Anat Aharon, a therapeutic cosmetician and founder of the AMBER FORMULA product line, says she treats clients from Israel’s elite and from overseas without giving discounts or freebies. Her clientele includes Rita, Miri Bohadana, Marina Kbisher, Linor Abargil, as well as businesswomen and fashion figures such as Lorraine Schwartz and Roni Kubo. She also says she serves loyal clients from religious and ultra-Orthodox communities, including Bat Sheva Kook, whose family is currently dealing with Rabbi Kook’s serious illness.
Aharon, who is nearly 60, lives in north Tel Aviv with her husband Ariel, a former football referee, and their sons Ido and Omer, who work with her in the company. The family has lived there for eight years, and she has been building a clinic in Herzliya, opened about three years ago, while planning expansion into the United States and Europe. She is also a grandmother to Rafael.
Born and raised in Nazareth Illit, now Nof HaGalil, Aharon grew up in a traditional family as the youngest of seven children. She says she first wanted to be a doctor, then briefly studied at Oranim College before returning home after four months. Her parents initially resisted her decision to study cosmetics, but her father later financed her education and, before his death about four years ago, saw the clinic and apologized for not understanding her path sooner. Her mother died 20 years ago, after seeing her daughter begin to succeed.
Aharon says her approach blends cosmetics with holistic and medical ideas, drawing on herbal traditions from home and what she describes as the teachings and medicine of Maimonides, using facial skin patterns to connect body and mind. She began studying cosmetology in Haifa, then traveled to Paris, London and other cities to learn techniques and buy supplies after concluding that local training was not enough. At 22 she began treating women in a small room in her parents’ apartment, and at 26, after marrying, moved her work home and later to central Israel with her husband.
She says her reputation grew by word of mouth, first through a lymphatic-drainage method she developed, and her products are now sold through a website in more than 50 countries. Treatment prices range from 770 to 2,600 shekels, she recommends an initial series of four monthly sessions and then two to four maintenance treatments a year, plus home use of her products. Aharon argues that her prices are reasonable for the results, says she prefers improving skin without surgery when possible, and believes her next stage is international growth while keeping her work discreet and personal.
