12 Brands Like Tower 28 for Clean, Glowy Makeup

If you want the closest match to Tower 28, start with Saie, ILIA Beauty and Kosas. All three build makeup around skincare ingredients and land on the same dewy, second-skin finish. The rest of this list splits by what you actually liked about Tower 28, because that changes the answer completely.

Tower 28 does two separate things well, and most people who search for an alternative only care about one of them.

The first is formulation. Amy Liu launched the brand in 2019 after years of managing her own eczema, and the SOS skincare line carries seals from the National Eczema Association, the National Rosacea Society and the National Psoriasis Foundation. That is a checkable standard, not a marketing word.

The second is the look. Glowy, sheer, dewy, cheap enough to buy three of. Most Tower 28 makeup sits between $20 and $30, which is low for the clean-beauty shelf.

Figure out which half you are replacing before you shop. If your skin genuinely reacts to things, you want the brands screening their ingredients. If you just liked the glow, you have far more options and some of them are better at it.

How we picked these brands

• Credentials you can check. "Clean" is not regulated and means nothing on its own. We favoured brands publishing an actual ingredient standard, a third-party verification, or a certification you can go read.
• Fragrance and botanical load. Reactive skin usually reacts to fragrance and essential oils, not to the scary-sounding synthetics. Several brands marketed as clean lean hard on botanicals. That is worth knowing before you buy.
• A comparable finish. Half of Tower 28's appeal is the dewy, skin-first look. A brand with great ethics and a flat matte range is not a substitute.
• Still trading. The highest-ranking list for this search features two brands that no longer exist. Every brand here was checked against its live store in July 2026.
• A stated price. Tower 28 is unusually affordable. We flagged where a switch will cost you noticeably more.

At a glance

1. Saie

Saie is the switch most Tower 28 shoppers end up making, and the finish is why. Slip Tint and Dew Blush give you the same wet, lit-from-inside look at a similar price, and the cream blush formats behave almost identically on the cheek.

The brand also publishes an annual impact report and a stated roadmap to carbon net zero by 2039, which is more transparency than most of this category offers.

Best for the glow chaser who liked how Tower 28 looked more than how it was formulated. If your skin is genuinely reactive, keep reading, there are better-screened options below.

2. ILIA Beauty

ILIA Beauty built its reputation on complexion products that carry real skincare actives, and its Super Serum Skin Tint with SPF 40 is the reason most people cross over. Getting sun protection and coverage in one step is genuinely useful if you are trying to keep your routine short.

The Skin Blur Serum Concealer covers the same job as Tower 28's Swipe, with a softer focus.

Best for the shopper who wants SPF built into their base. It costs more than Tower 28, so expect a $34 to $54 band. If ILIA is where you are leaning, our roundup of brands similar to ILIA goes deeper on that side of the shelf.

3. Kosas

Kosas describes itself as 100% makeup and 100% skincare, and the Revealer Concealer is the product that made the case. It covers considerably more than anything Tower 28 makes without going flat or cakey, which matters if you found Tower 28 too sheer.

The brand publishes its own ingredient standard, called Kosas Clean Safety, so you can check what is excluded rather than take the word "clean" on trust.

Best for someone who wants real coverage and the skin-like finish at once. If you are weighing it directly, see our Kosas alternatives breakdown.

4. MERIT

MERIT solves a different problem. Instead of a huge catalogue, it sells a deliberately small line, mostly bundled into trios, so the decision is made for you. The Intro Trio and Daily Essentials Set are the usual entry points.

The aesthetic is quieter than Tower 28's, less beachy, more polished-neutral.

Best for a five-minute face and anyone tired of deciding. The trade-off is price, since the sets land around $69 to $81, so you are paying for the edit as much as the product.

5. Jones Road Beauty

Jones Road Beauty is Bobbi Brown's second act, and the brand describes its own category as clean no-makeup makeup. Miracle Balm is the hero, a sheer cream you press onto the high points of the face for a lived-in glow rather than a shine.

What The Foundation and The Face Pencil round out a line that skews adult. The colour story is warmer and more muted than Tower 28's.

Best for someone who wants bare skin that reads intentional rather than dewy-teen. Pricing sits in the $20 to $48 range, so it is a fair like-for-like swap.

6. RMS Beauty

RMS Beauty calls itself the original clean beauty brand, and it has the receipts, since makeup artist Rose-Marie Swift started it long before the category had a name. Living Luminizer is the product people still buy on repeat, and the ReDimension Daily Glow Palette is the multi-use version.

Nothing on this list is wetter or more reflective. If Tower 28 was not quite glowy enough for you, this is the correction.

Best for the luminizer devotee. Worth noting that RMS leans on plant oils, so if botanicals are your trigger, look at Well People instead.

7. Well People

Well People is the most rigorous ingredient screen here. The brand states over 100 EWG Verified products, alongside pregnancy-friendly, fair trade, cruelty-free, vegan and derm-developed claims, all published on its own about page with a page explaining what the verification means.

Prices are the lowest on this list. The Expressionist mascara sits at $20, lip balms at $14, and the Skinforia Serum Foundation covers the base.

Best for reactive skin that wants a third-party check, and for anyone shopping while pregnant. This is the closest match on formulation philosophy, if not on aesthetic.

