Estée Lauder will launch the Legacy Collection in Feburary, with five of the brand's fragrances (Azurée, Estée, Knowing, Private Collection and White Linen) in updated formulas developed by Frédéric Malle working with perfumers Anne Flipo, Carlos Benaïm and Bruno Jovanovic.
[Frédéric Malle] noted that, in Lauder’s day, perfumers combined base scents that were “like premixed mini-perfumes” to create a final fragrance. “They contained things that weren’t necessary and created background noise,” Malle said. To update the formulas, any nonessential ingredients in those bases were stripped away — “it’s like cleaning up,” he said.
Azurée Legacy ~ an updated version of 1969's Azurée, "...the new Azurée is a portrait of strength and sensibility", with bergamot, basil, tarragon, cardamom, cumin, sage and jasmine.
Estée Legacy ~ an updated version of 1968's Estée. "For the woman who makes champagne bubble", a musky floral with carnation, ylang ylang, rose, jasmine and honey.
Knowing Legacy ~ an updated version of 1988's Knowing. "The new Knowing is both familiar and excitingly unknown", a fruity floral chypre with raspberries, black currant, rose, patchouli, sandalwood, orris, vetiver and amber.
Private Collection Legacy ~ an updated version of 1973's Private Collection. "Mrs. Lauder's exclusive private fragrance reemerges as modern art", a green floral with basil, galbanum, rose, jasmine, oakmoss, patchouli and musk.
White Linen Legacy ~ an updated version of 1978's White Linen. "Mrs. Lauder's vision of crisp simplicity and freedom", an aldehydic floral with rose, jasmine, musk, vetiver, cedar and labdanum.
Estee Lauder Azurée Legacy, Estée Legacy, Knowing Legacy, Private Collection Legacy and White Linen Legacy will be in 100 ml Eau de Parfum, $280 each.
(first quote via nytimes, subsequent quotes via issuu.com/esteelauderglobaledu, additional information via thezoereport)
White Linen updated by Malle? Yeeeeesssssss! 🙂
I am excited too!!!
I suspect this will be the first “welcome” news of a reformulation, ever.
Ha, or at least I like the honestly about the change-up.
Actually, they are not saying they are going to stop making the originals. So far…
I would love to try these! I adore Estee Lauder perfumes and find generally speaking, their reformulations are better than most but I’m still glad I have a few bottles of vintage Knowing, Azuree, and Aliage.
Gosh, I hope they do a wee sample coffret of these!
That would be nice!
I was hoping the same thing!! Fingers crossed.
Oh, my – the price! But I am very interested in Estee and Azuree. I hope I can test them at Ulta or Sephora soon. I am not tempted to a blind buy because I can’t imagine that I would like a redo more than I love the originals.
I do not know how widely these will be distributed, but sort of doubting they will everywhere EL is sold. But we’ll see!
Agree with this prediction. At this price, would be surprised if they’re at Ulta and Sephora
This is a collection I’m actually excited for as I tend to really like the perfumes from Frédéric Malle’s line. And my mother and it seemed most of the women I grew up around all wore Estée Lauder perfumes, so these some of these are a bit nostalgic to me. I have Malle’s ‘Synthetic Jungle’ which was inspired by 1970’s green perfumes like Chanel No 19 and Estée Lauder ‘Private Collection’. So, I wonder how this ‘Private Collection Legacy’ will compare. I am looking forward to the White Linen update too.
Yes, that one will be especially interesting.
I was thinking about that connection too – between Synthetic Jungle and Private Collection. Very tempted by that one.
Those prices are a bit crazy, everyone is reaching for that luxury crown? this did remind me I’d been meaning to order the current Azuree so I went ahead and did it, I cleaned out my perfume cabinet this weekend and gave things away so it’s totally justified, right?
Totally justifiable.
Also: I agree, it’s annoying that everyone is going for these crazy price points now.
I love some of Malle’s fragrances, but for those prices I doubt many of the people that currently wear the “old formula” ELs will buy them. I take it the old ones won’t still be available at your local Macy’s or am I wrong?
I agree with your doubt and your question is good. My first thought (before knowing the prices) was “I’ll take one of each.” Then I thought aren’t they just glorified flankers? Then I thought, but a glorified flanker could be really good! So, I will actively seek a way to test these.
My guess is that they’re doing this line for the upscale market that will see Malle’s name and be ready to sign up, but then they will leave the lower price point alone and it’ll still be at Macy’s, etc. Or, maybe I’m wrong, but it’s my product manager spidey sense this could be the case.
I feel like it is very messy and confusing to the consumer, though, to be actively selling two versions of a fragrance with the same name at such wildly different price points.
I also wonder how the current formulations are selling. If they’re not doing well with the younger more mainstream clientele, maybe reformulating and making these fragrances more exclusive is a better use (from capitalistic $$$ perspective) of the established fragrance name recognition?
