Tower 28 Beauty

Tower 28's appeal is that sensitive-skin makeup does not have to look clinical. SOS Rescue Spray explains the skincare reputation; BeachPlease blush and ShineOn Milky gloss explain the cheerful, easy makeup. We'd start with the blush if you want luminous color, or Swipe Concealer for targeted coverage. The limitation is the umbrella promise: a brand built around sensitivity still needs to be judged formula by formula.

Research checked 15 October 2026. This is a source-based brand assessment using current listings, founder interviews and attributed published reviews, not our own wear test.

What Tower 28 is known for

Amy Liu's founding frustration is unusually useful for understanding the products. On Tower 28's about page, she describes living with eczema and feeling restricted to serious, clinical-looking brands. That is her personal history and the brand's starting point, rather than evidence that its products will treat someone else's condition.

In a founder interview with Spa and Beauty Today, Liu dates the launch to 16 April 2019 and explains the name: Tower 28 was the lifeguard tower where she met friends on the Los Angeles coast. She wanted the feeling of safety without a medicinal identity. The beach references in names such as BeachPlease make more sense with that context.

The brand occupies a useful middle ground. You can be cautious about ingredients and still want a bright pink blush or shiny lips. Tower 28 makes that combination its personality. Its current makeup examples lean toward finger-blended color, gloss and a base applied where needed, rather than requiring an elaborate application routine.

Tower 28 is most relevant to someone who wants approachable makeup and reads ingredient lists, but does not want the entire experience to feel like shopping for a skin problem. It is a less obvious destination if your priorities are a flat matte face, opaque lips and a specifically waterproof mascara.

Is it still a brand people are paying attention to?

In its 1 January 2026 announcement, Sephora included Tower 28 in its Beauty Insider birthday lineup, pairing SOS Spray with ShineOn in Pistachio. That is concrete evidence of prominent retailer exposure this year. It also captures the brand neatly: one skincare signature and one easy makeup product.

The makeup reputation has evidence beyond that promotion. In Allure's 2022 MakeWaves review, Angela Trakoshis reported easy removal with water and cleansing balm; Talia Gutierrez reported no end-of-day flakes or smudging. These early reviews help explain the mascara's appeal: definition and straightforward removal, alongside the sensitive-skin positioning.

Our reservation is with reading that story as a blanket guarantee. “Made with sensitive skin in mind” is a reason to investigate a formula. It cannot tell you in advance that a particular gloss, pigment or mascara will work for you.

Tower 28 prices and the products to consider

These are US prices in USD for the specified full sizes, excluding tax and shipping. Shade availability can change.

The review cards below may show prices from earlier checks. Use the dated prices and sizes in this table for the current comparison.

Product	US price and size	Buying view
SOS Rescue Spray	$28 / 120 ml	Cosmetic soothing mist; no BHA
Swipe Concealer	$24 / 6.5 ml	Targeted medium coverage
BeachPlease Blush	$20 / 4.5 g	Luminous cheeks and lips
ShineOn Milky	$16 / 3.9 ml	Gloss with translucent color
MakeWaves Mascara	$20 / 8.5 ml	Defined lashes; not waterproof-tested

Prices and sizes come from Tower 28's SOS, Swipe, BeachPlease, ShineOn Milky and MakeWaves listings. The table covers the standard SOS bottle and full-size mascara, not their smaller versions.

Why SOS belongs beside the makeup

SOS gives Tower 28 a recognizable skincare signature alongside the blushes and glosses. Its published formula is water, sodium chloride and hypochlorous acid, and the brand positions it as a cosmetic mist for calming visible irritation and redness. One distinction matters: it contains no salicylic acid, so it cannot stand in for the exfoliating role of Paula's Choice 2% BHA. Our Paula's Choice guide covers that separate category. Tower 28 recommends SOS on dry, freshly cleansed skin and permits refreshing over makeup. Decide whether you want that misting step before choosing a bottle size.

Size changes the economics considerably. The $12 travel bottle holds 30 ml, the $28 standard bottle 120 ml, and the $68 refill 473 ml. Those work out to about $40, $23.33 and $14.38 per 100 ml. The refill is the better unit buy for an established user; it is a substantial first purchase for someone who has not decided whether a mist belongs in their routine.

