COMMITMENT TO BIO-DIVERSITY

ELC actively supports ideas and sources ingredients from indigenous communities as a way to conduct business in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

In April 2007, members of the ELC Research Laboratories team traveled to China to meet for three days with experts in Traditional Chinese Medicine to explore the potential of TCM ingredients in cosmetic formulations.

In May 2007, the Aveda division of ELC partnered with the United Nations Development Program, Equator Initiative, Tribal Link Foundation and other organizations to exchange ideas and discuss issues facing indigenous entrepreneurs. Aveda also hosted an event focused on bio-diversity and climate change.

Origins has partnered with Dr. Andrew Weil to develop a line of products that is based on the principles of integrative medicine, a proactive approach to wellness that takes into account the whole person (body, mind and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle. Integrative medicine is a healing-oriented approach that emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, both conventional and alternative.

In July 2007, The Estée Lauder Companies became the owner of the Ojon Corporation, a hair and skin care company that makes products with community-sourced, equitably-priced indigenous (wild-crafted) ingredients collected by the Tawira, a Central American community whose name means "people of the beautiful hair." ELC is totally committed to carrying on Ojon's tradition of working in partnership with local people and non-governmental agencies to help develop local sustainable businesses and grassroots work to preserve local bio-diversity.

The Estée Lauder Companies is a major supporter of science in cosmetics and dermatology. We are sponsors and co-founders of scientific foundations and research centers in the United States, Europe and Asia. Please visit www.elcompanies.com for information on The Kobe Institute, a core basic research center in Japan, and the Shanghai Innovation Center in China, which researches the use of ingredients from traditional Chinese remedies. See www.clinique.com/landing/weill_cornell.tmpl for information on The Clinique Skin Wellness Center at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. In addition, between 2006 and 2007, the Company has commissioned approximately 25 independent research grants with leading academic and research institutions around the world to study various aspects of skin science.