Use Mod_Rewrite to Rewrite ROOT to Another Path

Note: I have tried the suggestions under this question but they either don't work or give me an infinite redirect loop error.

I have the following in my .htaccess file:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>

    Options +FollowSymLinks
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /

    # Rewrite old links to new
    Redirect 301 /howitworks.php        /how-it-works
    Redirect 301 /testimonials.php      /testimonials
    Redirect 301 /contact_us.php        /customer-service
    Redirect 301 /affiliates.php        /affiliates
    Redirect 301 /account.php           /customer/account
    Redirect 301 /shopping_cart.php     /checkout/cart
    Redirect 301 /products.php          /starter-kits
    Redirect 301 /login.php             /customer/account/login

    # Force to Admin if trying to access admin
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} www\.example\.com [NC]
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} admin [NC]
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://admin.example.com/index.php/admin [R=301,L,QSA]

    # Compress, Combine and Cache Javascript/CSS
    RewriteRule ^(index.php/)?minify/([^/]+)(/.*.(js|css))$ lib/minify/m.php?f=$3&d=$2

    # Always send 404 on missing files in these folders
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/(media|skin|js)/

    # Never rewrite for existing files, directories and links
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !server-status

    # Rewrite everything else to index.php
    RewriteRule .* index.php [L]

    # Force www in url and non-example domains to example
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.example\.com [NC]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^ww2\.example\.com [NC]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^qa\.example\.com [NC]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^uat\.example\.com [NC]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^local\.example\