As a beauty editor, there is nothing that gets my heart racing more than hearing the news that a particularly buzzy beauty brand is crossing the Atlantic to arrive on UK soil. With much-hyped names like Glossier and Drunk Elephant leading the way, there’s no doubt that accessibility to international beauty brands has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. In fact, I can’t remember the last time that I had to plead with a friend, colleague or family member that was holidaying in the US to do a Sephora dash for me—almost all of the coolest Instagram beauty brands are readily available here now. Well, except that is, for one: Tower 28 Beauty.
Launched in April 2019, Tower 28 Beauty almost immediately garnered a cult following thanks to their playful makeup offering, laidback LA aesthetic and the fact that the brand had one unique point of difference—all of the makeup was created with sensitive skin in mind. Anyone dealing with skin concerns like rosacea or acne will know that brands that promise fragrance-free, hypoallergenic products tend to be clinical, dull and definitely not cute enough for Instagram.
“They tend to make you feel like a patient,” explains Amy Liu, founder of Tower 28 Beauty. Instead, Liu focused her efforts on creating a collection of makeup that would make users feel good about themselves. “I wanted to wear a lip product or a cheek product and not feel like I was making my skin worse and not feel guilty about it,” says Liu. “When you have a skin problem like acne or eczema and you want to use something on top of it you’re almost worried that you’re trading off your vanity for more issues.”
