# X-EPIL ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 1996 | | Origin | Hungary | | Headquarters | Budapest | | Status | Active | | Manufacturing | Dunakeszi, Hungary (Alveola factory; documented for the X-Epil Intimo intimate wash gels) | | Distribution | Multi-channel | | Website | https://x-epil.com/ | X-EPIL is a Hungarian brand of at-home hair-removal products, created by the Budapest beauty company Alveola Kft. and its founder, Tamás Szóráth. It grew out of a simple idea: that women should be able to wax at home the way a beautician would do it in a salon. The range now covers wax strips, waxing kits and machines, sugar paste, depilatory creams, razors and an epilator, and over the years it has stretched into intimate hygiene and pregnancy tests. The brand is active and remains one of Alveola's consumer labels, alongside JimJams Cosmetics and Aloe Vera Organic. The brand's own website gives more than one starting date. Its history text says Szóráth created X-EPIL in 1993, while a milestone list on the same page dates the launch of the brand, as Alveola's first own-brand product family, to 1996 [2]. A 2013 trade-press profile places the founding of Alveola itself around 1993 [7], which suggests the earlier year may belong to the company rather than to the brand. ## Origin & founders Tamás Szóráth came to cosmetics by a roundabout route. According to his profile on Alveola's website, he spent much of his youth in the family's beauty salon but was drawn first to architecture, graduating from the Ybl Miklós technical college in Budapest and working briefly in construction before choosing to develop the family business instead [6]. In a 2025 interview he traced the family's link to skincare back to 1936, when his grandfather, a pharmacist, made his own cosmetic formulas; that work is the root of Alveola's professional Solanie line [8]. Alveola did not start as a brand owner. As Trade magazin described it in 2013, the company first focused on supplying beauty studios with professional products, aiming to give cosmetologists everything they needed from a single supplier. Time spent around salons and their trends gave Szóráth the idea of developing a product line for beauty care at home [7]. That line became X-EPIL. The company tells its founding story in the language of firsts. X-EPIL says it was the first to offer women the chance to remove hair at home "on professional level", and describes its original product as the first home waxing system that could be used as easily and hygienically as in a cosmetics salon. These are the brand's own claims. ## History & milestones The founding date is not settled, and the brand's own pages disagree with each other. The English "About us" page states that Szóráth "produced X-Epil brand in 1993", and the Hungarian version of the page repeats the 1993 date. The milestone list on the English page, however, opens with 1996 as the year the brand started as Alveola's first own-brand family, and the same list marks the brand's "20th birthday" in 2018, which would point to 1998 [2]. The Hungarian lifestyle title Rúzs & Más also describes X-EPIL as Alveola's first own-brand product, without giving a year. This article follows 1996, the explicitly dated launch milestone, while noting that 1993 is the year given in the brand's own history text. The milestone list traces a steady move from specialist outlets into mass retail. In 1997 the waxing system and its accessories reached the Skála and Centrum department stores, and in 1998 the Keravill chain began carrying it across Hungary. By 2003 the products were on the shelves of drugstore chains. From there, the range widened well beyond hair removal. An intimate-hygiene family, X-EPIL Intimo, arrived at the end of 2007, and pregnancy tests followed in 2009. Disposable razors entered the market in 2011, and in 2014 the X-EPIL Sensation epilator rounded out the hair-removal line so that, in the company's words, it covered the whole range of methods. The Intimo and pregnancy-test packaging was redesigned in 2017. In 2020 production of the Intimo products moved to Alveola's new factory in Dunakeszi, and in 2022 the brand received what it counts as its eighth Superbrands award in Hungary. ## Ownership X-EPIL belongs to Alveola Kft., registered in full as Alveola Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Kft. The company is based in Budapest and is represented by Szóráth as managing director [5]. X-EPIL's website describes the business as 100 per cent Hungarian-owned. No sale or change of ownership is documented. Alveola runs several other brands. Rúzs & Más listed its most important labels in 2022 as Solanie, X-EPIL, Aloe Vera Organic, JimJams and the professional eyelash-extension range Long Lashes [9]. Alveola's own site separates these into professional brands, among them Solanie Professional Cosmetics, Long Lashes, Alveola Waxing, Alveola Equipment and Cleverderm, and consumer brands, where X-EPIL sits next to JimJams Cosmetics and Aloe Vera Organic. ## Philosophy & positioning At the centre of X-EPIL's self-description is the idea of professional-level hair removal done at home. The company sums up what it sees as the secret of the brand as wide choice, dependable quality and a good price-to-value ratio. Its English-language slogan reads "X-Epil quality, X-Epil