Is Tower 28 Beauty profitable?

No public profitability figure is disclosed. Brand-reported FY2024 revenue was expected at $30 to 50 million, while a third-party tracker showed DTC online sales fell 10 to 20 percent year over year in 2025, suggesting margin pressure in its owned channel.

Who owns Tower 28 Beauty?

Tower 28 Beauty is privately held. Founder Amy Liu remains CEO. The company's last disclosed funding was a $28 million Series A led by Prelude Growth Partners in December 2023, valuing the company at $228 million.

Could AI replace Tower 28 Beauty?

Unlikely to replace the physical brand. AI could automate its manual shade-match quiz, but Tower 28's core asset, being the only makeup brand with 100 percent NEA ingredient compliance plus Rosacea and Psoriasis foundation seals earned via clinical testing, is not AI-replicable.

Who is Tower 28 Beauty's biggest competitor?

Saie is the closest scaling threat: it reportedly hit about $100 million in revenue in 2024 with 50 percent plus year-over-year growth and ranks in Sephora's top 10 makeup brands, ahead of Tower 28's roughly 6th place ranking, as of March 2026 reporting.

Is Tower 28 Beauty being acquired?

No deal is confirmed. A February 2026 Kline and Co. industry report flagged Tower 28 as a plausible indie-beauty M&A target amid consolidation, but as of mid 2026 no acquisition, IPO, or new funding round has been announced.

How big is Tower 28 Beauty?

Tower 28 is sold in over 600 Sephora doors across the US and Canada, ranks roughly 6th among Sephora makeup brands, and reported expected FY2024 revenue of $30 to 50 million per BeautyMatter's brand-sourced figures.

Consumer brands · United States

Tower 28 Beauty

tower28beauty.com ↗

Sensitive-skin makeup brand sold in Sephora, built on dermatologist and allergy seals.

Losing its protection

Assessed 23 July 2026 · Evidence as of 23 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 23 July 2026 · Checkable from Q3 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: 2H 2026 Sephora shelf allocation decisions and Q3 2026 DTC revenue data

The call

Tower 28 has real distribution and a genuine clinical claim, but the seals took 12 to 18 months to earn and a bigger company with more labs and more shelf leverage could copy them.

Tower 28 sells makeup designed for people with rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis, and it has real medical certifications and strong shelf space in Sephora stores. The problem is that bigger companies like L'Oréal (which owns CeraVe and La Roche-Posay) or Estée Lauder (which owns Clinique) can test and launch their own sensitive-skin makeup in 12 to 18 months, and they already have customer trust. Right now, Tower 28 has a 2 to 4 year head start because it got there first, but that lead is shrinking as smaller rivals like Saie grow super fast with the exact same idea. The one thing that would matter most: if L'Oréal or Estée Lauder takes one of their existing sensitive-skin skincare brands and turns it into a full makeup line with the same medical certifications, then Tower 28 loses its main reason to exist.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. AI tools help rivals speed up formulation and marketing copy, but no AI product is taking Tower 28's customers directly. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.

Bigger players: L'Oreal (La Roche-Posay, CeraVe) and Estee Lauder (Clinique). L'Oreal could push La Roche-Posay's derm credibility into color cosmetics with matching allergy seals within 12 to 18 months. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. Its head start on clinical seals and trust with dermatologists, plus real shelf space at 600+ Sephora doors.

What would change this call

La Roche-Posay or CeraVe (L'Oreal) launches color cosmetics with derm/NEA seals. Would show the clinical moat is copyable by a deep-pocketed incumbent.
Tower 28's 2026 DTC revenue figures (Grips Intelligence or similar tracker). Would show whether the online sales decline reversed or kept worsening.
Sephora 2H2026 shelf reset for sensitive-skin makeup category. Would show if Saie or another peer gains shelf space at Tower 28's expense.

Key numbers

DTC online sales down 10-20% YoY in 2025 (2025)
~600+ Sephora doors, ranked ~6th makeup brand there (2026-03)
Brand-reported revenue $30-50M FY2024 (2024)

Named risks

Regulatory/clinical moat (NEA, Rosacea, Psoriasis seals) copyable by larger rivals in 12-24 months. Severity: high
DTC sales fell 10-20% YoY in 2025 while faster-growing peer Saie expanded 50%+ in same channel. Severity: high
Senior 8-year product development manager departed to rival m.ph beauty in July 2026. Severity: medium
Revenue figures diverge 3-4x across sources ($13.4M to $50M), undermining clear financial visibility. Severity: low
Founder has expressed hesitancy about further category expansion given sensitive-skin formulation costs. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Saie	gaining on	Saie hit ~$100M revenue in 2024 with 50%+ YoY growth, Sephora top-10, per 2026-03 reporting
L'Oreal (La Roche-Posay, CeraVe)	contesting	Owns derm-credible skincare brands that could extend into color cosmetics with equal seals
Estee Lauder (Clinique)	contesting	Clinique's 'allergy tested, fragrance free' heritage rivals Tower 28's sensitive-skin positioning
Sephora/LVMH	contesting	Controls shelf allocation gatekeeping most of Tower 28's US distribution as of 2025-12

Questions people ask

Is Tower 28 Beauty profitable?: No public profitability figure is disclosed. Brand-reported FY2024 revenue was expected at $30 to 50 million, while a third-party tracker showed DTC online sales fell 10 to 20 percent year over year in 2025, suggesting margin pressure in its owned channel.
Who owns Tower 28 Beauty?: Tower 28 Beauty is privately held. Founder Amy Liu remains CEO. The company's last disclosed funding was a $28 million Series A led by Prelude Growth Partners in December 2023, valuing the company at $228 million.
Could AI replace Tower 28 Beauty?: Unlikely to replace the physical brand. AI could automate its manual shade-match quiz, but Tower 28's core asset, being the only makeup brand with 100 percent NEA ingredient compliance plus Rosacea and Psoriasis foundation seals earned via clinical testing, is not AI-replicable.
Who is Tower 28 Beauty's biggest competitor?: Saie is the closest scaling threat: it reportedly hit about $100 million in revenue in 2024 with 50 percent plus year-over-year growth and ranks in Sephora's top 10 makeup brands, ahead of Tower 28's roughly 6th place ranking, as of March 2026 reporting.
Is Tower 28 Beauty being acquired?: No deal is confirmed. A February 2026 Kline and Co. industry report flagged Tower 28 as a plausible indie-beauty M&A target amid consolidation, but as of mid 2026 no acquisition, IPO, or new funding round has been announced.
How big is Tower 28 Beauty?: Tower 28 is sold in over 600 Sephora doors across the US and Canada, ranks roughly 6th among Sephora makeup brands, and reported expected FY2024 revenue of $30 to 50 million per BeautyMatter's brand-sourced figures.

Timeline

2026-07-028-year Senior Product Development Manager Paulina Char departs to rival m.ph beauty
2026-06-19'Summer of SOS' hypochlorous-acid interactive billboard campaign launches in NYC
2026-05-15Launches ShineOn Plumping Lip Jelly, a pain-free lip plumper
2026-02-26Kline and Co. report names Tower 28 a plausible indie-beauty M&A target
2026-02-20SOS Rescue and Relief Body Wash arrives in Sephora stores
2026-01-14Relaunches Swipe Serum Concealer with 8 new shades
2025-12-30Launches SOS Rescue and Relief Body Wash, first body-care product
2025-07First influencer collaboration with Toni Bravo launches
2025-06Expands internationally into UK and Middle East via Sephora
2023-12Closes $28M Series A led by Prelude Growth Partners at $228M valuation

Revision history

23 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

PVH VF Kering