January 1,

If you were to ever ask Estée Lauder how old she was, the same answer reliably came back: “You ask my age? I tell you it simply doesn’t matter,” she would famously respond to the question. And yet, commemorating the fact that she was one year older on July 1st every year was always a big event for the beauty entrepreneur. The celebration was typically held at her home in East Hampton and it included a casual, summer-themed family dinner of fried chicken, coleslaw, tomato-and-mozzarella salad, and corn “off” the cob. That it always ended with a delicious birthday cake was something of a given. A sucker for a good lemon meringue pie and “anything chocolate,” confirms her granddaughter and our Style and Image Director, Aerin Lauder, Estée made sure to start every one of her years off with something sweet—a tradition we plan on observing by eating a piece of this cake, right now, in her honor. Happy Birthday, Estée! Your legacy and your love for beauty are truly ageless.

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