Starpil

Starpil is a Spanish professional hair-removal brand and the flagship line of the manufacturer Maystar, based in Torredembarra in the Tarragona province of Spain. It specializes in depilatory wax and the products that surround a salon waxing service — elastic wax, wax pearls, roll-on cartridges, canned and low-melting waxes, and pre- and post-depilatory cosmetics. The range is aimed mainly at estheticians, salons and beauty students rather than sold as a consumer line, and the company reports a presence in 65 countries [2].

The brand built its international profile on a roll-on waxing system patented in the early 1990s, and it remains active today. It runs separate regional sites for Spain and North America and, on its US site, describes around 40 years in the industry as of the mid-2020s [5].

The company traces its origins to 1984, when the entrepreneur Jesús Bonán Solé established Maystar and began making depilatory waxes and cosmetics by hand in the garage of his home [2]. Starpil grew out of that operation as Maystar's main hair-removal brand.

The founding date carries a small discrepancy worth noting. The brand's own account dates the origin to 1984, the year Maystar was founded [2]. Some later accounts instead place the creation of the Starpil name specifically in 1993, describing it as a line Maystar developed for international expansion [5]. The 1984 date reflects the parent company's founding and the heritage the brand itself narrates, while the 1993 date, if accurate, would mark the point at which the Starpil brand name came into use.

A turning point came in 1991, when the founder invented and patented a roll-on waxing system [2]. The company credits this system with driving its international growth and says it remains, in its words, "the most imitated roll-on system in the world" [2]. Whatever the accuracy of that claim, the roll-on format became the product most associated with the brand, and Starpil frames the innovation as the reason it expanded from a local Spanish manufacturer into a business selling across dozens of countries.

Starpil operates as part of Maystar's portfolio of brands. Maystar's North American site lists Starpil alongside sister brands Nova and EVA under a shared corporate umbrella [5]. The company remains privately held, and no acquisitions or changes of ownership are documented.

Beyond its wax formats, Starpil offers depilatory cosmetics, paraffin-therapy products, salon equipment and accessories, and a rosin-free line. Its waxes are grouped into named collections, including StarSoft, Coral Wax, Pure Vegan, Glitter Wax and Ultraflex.

The positioning is squarely professional. Starpil describes itself as a leader in professional hair removal and supports its trade audience through an academy, a distributor network and a program of brand ambassadors [3]. Account registration is oriented toward professionals rather than the general public, and the brand's messaging centers on supplying salons and licensed estheticians. An independent esthetician review of the US operation described Starpil as a supportive brand for professionals, praising its customer service and low-temperature, flexible wax [6].

Starpil states that it minimizes environmental impact across its processes and services. Part of its catalog is vegan: the Pure Vegan collection is described by the company as "100% vegan, without ingredients of animal origin" [4]. On its US site, the brand says it is PETA-certified and cruelty-free [5]. Its manufacturing is carried out in Torredembarra, Spain, and the company reports certification to ISO 22716, the international standard for good manufacturing practice in cosmetics [1].

Starpil is active. It maintains current Spanish and North American websites, continues to market to the professional beauty trade, and is the subject of recent reviews within the esthetician community [5]. As a business-to-business brand rather than a consumer label, it has limited mainstream press coverage, but there is no indication of dormancy or discontinuation.