TL;DR: If you love B any of the current formulations I personally would be a bit worried
As they come in different bottles, with different labels, different price-points & the ‘legacy’ added to all of the branding I’m not sure how anyone could really get confused. You may as well say that having EDT , EDP, Parfum & Extrait versions of the same fragrances (also at different price points) is also ‘messy and confusing to the consumer’
Given the number of explainers there are about all of those things, yeah, I would say you’re right. All of those things you point out are sources of confusion to many consumers. But clearly not to you. Congrats!
They are not saying they are going to stop making the originals. That said, anything is possible.
Yeah, I see it as EL’s version of Chanel’s Exclusifs, if anything.
It’s the end for the old versions!
Those prices hurt, I can’t lie.
“cleaned up” fragrances for 280$. The original ones used to smell expensive and be very accessible.
Right⁉️
I have to say that I’ve never actually sampled an EL fragrance. I guess I thought they were too “old lady” when I started down the perfumista road, and then I’ve never gotten back to them. This is probably a big hole in my sniffing. 🙂
These sound interesting, but then I’d have to sniff against the originals, and then I sense a whole rabbit hole opening up (and an expensive one at that!).
I’m right there with you! I guess I’ll wait to see how they look after the reviews come in.
I would that that Estee Lauder scents are worth sampling. Some of them blow current niche offerings out of the water, IMO.
Edit: “would SAY that Estee Lauder scents…”
I agree!! Aliage is a favorite of mine. White Linen is also a classic. And the prices are so reasonable, esp for the quality!
I try to buy Aliage if I’m in the States. Love its mossy green goodness!
Estée Lauder scents used to be extremely high quality while still being astoundingly affordable, and more than any other house I can think of they kept (most of) their scents smelling very much the same for decades. And now they’ve taken them all out back and shot them, only to replace them with what are at best knockoffs, if not actually unrecognizable. And at those prices!
I mean, there’s some chance that White Linen and Private Collection will turn out okay, but whatever they’re calling Knowing now, it is NOT Knowing — one of the great chypres of the eighties — and shame on them for trying to dupe the public like this. And at those prices!
You said everything I was thinking.
I too agree with you pyramus: Estee is my desert island pick. I am hopeful about, and very interested in, what the Malle team will do with my favorites. Still, I enjoy EL’s OG’s so much that I don’t think I’ll find any of these somehow an improvement.
I’m with you on this. The whole “cleaned up” aspect doesn’t really make me interested to smell these at all, and the prices are kinda nuts.
Some of these scents have been around for 50 years – surely everything was ‘astoundingly affordable’ back then – you could buy a nice house for $15,000. Is there a single fragrance that is older than 10 years that hasn’t been reformulated multiple times (especially with continual IFRA restrictions) & turned into a ‘knockoff’ of the original formulation ?
As has been said there is no indication that the original versions are being replaced, so people who still want the old, dated cheaper versions should still be able to access them…
Omg! Super exited about this. Can’t wait to smell them. Will more than likely purchase one of these!!!
Does the idea that the pre-mixed formulas created “background noise” and they’re now being “cleaned up” make sense to you? I’m not being skeptical, I’m truly wondering. My mother liked and sometimes wore “Knowing.”
Doesn’t make sense to me. The “background noise” is what made them great.
No, that did not really make sense to me, though by background noise, I too suspect he meant that rich, multi-note, vintage vibe that I adore.
Start buying the original vintages in 3…2…1… go!
I was just thinking the same thing!
Haven’t tried any of the OG’s here. I have to say, EL scents I have are very long-lasting for their cost.
I wonder if the “cleaning up” is going to eliminate the character of the original fragrances, though maybe the new versions would still be good, just different.
I was reading that synthetic fragrances can be easily replicated by mass spec analysis so that dupes mushroom as soon as a fragrance hits certain popularity. I also wonder if that’s why so many newer fragrances are similar, if a synthetic ingredient emerges and gets used by lots of companies at once.
AZUREE!!! (my first love) and Frederic Malle?! Be still, my heart!
They have *my* attention! 🙂
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, these updates are not going to be hack jobs. In principle, the idea of perfumers of this level updating EL icons is great.
On the other hand, I’m not crazy about Malle himself as the editor of these classic feminine perfumes. I often find his touch a bit masculine, hard, or heavy.
But I stopped sampling FMs a number of years ago and am not really up to date on the line at all.
Nevertheless, I AM curious and will try to sample them.
Glad I have a bottle of the “old” version of Azuree.
Not sure I will ever come across any of these new versions, especially at that price point. Too rich for my blood.
Wish they’d bring back White Linen Breeze. The newer Pure White Linen Light Breeze was okay but I far prefer the original.
Those bottles are… a choice.
Private Collection? Nooooooo……..
Frederic Malle is giving a talk at Harrods about the range on 8th February if anyone is interested (& happy to pay £25 for 75 minutes of his time – which i’m told is refundable on any purchase)
In case anyone’s still reading this thread, they do have a sample coffret for $30! (US) Of course, I haven’t been able to order one yet, due to a “system error.” Surely there hasn’t been a crowd causing the site to crash!