“It’s a sense of so much pride and feeling like our wins helped retailers realize that these are real shoppers, and they are spending money,” Roff said.
Roff declined to comment on the numbers, but noted the brand has been instrumental in helping gain more shelf space for products geared toward Black people. Industry sources estimate Urban Skin Rx will reach about $25 million in net sales for 2020. About half of its business is direct-to-consumers. So she decided to create products for the untapped market and launched Urban Skin Rx 10 years later, the brand is growing 100 percent year-over-year. “The dermatology is dramatically different” between skin concerns of BIPOC and the rest of the population, Roff said, who herself is caucasian. If this has not convinced you to buy the product, then Urban Skin Rx offers sample sizes for purchase to test before making the decision to change up your skin-care routine.When aesthetician Rachel Roff opened her medical spa in Charlotte, N.C., 14 years ago, she immediately identified a gap in the market: skin-care products focusing on the concerns of Black women and pigmented skin tones. I am a big fan of these products, but am an even bigger fan of what Urban Skin Rx stands for- equality, inclusion, and allowing everyone to feel beautiful in their glowing skin. They all could! I will be using this product once a week, for sure. I thought it was my imagination, but I entertained my bored family by sticking my face in front of them and asking if they could see a difference. I purposefully applied the mask on my t-zone only so that I could compare the results to the skin I did not use it on, and there was a difference. I should have raised my expectations though because, (and I know you won't believe it but it is true) I saw an immediate difference-my pores seemed to shrink. Since I do not thankfully suffer from acne (except for maybe some mask acne, shh!), I was not expecting to see much of an effect. The mask itself is a dark blue/gray color that was perfect as it helped me see if I missed any spots in applying it. My face is not particularly oily, so this is a product I would use more infrequently and I would follow it up with a moisturizer. I immediately looked up sulfur before trying the product to be sure of what it does, and read that it is used to dry up excess oil. Urban Skin Rx offers several masks, but this one is designed to treat acne so it contains 5% sulfur. Urban Skin Rx Hydrabalance Instant Moisture Infusion, $34 I felt my skin was primed to absorb the following products, but honestly I would have been satisfied with this one 3-in-1 solution, hence “holy grail.” I would describe this product as the holy grail of the line as application is so easy and your skin is immediately left feeling “squeaky clean.” My skin looked as if a cloudy film I didn't even know was there had been brushed away to reveal a new shiny layer underneath. The blend of 6 active ingredients work together to even skin tone and eliminate dark spots.
It is a 3 in 1 treatment as it works as a cleanser, mask, and exfoliator.
This product is a solid brown cleansing bar in a jar that lathers with a light tea tree and licorice smell. Right away by the name, I was expecting a solid bar of soap that might be messy so I was wondering where I would keep it, but I was happy to find that it came contained in a lovely aqua shaded jar with two exfoliating sponges included for easy application. David Henderson, is an accomplished Black man which is important since the skincare industry tends to be dominated by white medical professionals. Zoe Weiner also notes that “for too long, women of color have been underrepresented in medicine, medical research, and the decision-making positions at cosmetic companies, and that is reflected in the products we see on the shelves.” Urban Skin Rx breaks this mold through their organizational structure 100% of managers are women, while 61% of employees are BIPOC. Roff describes those at Urban Skin Rx as "melanin experts," and is proud to be a company that supports non-profits such as Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc., Color of Change, A Safe Alliance, Trayvon Martin Foundation, A Child's Place, and The United Way, Houston. Upon working in the industry, she found a dismaying lack of education and services available for those with darker skin tones so she committed herself to ensuring inclusivity in her line. Driven by personal experience with bullying due to a skin condition, she immediately attended the National Aesthetics Institute and obtained her license. Roff graduated with a degree in Sociology which offered her a foundation for understanding inequities in society. This inequality was not lost on Rachel Roff, founder and CEO of Urban Skin Rx.