Frustrating shopping trip behind Mermade Hair Waver idea
‘Terrible’ at hair, this Perth mum’s frustrating shopping experience prompted her to come up with a tool loved by celebs and shoppers alike.
These products are hand-picked by our team to help make shopping easier. We may receive payments from third parties for sharing this content and when you purchase through links in this article. Product prices and offer details are not assured, and should be confirmed independently with the retailer. Learn more
The idea for Mermade Hair came by chance to Tara Simich during a frustrating shopping trip experience most of us can relate to.
It was 2019 and the Perth mum, now 31, had just given birth to her second child and was shopping for a hair tool she could use for an upcoming wedding.
“I really wanted to achieve this modern wave. I’m terrible at doing my own hair and it was too hard to get to the salon and I just thought, ‘imagine if my crimper could just be much bigger, then I could crimp a more modern large wave’,” Mermade Hair founder Tara told news.com.au.
“I went to Hairhouse (Warehouse), went to Myer, I went to all of our retailers and I could not find a large crimper.”
The disappointment made Tara, who had always had “all the tools” and is “really passionate” about hair, realise there was “definitely a gap” that needed to be filled.
“Crimpers and hot tools, there hasn’t been a lot of evolution or innovation in that space,” she said.
“Even just traditionally hot tools have always been black, and we wanted to bring something playful and exciting to the market.”
‘IT BLEW UP’
After developing the ideal hair tool that could deliver a perfect mermaid-style wave, the Mermade Hair Waver (now know as the Mermade Pro Hair Waver) launched in August 2019 online.
Tara had invested in 1,000 units of the waver, thinking it would take 12 months to get through the lot.
“It really was one of those stories where it blew up on Instagram,” she said, revealing her shock when they sold out of a year’s worth of stock in just a fortnight.
Not only was it sold out, but everyone was trying to get their hands on the tool, including A-listers.
“We had a lot of celebrities reaching out to us in those first couple of weeks (asking), how can I get it, because you couldn’t get this tool from any major retailers,” Tara said.
“The first one was Sofia Richie, she DMd us and wanted to try it. I remember not long after that Kylie Jenner wanted one sent to her.”
Celebrity fans of Mermade Hair’s styling tools have also become ambassadors of the products, with sponsored posts from the likes of Nadia Bartel and Bec Judd locally, as well as big names overseas.
“Working with Khloe Kardashian was the biggest ‘pinch me’ moment,” Tara said.
“She really fell in love with the brand months before we started working with her, so it’s really nice to work with people who genuinely love the brand and genuinely use it. It made sense to do that collaboration.”
NEW HAIR TOOL ‘PEOPLE HAVE REALLY FALLEN IN LOVE WITH’
Since first launching with the Waver back in 2019, Mermade Hair has expanded to include six more hair tools, plus a haircare and accessory range.
Last year it launched the Interchangeable Blow Dry Brush, which at $159 costs a fraction of the price of another famous interchangeable tool, the $899 Dyson Airwrap.
“I think Dyson has done an amazing job at bringing back the love for interchangeable tools. I remember growing up in the 90s and there were a lot of interchangeable tools and they kind of went out of fashion,” Tara said.
“Dyson brought back the one tool (that) can do lots of things, it’s really got people excited about using air to style hair.
“It definitely made sense for us to give our customers an affordable option to get the same look.
“The technology is really different, my idea behind all the (Mermade Hair) tools is that the average person who can’t do their hair can style their hair really well.”
Tara loves the Interchangeable Blow Dry Brush, revealing with a laugh: “I was travelling recently and I got one delivered to the hotel.”
She’s also a fan of the Mermade Hair Styling Shampoo and Styling Conditioner which Tara says is “by far the best” she’s ever used.
But in terms of what is the most popular Mermade Hair tool, Tara said: “By region it’s really different – in the US and Europe our original hero waver is still by far the most popular.
“In Australia I think the blow dry brush is almost outweighing the waver now in popularity. People have really fallen in love with it.”
More Coverage
Find out how the Mermade Hair Blow Dry Brush compares to the Dyson Airwrap here, or read our wrap of the best hair straighteners you can buy now.
If you’d like a cheeky discount on your next shop check out news.com.au Coupons with discount codes for big brands like Adore Beauty and Sephora.
Finally sign up to our newsletter here for all the latest shopping news and sale information.
Cheaper Dyson rival ‘worth the money’
The beloved Dyson Airstrait straightener has finally arrived in Australia. But does it live up to the hype?
ghd’s new product blows Dyson out of water
A leading tech brand has released a new high-tech and time-saving tool that could end Dyson’s reign.
‘Gamechanger’: Top blow dry brushes for perfect hair
Say goodbye to the traditional blow drier with this easy-to-use alternative sparking a frenzy online.
‘Mind-blowing’ new feature of cult Dyson hair dryer
Set to “blow your socks off”, we’ve broken down what you need to know about Dyson’s new hair dryer — and whether it’s worth upgrading to.