Tower 28
Amy Liu's clean beauty brand for sensitive skin. Started at 40 with $500,000, built the only beauty brand that is 100% compliant with the National Eczema Association, and reached a $228 million valuation with products that all cost under $28.
Tower 28’s SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray sells one bottle every 15 seconds and accounts for 30% of the company’s total revenue, with over 5,000 five-star reviews and 11 beauty awards. The brand tripled its sales between 2023 and 2024 and expanded from 160 branded endcaps to all 600-plus Sephora stores nationwide, ranking approximately sixth at the retailer and capturing roughly 1% of all Sephora customers globally.
Founder and CEO Amy Liu started Tower 28 at age 40 with $500,000 raised from her personal and professional network after 15 years as a marketing executive at Smashbox, Kate Somerville, and Josie Maran Cosmetics. She has had eczema her entire adult life, and the brand she built is the only one in the beauty industry where every single product meets National Eczema Association guidelines. In December 2023, a $28 million Series A led by Prelude Growth Partners valued the company at $228 million, a 5,600% increase from its $4 million seed valuation four years earlier.
At a glance:
| Founded | April 2019 |
| Founder and CEO | Amy Liu |
| Ownership | Private; Prelude Growth Partners led Series A |
| Revenue (2024) | $30-50M (sales tripled from 2023) |
| Valuation | $228M (December 2023 Series A) |
| Total funding | $29.2M |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California |
| Retailers | Sephora (US, Canada, UK, Middle East, Kohl’s), Credo Beauty, Revolve, Mecca (Australia/NZ), TikTok Shop, tower28beauty.com |
| Products | ~45 products, all priced under $28 |
| Certifications | 100% NEA (National Eczema Association) compliant; first brand to earn NEA + National Rosacea Society + National Psoriasis Foundation seals |
The Story
Amy Liu has had eczema her entire adult life. During her 20-year career in beauty, she was the person walking into Sephora pitching the next innovation in foundation or skincare, telling buyers it would make their customers’ skin look perfect, while her own eczema would flare up on her face. There was a time she would not wear anything above the knee because the eczema dried into scars that looked like bruises, and strangers would ask her if she was okay.
She earned an MBA from USC Marshall with a full-tuition scholarship, did a brief stint in management consulting, and then spent 15 years working exclusively at smaller, founder-led beauty brands because she wanted to learn how to be an entrepreneur. At Josie Maran Cosmetics, she grew sales 5x in three years. She left, took four years off from full-time work, had her third child, and gained confidence from, of all things, a home remodel project that showed her she could execute complex work with limited resources and tight budgets.
The gap she saw was specific: the clean beauty movement had created a new problem. Products marketed as “natural” were often loaded with essential oils and botanicals that irritated sensitive skin as much as the synthetic ingredients they replaced. There was no beauty brand that was simultaneously clean, vegan, and free of known skin irritants, and that is what Tower 28 was designed to be.
She raised $500,000 from her personal and professional network using only her resume and a slide deck. Her first investor was a classmate from USC Marshall. Tower 28 launched in April 2019 with three products: ShineOn Lip Jelly at $14, BeachPlease Luminous Tinted Balm at $20, and SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray at $28. The name comes from a lifeguard tower on the beach between Santa Monica and Venice Beach in Los Angeles, where Liu always met friends, and which she chose because the beach is “a place where everyone is welcome” and “you can literally see every kind of person.” As a second-generation Chinese-American who grew up in Claremont, California, she has said she “never felt represented” in the blonde-hair, blue-eyed beach culture of LA.
Within five months of launch, Tower 28 was on sephora.com. By March 2020, the brand was in all Sephora stores with half-shelf space. The SOS spray gained major traction during COVID as a treatment for mask-related skin irritation, and in June 2022, when Hailey Bieber mentioned it in a TikTok about products she uses for irritated skin, Sephora sales surged 55%.
