Dax

Dax is an American hair-care brand founded in 1954 and owned by The Imperial DAX Company, a manufacturer based in Fairfield, New Jersey [1]. It is best known for its pomades, waxes and styling treatments, and for a heritage rooted in hair care made for African-American and Hispanic textures — a range the company now markets for all hair types. The brand remains active, manufacturing in the United States and distributing across six continents. Some retailers list it under the name "DAX Wax," a reference to the wax pomades the brand is best known for.

According to the company, The Imperial DAX Company was started in a garage in Brooklyn, New York, by Herman Bley, a pharmacist and entrepreneur who spent much of his career developing hair products [1]. The brand site dates this to 1954, the year used in its "Trusted for Generations Since 1954" tagline. Trade coverage frames the company's age more loosely as "70 years" and "over half a century," which would place the origin a little later, around the mid-1950s; the brand's own stated year of 1954 is the firmer figure [4].

The company grew from Bley's work as a pharmacist into a maker of pomades and styling products. From the start, the business built its catalogue around the needs of African-American and Hispanic hair, and it has since broadened its range to cover all hair and skin types [1]. The Brooklyn garage where it began has remained part of the brand's origin story, repeated in its own heritage copy and in trade press.

By the 2020s the company operated from a 45,000-square-foot headquarters in Fairfield, New Jersey, where its products are manufactured [1]. Trade publication OTC Beauty Magazine identified Scott Stein as general manager of the Imperial DAX Company, overseeing the firm's global operations [4].

Dax makes pomades, waxes, gels, oils, styling treatments and skin and scalp conditioners. Its catalogue, together with the affiliated High Life line, runs to more than fifty products. The DAX Bergamot Pomade is described by OTC Beauty Magazine as the brand's "#1 seller worldwide" [4]. Other recognised products include Wave & Groom, the Indian Hemp line, SuperGro and a DAX for Naturals range of curling and combing creams.

The company also produces High Life Pomades, a separate line of wax pomades, pastes, clays and a beard cream sold mainly through barbershops in the United States and abroad [1]. On its packaging and site the brand carries self-stated "Made in USA" and "Cruelty Free" badges [2]; the cruelty-free badge is the company's own claim rather than a verified third-party certification.

Dax positions itself as a heritage maker of styling products built on quality and inclusivity. The company says its range "can be utilized by all genders and all hair and skin types," and frames its expansion from its African-American and Hispanic roots toward all ethnicities as part of that commitment [1]. It sits in the drugstore price tier, reaching customers through drug, beauty and mass-merchant retailers as well as its own site.

Dax has drawn coverage in beauty and culture media. In a 2026 Refinery29 essay on Black hair-care traditions, the writer named "Dax hair pomade" among the products she associates with childhood hair rituals, and a curl specialist quoted in the piece said she "wouldn't tell mumsy to not use DAX," describing such heritage products as worth keeping when they do not damage the hair [5]. OTC Beauty Magazine ran a 2025 feature on the brand's history, and Pride Magazine covered a 2025 redesign of its DAX Classics packaging.

In early 2026 the company reported winning a Top All Around Vendor Award from OTC Beauty Magazine [3].

The brand is active. Its news page shows a steady run of features and segments through 2024, 2025 and into January 2026, the most recent being the announcement of its vendor award on 7 January 2026 [3]. The company continues to manufacture in Fairfield, New Jersey, and reports distribution across six continents.