<P> Rodan & Fields, LLC, known as Rodan + Fields or R + F, is an American manufacturer and multi-level marketing company specializing in skincare products . In 2002 Katie Rodan, MD and Kathy Fields, MD, creators of Proactiv, started the Rodan + Fields brand; they sold it a year later and bought back the brand in 2007 with an multi-level marketing structure . The company uses independent consultants, mostly women, to sell its products . Only two percent of these consultants make more than minimum wage . Its business model has been criticized by consumer advocates as being close to a pyramid scheme . </P> <P> Drs . Fields and Rodan met in 1984 during their dermatology residency at Stanford University School of Medicine . In 1995, they developed Proactiv Solution as a preventative skincare for acne . Proactiv is now a registered trademark of Guthy - Renker and Nestlé . </P> <P> In 2002, Drs . Fields and Rodan launched Rodan + Fields . Products were sold in department stores . In 2003, Rodan + Fields was purchased by Estée Lauder . In 2007, Drs . Fields and Rodan reacquired the brand and transitioned the company from department stores to multi-level marketing, where consultants are paid a commission for their own sales and for the sales of people they recruit . </P> <P> Rodan + Fields launched in Canada in February 2015 and in Australia in September 2017 . </P>

When did rodan and fields start direct sales