8. Fitglow Beauty

Fitglow Beauty is a Canadian vegan brand that organises its entire store by skin concern, with standalone Redness + Rosacea and Sensitive + Stressed Skin categories. That structure alone tells you who it is built for.

Redness Rescue Cream and the Lash Care Mascara are the products people come back for, and the brand frames its formulas as plant-powered and evidence-based.

Best for rosacea and visible redness. Of everything here, this is the closest philosophical relative to what Tower 28 does with its SOS line.

9. Westman Atelier

Westman Atelier is the trade-up option. Gucci Westman spent two decades as an editorial makeup artist for Vogue, W and Harper's Bazaar before launching it, and the brand's stated approach is second-skin, meaning coverage you cannot see the edge of.

The Vital Skin Foundation Stick and Face Trace Contour Stick are the entry points, and the packaging is refillable metal rather than plastic.

Best for the shopper ready to spend meaningfully more for a more refined version of the same idea. For a wider view of this tier, see our guide to direct-to-consumer beauty brands worth knowing.

10. Kjaer Weis

Kjaer Weis sells certified organic colour in heavy refillable metal compacts, and publishes a how-to-refill guide because refilling is the whole point. You buy the compact once and replace the pan.

The Cream Foundation and Cream Eye Shadow are the anchors, and the formulas skew rich rather than sheer.

Best for the low-waste shopper willing to make a bigger upfront purchase. Free shipping kicks in at $150, which tells you what the brand expects you to spend, so it is a real jump from Tower 28 pricing.

11. 100% PURE

100% PURE takes the most literal reading of natural on this list. Its Fruit Pigmented range draws colour from fruit and vegetable pigments rather than conventional colourants, which is the brand's own trademarked category.

The store is browsable by skin concern, including a sensitive-skin filter, and prices sit at the low end.

Best for the shopper who wants the most plant-derived formula they can find without paying premium prices. Fair warning, heavily botanical formulas are not automatically gentler, so patch test if you react easily.

12. Milk Makeup

Milk Makeup is built around sticks and twist-up formats you apply with your fingers, no brushes, no mirror needed. Hydro Grip Primer is the product that broke out, and the whole line is vegan and cruelty-free.

The colour range runs bolder and younger than everything else here, which is either the appeal or the deal-breaker.

Best for on-the-go application and anyone who wants more colour than the neutral-glow crowd offers. Prices land in the $20 to $38 band, so it is an easy lateral move.

How to choose a Tower 28 alternative

Start with the question at the top of this page. Which half are you replacing?

If your skin actually reacts to products, go to Well People or Fitglow Beauty. Well People gives you the third-party ingredient screening, Fitglow gives you a range organised around redness. Both are more useful to you than a brand that simply looks similar.

If you just wanted the glow, Saie is the closest, RMS Beauty is the most intense, and Westman Atelier is the most expensive version of the same idea.

If Tower 28 was too sheer, Kosas covers more without going flat, and Jones Road gives you a more muted adult version.

If you want fewer decisions, MERIT sells the whole routine as one trio.

If price is the constraint, Well People, 100% PURE and Milk Makeup all start lower than Tower 28 does.

If you came here for the SOS spray specifically, you do not need a new brand at all. The active is hypochlorous acid, and near-identical sprays from Briotech, SkinSmart and Minimalist cost less. That is a product swap, not a brand switch, and nobody selling you a roundup wants to tell you that.

One last thing worth saying plainly. Botanical does not mean gentle. Essential oils and plant extracts are among the most common irritants for reactive skin, and several brands on this list use plenty of both. If Tower 28 worked for you because it left things out, prioritise the brands that publish what they exclude. For the wider category beyond clean formulas, our best makeup brands roundup covers more ground.

Frequently asked questions

What brand is most similar to Tower 28?

Saie is the closest on finish and price, with cream blushes and a sheer tint that behave much the same way. On formulation philosophy, Well People is closer, because it publishes third-party EWG verification rather than relying on the word clean.

Is there a cheaper alternative to the Tower 28 SOS spray?

Yes. The active ingredient is hypochlorous acid, and sprays from Briotech, SkinSmart and Minimalist use the same thing at a lower price. Ingredient-matching tools rate several of them as near-identical formulas.

What does National Eczema Association compliance actually mean?

It means the product was submitted for review against the association's ingredient and irritancy criteria and passed. Tower 28's SOS line also carries National Rosacea Society and National Psoriasis Foundation seals. Very few makeup brands hold any of these, which is exactly why the brand is hard to replace on that axis.

Are clean makeup brands actually better for sensitive skin?

Not automatically. Clean is an unregulated marketing term, and plenty of clean formulas are heavy on essential oils and botanical extracts, which are common irritants. What helps sensitive skin is fewer fragrance ingredients and a published exclusion list, not the label itself.

Which alternative is best for rosacea or redness?

Fitglow Beauty, which organises its store around skin concerns and runs a dedicated Redness + Rosacea range. Well People is the runner-up if you would rather shop by verified ingredient screening than by concern.

Is Saie or ILIA closer to Tower 28?

Saie, on both finish and price. ILIA sits higher on cost and leans further into skincare actives and SPF, so it is a step up rather than a like-for-like swap.

Do any of these brands offer refills?

Kjaer Weis is the most committed to it, selling metal compacts with replaceable pans and publishing a refill guide. Westman Atelier also uses refillable metal packaging across its complexion line.