Tower 28 SunnyDays Tinted SPF Sunscreen Foundation Provides a Buildable Base for Sensitive Skin Types — Review, Photos
My relationship with sunscreen is complicated because of my skin’s sensitivity. On days I opt out of foundation and use sunscreen alone, I find the patches of redness and irritation along my laugh lines and chin stick out like a sore thumb. So when Tower 28 launched SunnyDays, a tinted sunscreen foundation with SPF 30 made with consideration for sensitive skin types like mine — essentially promising not to irritate my skin but also offering skin tone-matching coverage just in case it’s already showing signs of sensitivity — I thought the only hurdle left was finding a shade match.
Before SunnyDays came into existence, Tower 28 founder Amy Liu didn’t have the best experience with her sensitive skin and many trials with often-irritating chemical sunscreens and hard-to-blend mineral sunscreens. “It made it tricky to find the perfect formula without irritating [my] skin or leaving a white cast,” Liu recalls. Highlighting the challenges those with skin conditions like eczema and acne face, she adds, “SPF protection is needed since sun damage can lead to scarring.” Found in many cases of hyperpigmentation, Ellen Marmur, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, defines this broad skin condition as “discolored or darkened for a variety of reasons, such as sun damage or acne scarring.”
Knowing that, Liu became determined to create the first tinted sunscreen foundation gentle enough to receive the National Eczema Association’s Seal of Acceptance, which it now has. “I knew our [sensitive-skin] community needed it, and it didn’t exist on the market,” Liu says. And she wasn’t wrong: After the wait list opened two weeks prior to SunnyDays’ official launch date, more than 2,500 customers eagerly signed up.
After 50 iterations and three years (amidst a pandemic), Liu and makeup artist Kirin Bhatty created 14 tinted sunscreen foundation shades, starting with the deepest, Venice, first. “It was really important that all shades had zero white casts or oxidation,” Liu says. “The team accomplished this by incorporating a mineral shield, titanium dioxide, and iron oxides as pigments “to reach that perfect tone.” By working with these ingredients and taking into consideration how the mineral filter may manipulate color, oxidization was not an issue and true-to-skin-tone shades were achieved.