The makeup that best explains the brand

BeachPlease and ShineOn show Tower 28's idea of easy color better than a long ingredient claim does. BeachPlease Cream Blush is approved for cheeks and lips, with a luminous finish. Its formula includes castor oil, sunflower seed wax and shea butter. Magic Hour is a rosy nude, while Dream Hour is bright pink. The bright option is not automatically the harder one to wear: a small amount of the color you want can be more useful than repeatedly building a muted shade that barely shows.

At $20 for 4.5 g, BeachPlease costs $4.44 per gram. Buy it for the finish and the compact format. The lip compatibility is a useful extra, but only a saving if the same shade appeals to you on both cheeks and mouth. The luminous finish is the main reason to choose it over a matte blush.

ShineOn Milky Lip Oil Jelly takes a similar approach to lips. Pistachio is a milky nude pink, Sesame a milky mauve and Almond a milky chocolate in Tower 28's descriptions. These are translucent glosses; the lip color underneath remains part of the result. They make more sense for softened color than for an opaque, sharply outlined lip.

There is a revealing ingredient-list quirk: ShineOn Milky lists Flavor (Aroma), although the page describes the gloss as fragrance-free. Someone avoiding flavored lip products needs that specific disclosure. A general impression of the brand would miss it. The separate ShineOn Plumping Lip Jelly, $18 for 5 ml, also has its own formula and shade range. “ShineOn” alone is no longer enough information when reordering.

Where the easygoing image has practical limits

Swipe Serum Concealer is the most useful next step if you like the color products but need coverage. Tower 28 describes medium, buildable coverage, with glycerin, sodium hyaluronate and centella extract in the published formula. The brand allows all-over use, but the tube holds 6.5 ml. At about $3.69 per ml, it makes the strongest financial case for covering selected areas.

Shade matching requires more attention than the glosses. A lighter under-eye shade and a skin-matching blemish concealer solve different problems. For example, Tower 28 describes 0.5 ALTA as fair with pink undertones and 1.0 BH as fair with neutral undertones. Similar depth does not make them substitutes. There is now a separate Swipe Serum Foundation, with its own shade guide; do not transfer a concealer code by assumption. Our Kosas Revealer alternatives provide other complexion options to compare.

MakeWaves Mascara exposes another reason to read beyond the brand identity. Its specific FAQ says it has not been tested to be waterproof, although a general feature list on the same page includes “Water-proof/resistant.” We would use the narrower statement and skip it when waterproof performance is essential. The independent review above concerns ordinary wear, not swimming.

There is a sensible trial size: 5 ml of Jet black costs $12, compared with $20 for 8.5 ml full-size. At roughly $2.40 versus $2.35 per ml, the mini barely carries a unit-price premium. Drift, the espresso-brown option, is available full-size. The brush is the other part of the purchase: Tower 28 recommends its inner curve for volume and longer bristles for definition.

Where we'd start

BeachPlease plus ShineOn Milky cost $36 before tax and shipping and give the clearest introduction to Tower 28's color aesthetic. Choose Swipe instead if coverage is the thing missing from your routine. SOS belongs on a separate list, based on whether you want a facial mist.

For comparison, our Glossier guide covers another approach to understated makeup. The useful distinction here is Tower 28's explicit sensitive-skin starting point and the way SOS sits beside its color cosmetics. You can like that identity without buying every part of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Tower 28 known for?

Tower 28 combines a sensitive-skin identity with approachable color cosmetics. SOS Rescue Spray, ShineOn lip gloss and BeachPlease cream blush illustrate that mix. Founder Amy Liu's own experience with eczema helped shape the brand, but it does not establish a treatment claim for its products.

Why is the brand called Tower 28?

Tower 28 is named after a lifeguard tower at the meeting point of Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Founder Amy Liu chose it as a symbol of a welcoming place where different people come together, which helps explain the brand's relaxed California identity.

Does Tower 28 suit every person with sensitive skin?

Suitability depends on the individual formula. For example, SOS has a three-ingredient list, while ShineOn Milky contains Flavor (Aroma), despite being described as fragrance-free. Someone who avoids flavored lip products would need to check that gloss specifically.

Which Tower 28 product is the best first purchase?

BeachPlease Cream Blush is our starting recommendation for luminous cheek color, while Swipe Serum Concealer makes more sense if you need targeted coverage. SOS is a separate skincare decision, and ShineOn Milky is the inexpensive entry point for translucent gloss.