I Put Tower 28’s First-Ever Foundation to the Rosacea Test

When it comes to finding the perfect foundation, I have two non-negotiables: it needs to cover my redness, and it can’t send my rosacea into a flare-up. Tower 28 has just launched its first-ever foundation, Swipe Serum Foundation, and it promises to tick both boxes. So, as a long-time fan of the brand, I obviously had to put it to the test.

The Backstory

According to Tower 28, the new foundation is the result of two years of development and is designed specifically with sensitive, acne-prone skin in mind. The formula is derm-approved, non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic, and contains portulaca extract, an ingredient known for its soothing and antibacterial properties. It’s also the sister product to the brand’s Swipe Serum Concealer, which happens to be one of my all-time favourite concealers.

The brand worked with celebrity makeup artist Delina Medhin on the 36-shade range, studying a wide variety of real skin — including albinism and eczema — to help make the shade offering as representative as possible. That commitment to sensitive skin isn’t exactly new for Tower 28, either. The brand has built much of its identity around creating products for easily irritated skin. It even held an open casting call within its community that ultimately led to the models featured in the foundation campaign.

The launch also includes Tower 28’s first-ever makeup brushes: the Big Blender Brush and Baby Blender Brush, both made with soft synthetic bristles designed to dry quickly and help minimise excess moisture.

As someone with rosacea, I’m always trying to find a comfortable foundation that can cover my redness without making my skin angry in the process. And because I already love the Swipe Serum Concealer, I was particularly curious to see whether its foundation counterpart would live up to the (my) hype.

So, I put shade 2.0 Carlsbad and the Big Blender Brush through a real-world test. I picked a day when I had to head into the heart of NYC, meaning the foundation had to contend with summer humidity, multiple modes of transport and that inevitable layer of city grime that seems to settle on my face almost instantly. Here’s how it held up:

First Impressions

My first thought after pumping a small amount of product onto the back of my hand was how thin and runny the formula was — which makes sense considering it’s a serum foundation. For context, it’s much thinner than the concealer, so I was initially unsure how much coverage it could actually give me.

I swirled the Big Blender Brush into the product on the back of my hand first, priming the bristles for a more even application. The brush is super soft, with relatively dense bristles and a rounded triangular shape that makes it easy to get into the contours of the face. I personally prefer denser brushes like this for runnier formulas, as they help buff the product into the skin rather than just moving it around — and this did exactly that. Paired with the foundation, there were no streaks, no dragging and no endless blending.

Now, when it comes to testing new foundations, I like to apply them to one side of my face first so I can see the immediate difference. And let me tell you, all of my concerns about coverage faded pretty quickly. It gave me exactly the amount of coverage I’m always looking for: enough to even out my redness while still looking like skin, with a few of my freckles poking through. And what a great shade match!

I was genuinely impressed by how lightweight the foundation felt while still giving me some pretty decent coverage. One thin layer gives light to medium coverage, but I was able to build up a little more on the cheeks. Since the formula is heavy on skincare ingredients, the finish was quite dewy, so my next question was whether it would eventually set on its own. I purposely skipped primer, concealer and powder to find out.

The only thing I wore underneath was an untinted sunscreen, while a little cream blush (I’m naked without it) was the only product I applied on top. Luckily, both formulas played nicely with each other — sometimes skincare-heavy foundations can move other products around the skin too much, but the blush sat beautifully on top with no issues.

Two-Hour Check-In

Two hours in, and my foundation looked no different than it had post-application. The initial dewiness had subsided a little and been replaced by some inevitable city-living sweat, but the foundation itself hadn’t broken down. Things were looking promising.

Four-Hour Check-In

Four hours, two buses, two trains and a sweaty walk home later, my foundation was still in place and looking good — as was the cream blush. The foundation was barely detectable on my skin, yet it was still providing the same impressive coverage I saw straight after application. Even better, it hadn’t settled into any fine lines or gathered along the edges of my nose, which are usually the first places I need to fix throughout the day.

Eight-Hour Check-In

After a long day of sun, AC, humidity, sweat and general NYC stress, this foundation was still giving a surprisingly good amount of coverage. I even got through the day without needing a touch-up, and when it was finally time to take it off, my usual double-cleansing routine removed it easily.

For future applications, I’ll make one small adjustment — adding a little powder to the areas of my face that tend to get oily quickly, particularly in the heat. But even without it, I never felt overly dewy or like the foundation was melting off my face. A little strategically placed powder would have made it pretty much perfect.

Final Verdict

So, did Tower 28’s first foundation pass the rosacea test? Absolutely. It covered the redness I wanted covered, felt comfortable on my skin all day and, most importantly, didn’t irritate my skin or leave me feeling clogged up. Somehow, it also survived eight hours of summer in NYC without requiring a single touch-up. Next time, I’ll add a little powder to my oilier areas — but I think it’s safe to say I’ve found my new foundation staple.