds of beauty, health, and breast cancer awareness.

Family Business

Estee Lauder, who lived to see 97, had two sons that brought her two daughters that would become part of the family and the family business. Evelyn married Estee's oldest son Leonard in 1959 and connected with the cosmetics company, naming the Clinique line in the 1960s. Evelyn worked over 50 years in the family business and is as well-known for her advocacy for breast health and cancer awareness as she is with cosmetics.

Pretty in Pink

Evelyn helped develop skin care, makeup, and fragrance lines for Estee Lauder in various leadership roles. Understanding that beauty starts from within, Evelyn supported her mother-in-law's philanthropic interests through advocacy for breast health and healthy living. In 1992, she and Alexandra Penney, Editor for Self Magazine, created the symbolic pink ribbon, which is now a worldwide symbol for breast cancer awareness.

Beauty counters were now adorned with pretty pink ribbons to raise awareness and research money for breast cancer, while capturing women with new products. In 2009, a Breast Center in her name was built in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Ironically, she was dealing with her own 2007 diagnosis of ovarian cancer, which led to her death. Her life, family, career, and passion all seemed to blend effortlessly like an eyeshadow palette. Her grieving family are also the ones that can carry on her efforts in the Lauder business. Her grieving friends and followers can carry on her efforts with cancer research and awareness. On the company website for Estee Lauder, the title page has a memorial picture and passage that sums it all up nicely, "We Celebrate Her Beautiful Life."

Â© Les Go, November 2011
Photo Courtesy of: Jason Meredith, Wikipedia Commons