Minimalist Makeup for Summer: Tower 28 Beauty Review & Swatches
Tower 28 is a relatively new to me minimalist makeup brand. Fun fact— the brand is named after a lifeguard tower in Santa Monica. If you’re not familiar with Tower 28, it’s a female-founded clean makeup brand designed for sensitive skin. As someone who has always had sensitive skin, it’s nice to know more brands are becoming more cognizant of the ingredients they put in its products.
The collection currently consists of jelly and milky lip gloss in various shades, tinted lip and cheek balms, an illuminating bronzer, a dewy highlighter, and a facial spray. The products are reasonable in price and easily fit into your minimalist makeup routine. All the products are vegan, cruelty-free, fragrance free and made without silicones and mineral oil.
I recently hauled a few products from the most recent Sephora Sale and want to share my Tower 28 Beauty review.
BeachPlease Lip + Cheek Cream Blush ($20)
This multi-tasking no-fuss tinted balm comes in six different shades with a dewy finish. I have the shade Magic Hour, a rosy nude. It definitely looks more mauve IRL than it does on the product page, but it’s a gorgeous everyday neutral for cheek color. I find that using a dense brush or my fingers work best for blending. Don’t bother using a sponge – I tried it once and it barely showed.
Now, as a tinted lip balm, a little goes a long way. When I dabbed a little on my lips I had a nice natural, monochromatic makeup look. I would definitely purchase another shade in the future.
Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer ($20)
Tower 28 recently added additional shades and I’m so glad they did because this pale girl loves a cream bronzer. I purchased the lightest shade, Sun Coast. I wasn’t thrilled about the pan packaging for a cream bronzer (seriously, why not a stick?) but it’s so emollient and bouncy in texture that I don’t know how I ever managed without it. It’s extremely blendable and I love that I can use it as an eyeshadow as well.
ShineOn Milky Lip Jelly ($14)
I’ve had the shade Oat, a sheer peach, for over a year and I really like the formula. It’s made with apricot oil and raspberry seed oil, ingredients that will keep lips nourished. I recently added Coconut Milky Lip Jelly to my collection, which is more of a true pink, and it’s so flattering on my fair skin tone. To be honest, I like it better than Oat. I don’t find it to be as sticky as other glosses I own which are a huge plus. It feels comfortable on the lips and this is what I’ve been wearing for all of my video conference calls.
Below are swatches of all four products (from left to right):
Milky Lip Jelly in Coconut
Milky Lip Jelly in Oat
Tinted Balm in Magic Hour (looks more mauve IRL)
Cream Bronzer in Sun Coast
While I like all three products I purchased, if I had to recommend just one it would be the BeachPlease Tinted Balm. I’ve tried a lot of cream blushes and this is definitely in my top three favorites (Glossier and Rare Beauty being my other picks).
