Epres

Epres is an American haircare brand founded by the material scientist Eric Pressly, one of the chemists who helped develop Olaplex. The brand specializes in bond-repair treatments and built its identity around a single patented technology that, according to the company, rebuilds the internal bonds of damaged hair. Its name is a portmanteau of the founder's first and last name [6].

Pressly developed the formula at home in Santa Monica, California, and runs the company with co-CEO Michael Sampson [8]. Some retail-facing material lists the brand under its UK sales entity, Epres UK, LLC, but its origin, founder and original company are American [2].

Eric Pressly holds a doctorate in materials science and was one of the chemists behind Olaplex, the product widely credited with creating the bond-repair category in haircare [6]. Unlike many haircare founders, he is neither a stylist nor a colorist but a chemist; he has said he holds more than 100 patents in bond-repair technology.

The brand traces back to the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sources differ slightly on the timeline: trade coverage in WWD dates the concept to early 2020, when Pressly began experimenting with hair and what he called "molecular compounds" in his home bathroom [7], while the commercial brand itself launched on 5 October 2022 [8]. 2022 is treated as the founding year, following the convention of dating a brand to its market launch, with 2020 recorded as the year the idea began.

The name reflects its single-founder origin. As Pressly's business partner Michael Sampson described it, finding an untrademarked name that "made sense" proved difficult; the solution, "epres," simply combined Eric Pressly's first and last names.

Epres centers on a two-part bond-repair system: a salon-professional treatment and an at-home version sold as a waterless concentrate that the user dilutes and sprays onto hair [7]. The company describes the technology as a one-step, patented method for repairing the hair's disulfide bonds, the internal links that chemical, thermal and mechanical processing can break.

Its most-cited point of difference is chemistry. According to the brand and to trade coverage, the formula is acid-free, which Epres says allows it to repair hair without changing its pH and to be mixed directly into salon services such as color and lightening [7]. The company markets a proprietary process it calls BIODIFFUSION, which it says continues working after the hair has dried. The core bond-repair products are covered by US Patent No. 11,491,092 [4].

The range has since broadened beyond the original treatment. In 2024 the company added a Healthy Hair Shampoo and Conditioner built around the same Biodiffusion technology, and it lists an ePhD Bond Repair Nail Treatment among its products. Epres also publishes an extensive "free-from" list for its formulas — including vegan, cruelty-free, sulfate-free, paraben-free and gluten-free claims — and offers the at-home concentrate in a refillable format, which it frames as a way to reduce packaging waste.

Epres positions itself around evidence rather than marketing language. The company states its purpose as "to power innovation at the intersection of science and creativity" and describes its products as "scientifically advanced haircare solutions in patented, professional-grade formulas that are easy to use, easier on the environment—and truly perform." Pressly has framed the brand as favoring an "evidence-based narrative, as opposed to a claims-based narrative," supported by microscope imagery of treated hair [8]. Its tagline is "Credible Science. Incredible Results."

Editorially, the brand is frequently positioned in relation to Olaplex, the category Pressly helped create. Several publications have framed Epres as a simpler alternative to Olaplex's numbered, multi-step system, aimed at people with color-treated or chemically processed hair.

After its 2022 launch as a direct-to-consumer brand sold through its website and select salons, Epres expanded quickly. In June 2023 the company announced an international rollout through salons and brand e-commerce across more than a dozen markets, among them Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and several Asian markets [10]. Further launches in Japan and India followed in September 2024, bringing the brand to more than 15 countries by the end of that year.

Within a few years of launch, Epres accumulated industry and editorial recognition. Harper's Bazaar named it among its "Most Innovative Beauty Breakthroughs of 2024" and listed its Healthy Hair Conditioner among the best hair moisturizers of that year. In 2025 the brand was named to BeautyMatter's FUTURE50 list [5]. Its products have also been featured by Allure, Refinery29, Glossy, Goop, POPSUGAR and Who What Wear, among others.

Epres is an active, multi-region brand. Its most recent documented milestones include the 2024 product launches and its 2025 placement on the BeautyMatter FUTURE50 list, with ongoing press coverage through that period [5].