reliability in every female issue", a line that reflects its extension from hair removal into women's intimate health. The brand places itself firmly in the everyday, mass-market segment. Rúzs & Más reported in 2022 that X-EPIL products were sold in Hungary through the drugstore chains DM, Rossmann and Müller, the hypermarket and supermarket chains Auchan, Spar and Tesco, and Ecofamily stores [9]. The brand also runs its own webshop. X-EPIL makes strong claims about its market position. It describes its hair-removal range as the widest in the category, covering every method and every age group, with options for men as well as women, and says that in Hungary it ranks first in the epilation and waxing category by the number of units sold [2]. Outside voices put it more cautiously but in the same direction: Trade magazin wrote in 2013 that X-EPIL hair-removal products were "now among the market leaders" [7], and Rúzs & Más called it one of the most widely used hair-removal families in the consumer market. According to the company, online and social media have become its main communication channels in recent years. It says it promotes the brand across both mass-media and in-store channels, runs prize competitions, and gives weight to eye-catching displays and secondary placements at the point of sale. ## Products & innovation The hair-removal line is the core of the brand. X-EPIL says it offers more than 30 hair-removal products, from disposable razors and depilatory creams to cold and warm waxing products and complete waxing systems, supported by pre- and after-care products. Its catalogue is organised into ready-to-use wax strips (for the face, for the bikini line and underarms, and for the body), roll-on waxing kits, waxing machine kits, sugar paste, waxing accessories, razors, hair-removal creams and the Sensation epilator. The company names the home waxing appliance as a long-standing top seller, with every refill and accessory sold separately. It singles out the depilatory creams, the ready-to-use wax strips and the disposable women's razors as other popular lines, the razors being an area where it says it has been gaining share. The second pillar is intimate health. The Intimo series, launched in late 2007, was later joined by a Sensitive family meant, in the brand's words, to help women create and keep their intimate balance in everyday life. Today the intimate-health section of the website also covers wipes, washing gels, products for vaginal flora, the female cycle and menopause, and intimate aesthetics and care. The brand also sells an Erotica range of lubricants and vibrators. Pregnancy tests make up the third line, sold as test strips and as a pen-style test. X-EPIL says its early pregnancy test, which works from a urine sample, can show pregnancy within minutes with nearly 100 per cent accuracy [1]. The company also states that its pregnancy tests are the best-selling tests at every distributor, and that the Intimo products are among the most sought-after intimate-hygiene products. Manufacturing has moved in-house over time. In his company profile Szóráth describes shifting production from small-scale, workshop-style making to a modern plant over more than 30 years. Alveola's factory in Dunakeszi has operated since January 2020 and, together with its warehouse, covers some 5,000 square metres. The company says it was designed to meet pharmaceutical production standards, with production, filling, packaging and the development, microbiology and quality-control laboratories housed in a fully closed space. The X-EPIL Intimo washing gels are among the products made there. The company also says it pays attention to environmental protection in production, with particular emphasis on selective waste handling and recycling. No third-party certifications are documented. ## Recognition The most prominent award X-EPIL cites is Superbrands Hungary. A dated article on the brand's website from June 2022 reports that X-EPIL had won its eighth Superbrands award that year [4]. The brand's pages are not consistent on the count: the English "About us" page mentions the eighth award in one paragraph and, in its older recognitions section, a sixth win "this year", and the Hungarian page likewise refers to a sixth. The years of the individual Superbrands wins are not given. Under the heading of recognitions for "the firm and brand", the company also lists a Business Superbrands prize, a Business and Success Qualified Enterprise award, a Hungarian Brands (MagyarBrands) recognition in the Excellent Consumer Brand category, the Hungarian Product Grand Prix (Magyar Termék Nagydíj), a Product of the Year award (Az Év Terméke) and a Glammies prize. None of these is dated, and it is not stated whether each went to Alveola or to X-EPIL specifically. Coverage of the brand appears mainly in the Hungarian trade and beauty press, including a 2013 Trade magazin profile marking Alveola's 20th anniversary, a 2022 Rúzs & Más report on Alveola's brands, and a 2025 Krémmánia interview with Szóráth. ## Current status X-EPIL is active. It runs websites in English and Hungarian with a current catalogue and a link to its webshop, and maintains accounts on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook. Its most recent dated independent mention is a June 2025 Krémmánia interview in which Szóráth named X-EPIL among the brands created by Alveola's team [8]. Rúzs & Más reported in 2022 that Alveola sells in international markets ranging from the United States to Malaysia and Hong Kong, but the specific export markets for X-EPIL are not stated. