Launch Date: July 2019
Geography: New York City, New York
Founder: Dr. Rosemarie Ingleton, Founder
Executive Team: Meredith Kerekes, CEO
2026 Full Year Projected Revenue: $2M - $5M
Primary Category: Skincare
Funding: Friends and Family
Primary Distribution Channel: DTC
Other Distribution Channels:
Key Retail Partner: Sephora
I've been a dermatologist in New York City for more than 30 years. In that time, I've had the privilege of caring for thousands of patients—every skin tone, every skin type, every concern you can imagine. And over those decades, I kept noticing the same thing: My patients were spending a lot of money on skincare that wasn't working for them. Not because they weren't trying. Because most of what was on the market wasn't actually built for them.
I started Rose Ingleton MD in 2019 because I wanted to give my patients, and people like them, what I'd been recommending in my office for years: a simple, effective regimen built on real clinical science. Four steps. The right ingredients. No guesswork.
I didn't start with the easiest skin to formulate for. I started with the most complex, the most reactive, the most demanding, because that's what I see in my practice every day. If it works there, it works everywhere. After 30 years, I know what works. I built Rose Ingleton MD so my patients and everyone like them wouldn't have to figure it out alone.
Insights: Dr. Rosemarie Ingleton, Founder
Why now and why you?
Fewer than 3% of dermatologists in this country identify as Black. I am one of them, and I have spent 30 years practicing in New York City, caring for some of the most discerning patients in the world. My practice includes celebrities, athletes, artists, and executives who trust me with their skin because they know what real expertise looks like. This is the moment for that expertise to matter beyond my office. Consumers are overwhelmed by voices claiming authority they haven't earned. Thirty years of clinical practice, built in the most diverse city in the country, is not something you can manufacture. Rose Ingleton MD is the extension of that work.
What fuels your competitive advantage?
Three decades of listening to real patients. I didn't design these products in a lab disconnected from the people who would use them. I designed them in a practice, informed by thousands of patient conversations, real skin concerns, and real clinical outcomes. The other thing is simplicity, and I mean that as a clinical principle, not a marketing one. In my experience, the regimen a patient actually follows is the one that gets results. If it's too complicated, they stop. So I made it simple on purpose. My patients refer their friends. Those customers refer theirs. The trust transfers because the results are real.
What’s your proudest accomplishment to date?
Getting Rose Ingleton MD onto Sephora.com was a milestone I'm proud of because it meant the products could reach people far beyond my waiting room. Winning an Allure Best of Beauty Award twice, an Essence Beauty Award, and others, confirmed that the industry saw what my patients already knew. But what stays with me are the messages I get from customers who tell me their skin has finally changed. People who tried everything, saw every specialist, spent years frustrated. And something I hear often that I didn't fully anticipate: customers who say they chose Rose Ingleton MD because they finally saw a founder or expert who looked like them. A dermatologist who understood their skin, their concerns, their experience. That they felt seen and supported in a way they hadn't before. That's who I built this for. Those messages are what I'm most proud of.
What is the one thing you wish someone had told you?
That building a brand is a completely different discipline from building a practice. In medicine, if you do good work, word travels. A brand requires you to tell your own story, loudly and repeatedly, in ways that don't always feel natural to a physician. I had to learn to trust that sharing what I know, the way I'd explain it to a patient in my office, was enough. Some days that comes more naturally than others.
What would you tell your past self before starting this journey?
I dreamed of being a doctor long before I understood what that would require. Looking back, I'd tell my younger self to trust that instinct and keep going, especially in the moments when it feels impossible. And choose your people carefully. The ones who believe in you before the results arrive, who show up when things are hard; those relationships are what carry you through.
What does success look like in the next 3-5 years?
Success looks like walking into a Sephora store and seeing Rose Ingleton MD on the shelf. It looks like a line that addresses everything I treat in my practice: acne, barrier repair, and the full range of concerns my patients bring to me. And it looks like more people, wherever they are, finding a dermatologist they can trust even if they've never been able to see one in person.
What's one industry trend that is overhyped, and what's being overlooked?
Overhyped: the hero ingredient cycle. The industry introduces a new active every season, brands formulate around it, and consumers are left chasing results that never quite arrive. Clinical skincare doesn't work that way. Efficacy comes from formulation integrity and consistent use, not novelty.
Overlooked: the woman who has been taking care of her skin for decades and still can't find a brand that feels like it was made for her. She's in my office regularly. She's informed, she's loyal, and she's frustrated. The beauty industry spends an enormous amount of energy chasing a younger customer while this woman, with her experience and her spending power, is waiting for someone to show up for her.
How do you think the industry needs to evolve?
I'd like to see it move toward fewer, better products. The proliferation of brands and launches has made it nearly impossible for consumers to know who or what to trust. I see the confusion in my practice every day. Patients come in with shelves full of products and skin that isn't improving. Dermatologists have long recommended simplicity. A four-step routine followed every day will do more than a twelve-step routine followed inconsistently.
If you could wave a magic wand, what one wish would you make for your business?
That every person who needs a dermatologist could see one. Access to good skincare and healthy skincare shouldn't depend on where you live or what you can afford. Rose Ingleton MD is one way I try to close that gap, but there's so much more work to do.
