• by Sarah Mahoney , Today

Estée Lauder is taking a minority stake in 111Skin, a luxury clinical skincare brand founded by plastic surgeon Dr. Yannis Alexandrides, in its latest bid to modernize a portfolio that's been losing ground in a critical beauty category. The deal, terms undisclosed, drops Lauder into a brand built around post-procedure recovery science — and priced from $50 to $1,000.

The timing is pointed. Industrywide, prestige skincare was the fastest-growing category by units last year, posting 3% dollar growth, reports Circana, the market research company. At  Lauder, it was a different story: Fragrance led the quarter with a 14% sales jump, followed by makeup, up 4%. Skincare, meanwhile, was virtually flat, with brands like La Mer (which has long had car-payment-sized price tags) and The Ordinary, an affordable line, gaining sales. But Clinique and Origins posted notable declines.

Enter 111Skin. The brand, which distributes through Harrods, Bluemercury, Nordstrom and high-end spa partners including Mandarin Oriental and Aman, has built its following on what CEO Stéphane de La Faverie called "the convergence of procedures, longevity and beauty,"  a corner of the market where clinical credibility drives purchases and consumers aren't flinching at four-figure price tags. North America represents roughly 40% of 111Skin's 2025 sales, with a meaningful presence in China, the U.K. and across Asia Pacific.

The investment comes as Lauder is starting to quiet its skeptics, committing to stepped-up spending in R&D and marketing. The company just posted a 5% net sales gain in its fiscal third quarter, to $3.71 billion, with gross profit up 7%.

Morningstar analyst Erin Lash sees the brand investment thesis playing out. "The market is reluctant to believe Estee can expand margins while accelerating brand spending," she writes — but recent share gains in the U.S. and China suggest otherwise. She projects Lauder will direct roughly 30% of sales to R&D and marketing annually to keep its brands competitive at retail and with consumers.

That 30% matters to brand-marketing believers everywhere, who are increasingly having to defend their budgets. Lauder’s share gains in the U.S., China, Japan, Korea and Western Europe last quarter suggest the spending is working — and that the company's instinct to invest through the headwinds, rather than cut its way to recovery, Lash says, “are beginning to take hold.”