Danielle Lauder Act IV Collection from Estee Lauder
I can’t even begin to try to understand what Danielle Lauder’s life is like. The 26-year-old is the great-granddaughter of Estee Lauder herself, and part of the fourth generation of the New York power family which owns one of the biggest global beauty companies.
She’s an actress, apparently, and has now, like her older cousin, Aerin, put her name to a collection for the family brand. Unlike Aerin, I don’t think she works at the brand, but she has immersed herself in this eponymous collection, which is all Millennial rose gold and marble packaging – as Instagram ready as it gets. Enter Act IV by Danielle Lauder.
The packaging is not for me, but then I am not a Millennial, so do they even care what I think about it?! Well, what I do like about this collection is that it’s not about wearing drag-queen like makeup, contouring the hell out of your face, and slapping on the highlighter like so many of the ‘influencers’ do. Which I can’t get my head around at all.
Yes, there is a highlighter, but the collection is pretty simple and inoffensive. Act IV is Limited Edition and references the fact Dani (as she introduces herself) is a fourth-generation Lauder family member and an actress.
She spoke to Vogue.co.uk ahead of the launch and explained: “I was inspired when I was acting in college and had to send audition tapes to my manager in LA. I would be in my dorm room with not-so-professional lighting set up, and I didn’t have a professional make-up artist to do me up. I wanted to look camera-ready but natural, and still able to catch the light. This make-up range allows a woman to add a little embellishment to her beauty routine, without it being too much fuss or by wearing an insane amount of make-up. It’s a little touch of glamour.”
So, it’s for the younger selfie generation who don’t want to slap all that makeup on, but still want to look the best they can in the photos – well before those filters come into play!
There are three products for the skin – Best Picture (£43) is a multi-look palette with four shades for eyes, cheeks and more. Spotlight (£43) is the highlighter – an illuminating creamy powder that you can use to add highlight wherever you want it. Cinemattic (£46) is a primer. It’s a matte creme formula and it will do all the usual things primers do. It isn’t drying, it blends immediately into the skin, and it comes in a kinda bizarre chunky marble bottle!
The Luxe Lip Creme lipstick (£34) comes in two really inoffensive shades – Reel Coral and Reel Rose, and the finish is satin-shine.
The Lip Duet Tint + Balm (£37) has a tint and a balm in a tube. It’s that simple. You can also pop out either the tint or the balm and add one of the Lip Creme lipsticks into the tube.
There’s also Party Puff (£43) a translucent powder, and Brushed By Fame (£64) a four-brush kit for perfect application.
I’m a wee bit confused by the collection – it’s aimed at a younger market, but it references Old Hollywood a lot, and the prices are pretty high. Who knows how it will do – will it go the way of the Estee Edit, which I really loved, and was gutted when it was discontinued, and Victoria Beckham, which was another pretty high-priced range, which was also super gorgeous, but didn’t last long either.
I can’t help but feel it’s just a bit of a vanity project for Danielle, and well, if my family owned the biggest beauty company in the world, I might want a collection too, so who can blame her?!
The collection is available now at esteelauder.co.uk
