Makeup Guru

We’re sure widespread cheer and an overwhelming desire to give and receive are enough to keep you looking forward to the holidays year after year, but here’s another reason to get psyched for the season. According to an article in Cosmetics Design, Estée Lauder has joined L’Oréal and Procter & Gamble in unveiling a new strategy for targeting cash-strapped beauty consumers with, get this, cheaper products. Executives from the company are reportedly planning to devote more resources to developing affordable products in an effort to hold on to the cross section of its loyal customer base hit hard by the recession. Its luxury fragrances, cosmetics, and skincare will, of course, still be available to those who want to buy aspirationally, and for those whose eyes are bigger than their wallets, smaller fragrance flacons of their bestsellers are in production so you can live out those olfactory dreams and pay your rent—all at the same time.