Our Story

About The Founder

"I am beyond proud of the work that I and Urban Skin Rx® have done to elevate and expand the category of clinical skincare for melanin rich skin tones. When I started my career as an aesthetician 15 years ago, I was solely focused on providing safe and effective treatments for the multicultural patient at my medical spa in Charlotte NC, because at that time there were no other medical spas doing so. Today, I am thrilled able to be able to leverage that previous experience by providing formulas that address the needs of melanin rich skin that can reach consumers in households across the globe."

Rachel Roff grew up in Northern California, where - at an early age - she experienced intense bullying due to being overweight, struggling with acne, and brandishing a large, precancerous nevus mole on her face. For Rachel, getting a college degree was important; however, her experiences also fueled a growing passion to become a medical aesthetician and open a medical spa. She attended University of San Francisco and later moved to Charlotte, NC, where she attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte for Sociology.

In 2003, Rachel only waited one week after college before attending the National Aesthetics Institute of Charlotte. With a desire to treat her friends and family with skin of color, she quickly discovered the lack of education and services available for treating common concerns and conditions seen in darker skin tones. Shocked and frustrated by this injustice, Rachel made it her goal to make the skincare industry more inclusive. Her unrelenting passion drove her to found Urban Skin Solutions Medspa and Laser Center in 2006 in Charlotte, NC.

Urban Skin Solutions quickly became a huge success, with clients and celebrities traveling from out of town to seek her treatments for common skin conditions in darker skin tones. Rachel’s list of celebrity clientele includes Teyana Taylor, Fantasia, Eva Marcille, Tasha Cobbs and many more.

After treating thousands of patients, Rachel recognized the need for her expertise outside of Charlotte, NC. In 2010 she launched Urban Skin Rx®, a collection of clinical skincare products for diverse skin tones, in order to extend her expertise and treatments to people all over the world. Urban Skin Rx® is now sold online at urbanskinrx.com as well as over 5,000 stores across Target, Ulta, Walmart, Amazon, CVS, QVC.com, HSN.com and & Dermstore.com. The brand also launched its first international distribution in 2020 in Nigeria. Urban Skin Rx® has won numerous beauty awards, including Allure Best of Beauty Award (2019, 2020), Essence Best in Black Beauty (2018, 2019, 2020) and ELLE Future of Beauty (2020).

In addition to being featured in numerous publications, Rachel has been recognized as a leading beauty innovator by Forbes and WWD, and recently featured in WWD’s Master Class. In her personal life, Rachel's first and most important job is being a mother to her young daughter, Rosie. When she is able to step away from the office, she loves traveling to new places, ordering room service and going on long hikes in beautiful places. Rachel is grateful to be able to use her platform to bring awareness and raise money for organizations that support women and children who have suffered from abuse, single moms, and mothers who have lost their children from police brutality. To learn more about some of the organizations Rachel and Urban Skin Rx® support, please visit our Non-Profits We Support + Community page.