In an industry saturated with claims about “clean” and “sensitive skin-friendly” products, Tower 28 Beauty has distinguished itself through something far more powerful than marketing promises. The answer to the brand’s success: credible, verified testing.
Founder Amy Liu transformed her personal struggle with eczema into a multimillion-dollar brand by creating a foundation of trust that competitors couldn’t match. “We’re the only beauty brand that is 100% compliant with the National Eczema Association,” Amy proudly states. This certification isn’t just a badge—it represents a meticulous testing process that established Tower 28’s credibility in a congested market.
Just five years after launching, Tower 28 has become a multimillion-dollar brand with prime shelf space at Sephora stores nationwide.
Ahead, read how Amy built unshakable credibility for her innovative brand.
Leading with third-party verification
Amy recognizes that her claims about sensitive skin-friendly makeup need objective validation, beyond her own personal experience. “I’m not a dermatologist. I’m not a toxicologist. You shouldn’t believe me if I just say this is safe for sensitive skin,” Amy says. “I believe in third-party verification.”
Instead of asking consumers to simply take her word, Amy pursued the demanding Seal of Acceptance from the National Eczema Association. This required Tower 28 to:
- Avoid all ingredients considered irritating
- Test on 100 people with eczema and sensitive skin
- Submit to expert review by dermatologists and toxicologists
Amy shares her personal struggles with eczema to make customers feel less alone in their journeys and realize progress is possible. Tower 28 Beauty
This three-step certification process goes far beyond industry norms. Unlike consumer tests that simply ask for opinions, Tower 28’s testing involves dermatologist oversight: “It’s not a consumer test—a dermatologist is reviewing the results and saying, ‘OK, that’s not irritated skin,’” Amy says.
These verifications differentiate Tower 28’s products in ways competitors can’t easily replicate. It transforms marketing taglines into proof, giving validity to the brand’s claims.
Pulling from personal experiences
Amy’s brand credibility begins with her own authenticity. She created Tower 28 to solve a problem she experienced firsthand during her 20-year career in the beauty industry.
“I’ve had eczema my entire adult life. I was always a person going to Sephora, bringing them the next innovation in foundation or skin care and saying, ‘This is going to make your skin look perfect,’ but yet I was like, ‘Don’t look at my skin’ because I would get eczema on my face," Amy shares.
This personal element immediately connected Amy with her target audience. When she speaks about sensitive skin needs, it’s not a marketing angle—it’s her lived experience.
Leveraging industry experience
Amy spent two decades working for beauty powerhouses like L’Oréal and Kate Somerville before starting Tower 28 at age 40. “I told myself I’m going to learn on someone else’s dime,” Amy says. “I’m going to learn from everything they’re doing.”
This extensive experience gave her credibility with retailers, as Tower 28 secured Sephora distribution remarkably quickly. “We launched in April of 2019 … [and] we were on sephora.com by September. By March of 2020, we went into all stores at Sephora with a half shelf.”
When it came to fundraising, people were already familiar with her expertise. “So many people came to me and said, ‘Hey, I know you’ve been wanting to do this. I’ve been waiting for you,’” Amy says. This industry experience helped her secure pre-launch funding with just her résumé and a slide deck.
Documenting real results
Tower 28 built more credibility with customers by documenting and sharing results from real users. When mask-wearing caused widespread skin irritation during the pandemic, Tower 28’s SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray became an unexpected solution.
“We started sending it to essential workers and hospitals. I asked friends, ‘Who’s a doctor? Put me in touch with your ER or whoever it is,’ and I would send like 50 bottles to somebody and then they would distribute it,” Amy shares.
The critical next step was capturing and sharing those results at scale. “Someone would post it and comments would say, ‘Show me a before and an after.’ They would post their before and afters. And I was like, ‘Wait, this is really working.’ And then I would write to them and I’d say, ‘If you really love it, can I use your before and after and I’ll give you another bottle?’
These reviews and testimonials became powerful marketing assets. “We would take their before and after because they gave us permission to use it and we would put it on our Shopify site,” Amy says.
This approach—distributing products, collecting genuine results, and amplifying real user experiences—created a credibility cycle that marketing dollars alone couldn’t buy.
Becoming a recognized authority
Amy continues deepening Tower 28’s credibility by establishing herself as a genuine authority in the sensitive skin space. She recently joined the board of directors of the National Eczema Association.
“The National Eczema Association does more than the seal of acceptance,” Amy explains. “They do a really great job of the seal, which I kind of lump into the education side, but they also work a lot in advocacy and research as well.” By formally connecting herself with the leading organization in her product’s niche, Amy elevates Tower 28 from simply a commercial brand to an authority in sensitive skin solutions.
Maintaining accessible price points
While many “clean” beauty brands use high prices to signify quality ingredients, Tower 28 strengthened its reputation by offering these effective, luxury products at an accessible price point. This commitment to accessibility is deliberate.
“For me, that means I still want to shop at Sephora, I still want to go to Goop and these high-end retailers, but then I also want to be $16 for our lip gloss instead of $30,” Amy says. She stands by rejecting artificially high pricing, as the products’ verified quality speaks for itself.
Focusing on product excellence
Amy has learned from her time working at major beauty brands that “great marketing is a short-term solution. Great product is a long-term thing.” Her approach, since day one, has been prioritizing product excellence verified through rigorous testing and genuine results rather than marketing alone.
Because of this focus on quality, Amy landed her products nationwide at Sephora in her first year, and she’s managed to grow a multimillion-dollar brand in just five years.
Building genuine credibility through evidence-based claims creates a powerful competitive advantage that a saturated market can’t even take away. As Amy puts it: “There has to be something about what you’re doing that is really unique and that people resonate with. I really believe in the problem-solution concept.”
Tower 28’s customers genuinely trust them, and it’s translated into remarkable business success. Tune into Amy’s full video interview on Shopify Masters YouTube channel to hear how she landed nationwide at Sephora, as well as even more of her marketing tips.
