Uni K Wax founder Noemi Grupenmager: Necessity is the mother of invention

For most of her adult life, Noemi Grupenmager was just looking for a solution.

Simply put, the founder of Uni K Wax Center hated being hairy and wasn’t a big fan of shaving. Waxing wasn’t such a great solution, either.

“Back in the ’70s and ’80s everyone used the same thing — those little strips in the back rooms of nail salons,” said Grupenmager at a launch party of her newest center in Midtown Miami Thursday night. “They were painful and I had a bad reaction to the [procedure]. I kept thinking, ‘I have to find a better way.’”

The native Argentinean who moved to Miami in 1990 did just that. She started doing research on various formulas.

“We wanted a wax that was natural and something that didn’t have to be so hotm” she explained. “After much trial and error we came up with the magic formula [a combination of natural beeswax, essential oils and pine tree resin]. Anyone who knows me: When I promise something I deliver.”

Grupenmager opened her first Uni Wax in South Beach in 1993 (the K came later). The Midtown location is her 38th location, with franchises throughout Florida as well as New Jersey and New York.

This story was originally published July 8, 2016 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Uni K Wax founder Noemi Grupenmager: Necessity is the mother of invention."