Can You Make Money With Rodan And Fields

The doctors scraped together about $30,000 and developed a cleanser, toner, and treatment cream meant to be used together. They offered the

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to a mass-market skin-care company but were turned down: It was relatively costly and hard to explain—not ideal for a drugstore product. Then, in 1995, the doctors decided to do a long-form infomercial to pitch Proactiv directly to consumers. It was a flash of entrepreneurial genius. In a medium of low-rent production values and hilariously cheesy merchandise, Proactiv stands out, thanks to compelling before-and-after photos, endorsements from celebrities including Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and Julianne Hough, and generally positive reviews from users. Proactiv could have turned out to be a punch line, like the Bumpit. Instead, it is an $850-million-a-year business.

In 2002, the doctors established Rodan + Fields, a more upscale brand for aging skin with four distinct product lines. The Redefine regimen includes a cleanser, a daily sunscreen, and two other products that tackle fine lines and wrinkles. The exfoliating cleanser and brightening creams in Reverse—the line Cardella used—fight hyperpigmentation. Unblemish is for adult acne; Soothe handles sensitive skin. The products are expensive—a starter kit of any of these lines is about $175, and that's before you start adding on other items, like the $220 anti-wrinkle patches.

The regimens are also, by most accounts, effective. "It's a very high-quality line," says cosmetic chemist Jim Hammer. He commends several of the products for their skillful formulation and use of novel ingredients, such as the Reverse Skin Lightening Toner, which has components that help its active ingredient, hydroquinone, penetrate the skin better. But he also notes that some of the offerings, such as the Essentials Daily Body Moisturizer and Essentials Foaming Sunless Tan, have less expensive equivalents. "Not to say that they aren't good products," Hammer says, "but they're not unlike similar products that can be found at the drugstore."

Early in Rodan + Fields's history, Estée Lauder bought the brand and sold it in department stores. But it didn't exactly fly off of the backlit shelves. As with Proactiv, Rodan + Fields regimens require some explanation and must be used for a while before they yield results. Customers who bought Rodan + Fields often did so not because they'd been convinced at the beauty counter but because they'd heard about it from friends. The doctors thought, Why not skip the department store and just pay the friends?