If you’re an Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation girlie, we have some news for you – but don’t panic!
I remember when I first saw Estée Lauder’s Double Wear Stay-in-Place foundation – a battered bottle at the bottom of my best friend’s makeup bag, right under the tube of Great Lash mascara, next to her three Juicy Tubes and nestled against a compact of Thin Lizzy (do I even need to add a date!?).
I was jealous – as a 15-year-old living in much simpler times before TikTok made 11-year-olds better at putting on makeup than grown-ass women, I didn’t have ‘fancy’ foundation. I had to make do with my mum’s crusty Dream Matte Mousse leftovers that she didn’t know I’d swiped from her bathroom cabinet that couldn’t have been a worse shade for me (even for the no-blend orange ‘thicker is better’ era). But that bottle… man, it stuck with me.
It looked so elegant and grown up and when my bestie put it on she looked impossibly mature and chic (which was good because she was probably sneaking out to snog the latest boy at school who had a crush on her, there were many – boys with crushes I mean, not many boys she snogged!) and it really was the first time I’ve coveted not only a product, but a feeling.
Cult beauty products to tend to have that effect on us – they merge cosy, safe nostalgia with youth and the memories of freedom, happiness and that ‘anything can happen!’ hopefulness we had when we headed off on a night out, rather than the ‘ok I have painkillers and electrolytes in my handbag’ planning ahead that replaced it.
And just like my bestie, who has stuck around for 20 years through thick and thin, Double Wear has been that girl for millions of women across the world – in fact, she’s been going strong for almost 30 years.
That same 16-year-old girl would LOVE to know how it’s managed to stay relevant and popular and good for that long (hell, I would have taken one afternoon), and beauty experts worldwide seem to agree – it’s just that good. Nothing else comes close to the cult following this foundation enjoys – but why?
Debuting in 1997, Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place foundation was revolutionary. A lot of foundations were either super-light, or powdery, chalky numbers that served… well, not much really. They looked a little like ‘your face, but milky’, and God forbid if you encountered weather of any kind… but DW came along promising all-day wear without budging and formula that provided full coverage, but still had a little glow and life in it.
Elizabeth Hurley was the face of the campaign (in the same year that she was in Austin Powers, if that helps you date it tehe) and the success was pretty instant – and a cult classic was born. At one point, 14 bottle of DW were being sold every MINUTE.
Now, 29 years later, she’s had her own little glow up, with a new formula launching to meet modern makeup needs, and to include significant scientific advancements in skincare and makeup.
A fair whack of tech and science has gone into the new formulation – it now includes hyaluronic acid for moisture, niacinamide to help reduce sebum, and brown algae extract, which will help reduce oil production. It’s more dimensional, that moves and breathes with skin, and more layerable so you’re able to build your own version of perfect coverage.
Even her gorgeous bottle has had a makeover, and the formula is now available in a whopping 67 shades that have fancy new colour-treated micro-pigments across 10 intensities and three undertones. And somehow, they’ve got it to last for 36 hours. Jeeesus, who’s out of the house for 36 hours!?
But it’s her continued relevance – on social media, over beauty counters and in our bathroom cabinets – that’s stayed the same. I mean, makeup trends move so fast (matte! No, dewy! Full coverage with a cut crease! Clean girl! No makeup makeup! A full beat!) that it’s bloody impressive that one foundation has been a mainstay and an old faithful through it all (I guess it helps that it’s buildable?).
It’s the product that so many of my girlfriends swear by, the one that’s gone past simple ‘must-have’ status – it’s folklore. It’s the one you wore on your wedding day, the one you purchase with your first pay cheque, the one that always gets recommended when you need to do a redeemable on product after a department store makeover, the one that just does what it says on the bottle.
Foundation is literally the beginning of most of our makeup routines – the base on which to build confidence and an armour the world doesn’t realise is there. Think of the hours you’ve spent perfecting your face so you can step out and feel like everyone sees the person you are on the inside – there’s so many *feelings* attached to how we choose to make ourselves up, what we cover, what we accentuate and what we’ve learned to love. It makes sense that we’ve built such a connection to something that’s allowed literally millions of women to feel great about themselves, and one that’s always been reliable during the times we’ve felt vulnerable.
So, thanks for the memories, Double Wear – the more I think about it, you’ve probably been the most reliable part of the last 30 years. Thank you for your service!
Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup – RRP $93. Available from February 27th at esteelauder.co.nz, and from March 8th at all participating retailers
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