The Strategy
Every product passes the eczema test
Getting the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance is not a checkbox exercise. Every product must be tested on 100 people with eczema and sensitive skin, reviewed by the NEA’s Scientific Oversight Committee (a panel of dermatologists, allergists, and eczema experts), and pass testing for sensitivity, irritation, and toxicity along with a full review of ingredients and formulation data. Tower 28 is the only beauty brand where 100% of products carry the NEA seal, and in 2025, it became the first to earn simultaneous approval from the NEA, the National Rosacea Society, and the National Psoriasis Foundation across its entire skincare collection. Liu was appointed to the NEA Board of Directors, and the company launched a $50,000 annual scholarship fund to send eczema patients to the Eczema Expo.
Everything under $28
Every Tower 28 product costs $28 or less, and the pricing is deliberate. The brand’s lip gloss retails at $14 compared to the $22 to $26 average for a clean lip gloss at Sephora. The SOS spray costs $28. The pricing strategy makes the brand accessible to the teenagers and young adults who drive TikTok virality while maintaining enough margin to be profitable, and the $28 ceiling is built into the brand name.
Sephora first, then everywhere
Tower 28 landed on sephora.com within five months of launch and was in all Sephora stores by its first anniversary. By 2024, the brand had expanded from 160 branded endcaps to all 600-plus stores with branded endcaps nationwide, and total points of distribution reached approximately 1,750 globally. International expansion followed the same Sephora-first model: seven Sephora UK stores, all 55 Sephora GCC stores in the Middle East, and Mecca in Australia and New Zealand. Sales doubled at Sephora in 2024 alone.
Sensitive skin that looks like a beach brand
Tower 28 rejected the clinical, boring aesthetic that typically defines sensitive-skin products. The brand’s visual identity is California-inspired, colorful, and fun, with product names like BeachPlease, ShineOn, and SunnyDays. The Milky Lip Jelly shades are named after alternative milks: Cashew, Oat, Almond, and Coconut. Liu’s insight was that people with sensitive skin still want to enjoy makeup, and the brand’s design communicates that having reactive skin does not mean settling for beige packaging and fragrance-free sameness.
The Numbers
| Metric | Detail |
|---|---|
| Seed valuation (2019) | $4M |
| Series A valuation (December 2023) | $228M (5,600% increase) |
| Series A amount | $28M (led by Prelude Growth Partners) |
| Total funding | $29.2M |
| Revenue (2024) | $30-50M (sales tripled from 2023) |
| Sephora sales growth (2024) | 100% (doubled) |
| SOS spray sales velocity | 1 bottle every 15 seconds |
| SOS spray as % of revenue | 30% |
| Sephora customer penetration | ~1% of all Sephora customers globally |
| Points of distribution | ~1,750 globally |
| Employees | Grew from 12 to 30 (2022-2023) |
Key product moment: When Hailey Bieber mentioned the SOS spray in a June 2022 TikTok about products she uses for irritated skin, Tower 28’s Sephora sales surged 55%. Celebrity makeup artists Jillian Dempsey (who used BeachPlease on Emilia Clarke), Katie Jane Hughes, and Kirin Bhatty have also championed the brand.
First influencer collaboration: Two blush shades developed with TikToker Toni Bravo (700,000 TikTok followers), launched in July 2025 with billboards in Los Angeles and 300 influencer mailers.
What You Can Learn
Start at 40 if that is when you are ready. Amy Liu spent 15 years learning how beauty companies work from the inside, took four years off to raise her children, and launched Tower 28 at 40 with the knowledge, relationships, and conviction that a 25-year-old founder would not have had. The best time to start an online business is when the founder has the specific expertise the business requires, regardless of age.
A certification is worth more than a claim. Every beauty brand says its products are “gentle” or “safe for sensitive skin,” and consumers have learned to ignore those claims. Tower 28’s NEA seal means every product was tested on 100 people with eczema and reviewed by a panel of dermatologists, which is a level of proof that no marketing copy can replicate and that competitors cannot easily match.