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1996 | X-Epil launched as Alveola's first own-brand product family | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 1997 | X-Epil waxing system and accessories enter the Skála and Centrum department stores | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 1998 | X-Epil waxing system enters the Keravill nationwide store network | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 2003 | X-Epil appears in drugstore chains (English page: 'drudgery network'; Hungarian: 'drogéria hálózatokban') | https://x-epil.hu/rolunk/ | | 2007 | X-Epil Intimo intimate-hygiene product family launched (end of 2007) | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 2009 | X-Epil pregnancy tests introduced | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 2011 | X-Epil disposable razors enter the market | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 2014 | X-Epil Sensation epilator completes the hair-removal assortment | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 2017 | Packaging of the X-Epil Intimo and pregnancy test series renewed | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 2018 | X-Epil brand celebrates its 20th birthday | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 2020 | Production of X-Epil Intimo products starts in Alveola's new factory in Dunakeszi (factory operating since January 2020) | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | 2022 | X-Epil receives its 8th Superbrands (Hungary) award | https://x-epil.com/cikk-az-iden-8-superbrands-dijas-x-epilrol/ | ## Awards {#belagg-awards} | Year | Awards | Category | Source | |---|---|---|---| | 2022 | Superbrands Award (Hungary), 8th time | Superbrands | https://x-epil.com/cikk-az-iden-8-superbrands-dijas-x-epilrol/ | | — | Business and Success Qualified Enterprise prize | listed under 'Recognitions of the firm and brand' (firm or brand level not specified; no year) | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | — | Bussiness Superbrands prize (sic) | listed under 'Recognitions of the firm and brand' (no year) | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | — | Hungarian Brands (MagyarBrands) recognition, Excellent Consumer Brand category | listed under 'Recognitions of the firm and brand' (no year) | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | — | Hungarian Products Grand Prix (Magyar Termék Nagydíj) | listed under 'Recognitions of the firm and brand' (no year) | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | — | Products of the Year prize (Az Év Terméke díj) | listed under 'Recognitions of the firm and brand' (no year) | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | | — | Glammies prize | listed under 'Recognitions of the firm and brand' (no year) | https://x-epil.com/about-us/ | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **X-Epil home waxing appliance (waxing machine kit)** — One of the hit product of the X-Epil epilation family is continuously the at home using developed waxing appliance to which all supplement can be bought one by one. — https://x-epil.com/about-us/ - **X-Epil depilatory creams and ready-to-use wax strips** — The X-Epil epilation creams and use ready waxing stripes are favorites — https://x-epil.com/about-us/ - **X-Epil Intimo (intimate hygiene line)** — 2007: X-Epil Intimo products family come into being — https://x-epil.com/about-us/ - **X-Epil pregnancy tests** — the X-Epil pregnancy tests are the most sold tests among all distributor — https://x-epil.com/about-us/ - **X-Epil Sensation epilator** — 2014: X-Epil Sensation epilator made the whole epilating method full assortment — https://x-epil.com/about-us/ ## Mentioned in {#belagg-press} - **Trade magazin (Hungary)** (2013) — Interview with Alveola managing director Tamás Szóráth on the company's 20th birthday; states X-Epil hair removal products are among the market leaders. — https://trademagazin.hu/en/magazin-otthon-is-professzionalis-szepsegapolas/ - **Rúzs & Más (Hungary)** (2022) — Report on Alveola's brand presentation to women's and lifestyle press; its X-Epil section calls X-Epil Alveola's first own-brand product and lists Hungarian retail availability. — https://ruzsesmas.hu/egy-hazai-sikertortenet-alveola/ - **Krémmánia magazine (Hungary)** (2025) — Hungarian Brands Month interview with Tamás Szóráth; X-Epil is named among the brands created by Alveola's team. — https://kremmania.hu/magazine/alveola-solanie-jimjams-cosmetics-kozmetikumok-tudnivalok ## Sources 1. (T1) https://x-epil.com/ 2. (T1) https://x-epil.com/about-us/ 4. (T2) https://x-epil.com/cikk-az-iden-8-superbrands-dijas-x-epilrol/ 5. (T2) https://x-epil.com/terms-conditions/ 6. (T2) https://www.alveola.hu/szorath-tamas/ 7. (T3) https://trademagazin.hu/en/magazin-otthon-is-professzionalis-szepsegapolas/ 8. (T3) https://kremmania.hu/magazine/alveola-solanie-jimjams-cosmetics-kozmetikumok-tudnivalok 9. (T3) https://ruzsesmas.hu/egy-hazai-sikertortenet-alveola/ --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-09-30 Please cite with a link to the article URL.