In 2013, had just moved to New York City with her then boyfriend, soon after she found out her father had just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

Moving to a new city during a time where she felt she needed to be around the people who loved her was tough. In October of 2013, Rachel went to visit her father at Sloan Kettering where he was being treated and received news that he wasn’t going to make it. Painfully devastated with the news of her father’s prognosis, Rachel researched alternative methods of treating cancer. Having done hours of extensive research, Rachel stumbled upon Bee Venom. Bee venom contains one of the only naturally occurring chemical compounds known to man that is able to break into disease wall barriers such as HIV and cancer. It doesn’t necessarily cure these diseases, but the idea intrigued her.

When Rachel finally mustered the energy to unpack her belongings in her new apartment and do something about her appearance after a bad breakup, she decided to go to Sephora for some retail therapy. When Rachel asked the associate there for the best anti-aging serum they had, she responded with one word- “Botox”. Furious with her response, Rachel went home that day, and remembered some of her earlier findings on bee venom. She recalled that bee venom contained antimicrobial properties that could help treat acne and slightly mimic the effects of Botox by inhibiting muscle contractions, reproducing collagen, and elastin in your skin.

Driven by her findings, Rachel moved back to Boston and went back to school to become an aesthetician in hopes of understanding skin care even further. She then graduated and applied for a job at a medical spa. During her time working at a med-spa, Rachel got promoted 3 times within a 3 year span. She then created a business plan, found mentors and took hundreds of pages of notes in hopes of making her vision a reality.

Having been so determined yet apprehensive about what she was doing, Rachel read a quote that said, “When you want to climb a mountain, do not look at the top. You will want to quit. Instead, look at the footing in front of you, and before you know it, you will be there”

Before she knew it Rachel had an EIN, a lab, formulas, packaging, and a marketing concept. It took Rachel about a year and a half from the time that she officially started until she had Intoxicated Cosmetics first prototype.

Since its official launch in November 2019, Intoxicated Cosmetics has been featured in Forbes, British Vogue, NECN Boston's Beauty Beat, and BoxyCharm. They are also in over a dozen salons, spas, and boutiques across the country, and have grown their team by 400%. Intoxicated Cosmetics still works with their California based, family-owned, female-founded biochemical company and has recently launched their new Signature Moisturizer, Antidote, in May of 2021.