One hero product can carry the business. The SOS spray accounts for 30% of Tower 28’s revenue and sells one bottle every 15 seconds, which means the brand’s fortunes are heavily concentrated in a single SKU. For a smaller brand, that concentration is a strength rather than a risk, because it means the company has a product that genuinely works and that customers repurchase obsessively, which is the hardest thing in beauty to achieve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who founded Tower 28?
Amy Liu, a former marketing executive at Smashbox, Kate Somerville, and Josie Maran Cosmetics, founded Tower 28 in 2019 at age 40 after living with eczema her entire adult life.
What does the name Tower 28 mean?
The brand is named after lifeguard tower number 28 on the beach between Santa Monica and Venice Beach in Los Angeles, where founder Amy Liu always met friends, and which she chose as a symbol of inclusivity and healthy outdoor living.
Is Tower 28 safe for sensitive skin?
Tower 28 is the only beauty brand that is 100% compliant with the National Eczema Association, and in 2025 it became the first to earn seals from the NEA, the National Rosacea Society, and the National Psoriasis Foundation across its entire skincare collection. Every product is tested on 100 people with eczema and sensitive skin.
Where is Tower 28 sold?
Tower 28 is available at Sephora in the US, Canada, UK, and Middle East, Sephora at Kohl’s, Credo Beauty, Revolve, Mecca (Australia and New Zealand), TikTok Shop, and through tower28beauty.com.
How much do Tower 28 products cost?
Every Tower 28 product is priced at $28 or under, with lip glosses at $14, blushes at $20, and the SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray at $28.
What is Tower 28’s best-selling product?
The SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray, which sells one bottle every 15 seconds, accounts for 30% of the company’s total revenue, and has earned over 5,000 five-star reviews and 11 beauty awards.
Who owns Tower 28?
Tower 28 remains private and is led by founder and CEO Amy Liu. Prelude Growth Partners led the December 2023 Series A and is the largest institutional investor, with the rest of the cap table built from Liu’s personal and professional network including her original $500,000 friends-and-family round.
When was Tower 28 founded?
Amy Liu launched Tower 28 in April 2019 with three products: the ShineOn Lip Jelly at $14, the BeachPlease Luminous Tinted Balm at $20, and the SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray at $28.
What is Tower 28’s valuation?
The December 2023 Series A valued Tower 28 at $228 million, a 5,600% jump from the $4 million seed valuation four years earlier. Total funding to date is $29.2 million.
Sources
- Glossy, “Tower 28 plans to win Gen Zalpha consumers one SOS face mist at a time,” 2025. SOS spray sales velocity, 30% revenue share, celebrity fans.
- BeautyMatter, “Tower 28 FUTURE50 2024,” 2024. Revenue range, Sephora endcap expansion, points of distribution, employee growth.
- Shopify, “Tower 28 Beauty: Building Credibility in Business,” 2023. Amy Liu personal story, NEA certification process, founding narrative, Sephora timeline.
- Very Good Light, “How I Made It: Tower 28’s Amy Liu,” July 2020. Career background, $500K raise, brand naming, pricing strategy.
- USC Marshall, “Alumna’s Clean Makeup Brand Keeps Growing,” 2024. MBA background, Clean Beauty Summer School, brand philosophy.
- The Dermatology Digest, “Tower 28’s SOS Skincare Line Scores NPF, NRS, and NEA Seals,” 2025. Triple certification, NEA Board appointment, scholarship fund.
- Beauty Independent, “Tower 28 and Toni Bravo first influencer collaboration,” July 2025. Toni Bravo collaboration, sales tripling, growth projections.
- Entertainment Tonight, “Hailey Bieber Uses This TikTok-Famous Face Spray,” June 2022. Hailey Bieber mention, 55% Sephora sales surge.
- Marketing Brew, “How Tower 28 is using scripted comedy to break through on social,” November 2025. Blush Lives content series, engagement metrics.
- LinkedIn/Aaron Dillon, “Tower 28 Series A,” December 2023. Seed and Series A valuations, 5,600% increase.