Product: Electric Home Hair Removal Device Developers: Yair Dar and Shimon Yahav Company: Mepro (later Epilady) Start of Development: 1985
Two engineers, Yair Dar and Shimon Yahav, are the developers of the first hair removal device that made use of epilation – the mechanical removal of hair from the root – providing a solution to a worldwide cosmetic problem. Their discovery was adopted by the Mepro factory at Kibbutz HaGoshrim whose team began manufacturing the device and marketing it in Israel.
The Epilady device provided an innovative solution to the problem of body hair: a coiled metal spring operated by a small motor, enabling the removal of body hair with a hand-sized electric device. The innovative appliance allowed women to quickly and easily remove excess hair by themselves, in contrast to the methods that were commonplace until then. In 1986, the kibbutz founded a company specifically for the manufacture of the Epilady devices. The factory was sold 14 years later in 2000. Epilady sales reached 200 thousand units already within the first year of distribution. When the product was launched abroad in 1987, sales climbed to hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Epilady hair remover attracted many competitors over time, including those that imitated the Israeli technology and others that developed alternative methods. In addition, hair removal technology has evolved with the invention of methods such as laser and light beams (IPL).
In 2014, following a 3-year development process, Epilady launched a new product based on a unique patent: the Epilaser. The Epilaser is a laser hair removal device for home use. Distribution has commenced in Israel with sales of thousands of units and the device is set to be sold internationally in 2018.
The Epilady company is proud of the fact that its devices are assembled in northern Israel, providing employment to residents of the country's periphery and to disabled people. Israel is still considered as one of the world technological leaders in the field of hair removal. Many of the field's professionals, including engineers and marketing experts, are graduates of the defense industries.
