Why Tower 28’s “No White Cast” Mineral Sunscreen Backfired—And How Brands Can Do Better
Tower 28 has apologized for claiming its new SOS FaceGuard SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen has a universal tint and leaves no white cast after cosmetic chemists and influencers, including Julian Sass, Aba Asante and Monica Ravichandran, pointed out the claims didn’t live up to application.
In a statement posted May 29 on social media, Amy Liu, founder of Tower 28, took full responsibility for the mistake and promised reform, starting with the removal of the descriptors “universal tint” and “no white cast” from the sunscreen’s marketing. She also committed to introducing a reformulated version of the product for deeper skin tones, enhancing Tower 28’s approach to testing to standardize use across participants, and continuing to collaborate with beauty experts and cosmetic scientists to ensure the brand’s future products reflect its diverse community.
“Despite our best efforts in testing, the truth is, we missed the mark. We described it inaccurately —saying it had “no white cast” and called it a “universal tint”— which was misleading…I’m sorry,” wrote Liu in the statement. She concluded, “This brand was built on the idea of being a safe space for everyone. We’re going to keep showing up, keep listening, and keep doing the work. Thank you for being in this with us.”
The SOS FaceGuard controversy has reignited beauty industry-wide conversations about inclusive formulation, consumer trust and the responsibility brands have to market products correctly. Below, industry experts outline four key steps brands should take to avoid repeating Tower 28’s mineral sunscreen mistake.
Understand The Limitations Of Mineral Sunscreen
Krupa Koestline, cosmetic chemist and founder of KKT Innovation Labs, emphasizes that formulating a mineral sunscreen with absolutely no white cast is nearly impossible and brands should keep that in mind when weighing whether to come out with one.
“Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are physical particles, and no matter how well they’re dispersed or micronized, they will leave some degree of visible residue on certain skin tones, especially deeper ones,” she explains. “It’s a hard truth that the industry needs to speak more openly about. Formulators can minimize cast, but to eliminate it entirely without pigment-based opacity? That’s not scientifically realistic, at least not yet.”
In order to claim no white cast, cosmetic chemist Javon Ford adds that mineral sunscreens have to be either tinted or made with nano zinc oxide made up of tiny nanoparticles that make it less noticeable on the skin. Nano zinc oxide is avoided by some brands out of concerns it penetrates deeply into the skin, although studies have shown those concerns are unfounded, and it’s generally considered safe.
Ford says, “Zinc is still a pigment and pigments under normal circumstances all have some type of cast regardless of how it’s surface treated.”
On social media, Sass has lauded Cotz’s Flawless Complexion for not having a white cast on deep skin tones and credits its small zinc oxide particles for helping to shear out its formula. On top of the small particles, he says, “The combination of silicones and other emollient in here really help to spread the zinc oxide incredibly easily across the skin—and then there’s the tint” that works to match Sass’s skin tone.
Although Tower 28 released SOS FaceGuard as a universal tint, it’s familiar with developing several tints for a mineral sunscreen to cater to a diverse audience. Nearly four years ago, it released SunnyDays SPF30 in 17 shades. Liu told Allure at the time that it took 50 iterations and three years to perfect. She partnered with makeup artist Kirin Bhatty on creating the product and formulated its deepest shade, Venice, first.
“It was really important that all shades had zero white casts or oxidation,” Liu told Allure. “The team accomplished this by incorporating a mineral shield, titanium dioxide, and iron oxides as pigments to reach that perfect tone.”
Conduct Extensive Testing
To properly test mineral sunscreens, Ford stresses that brands must have test subjects with skin tones across all Fitzpatrick scale markers, from pale white type 1 to deep brown to black type 6, and use the right amount of sunscreen to validate the formula. He says that amount is “not a little drop rubbed into the skin, but approximately two finger lengths worth of product.”
Concurring with Ford, Koestline says that “robust, diverse” testing should be done on two milligrams per square centimeter doses. And she adds, “Testing a mineral formula on a range of skin tones, undertones and lighting environments should be part of the product development lifecycle if a brand wants to make universal claims.”
While the United States Food and Drug Administration requires testing to verify that sunscreens are safe and effective, AJ Addae, founder of beauty research and development company Sula Labs, asserts that standard consumer perception testing for sunscreens should hold equal weight, especially given creating sensorially elegant sunscreens is a challenge. Consumer perception testing encapsulates a consumer’s user experience with a product.
“That consumer perception data is arguably just as important as the drug-related testing these days, and brands would benefit from that investment,” says Addae. “At Sula Labs, that consumer perception testing is a huge focus of how we interact with sunscreens.”
THink About Development Costs
In a TikTok video, Ford points out that most brands don’t launch sunscreens because of necessary steps such as testing can be cost prohibitive. “Sunscreen validation testing can easily be $20,000,” he details. “And every SKU, aka every shade, would have to be validated.”
Ford once worked with a brand that wanted to extend the number of BB cream shades from four to 20, but didn’t end up executing the shade expansion because validating the 16 new shades would’ve cost over $300,000. Ford says, “My stance for brands who want to be inclusive is either go all in or just don’t launch a mineral sunscreen.”
Addae estimates that clinical testing usually runs from $10,000 to $50,000, depending on the complexity of the study. For brands on a budget, consumer perception testing is generally on the lower end of the range.
@javonford16 @Tower 28 Beauty also has a tinted sunscreen line I’ve heard good things about. #sunscreen #sunscreenforpoc
Use Accurate Marketing Language
Arguably Tower 28’s biggest misstep was promoting that SOS FaceGuard left no white cast. In a video, the brand showed a former intern with a deep skin tone applying the mineral sunscreen without a white cast, but cosmetic chemists like Sass noted she didn’t apply enough sunscreen in the video.
He says, “You have to apply a half a teaspoon for your face, your ears and your neck. Most of their marketing materials, those people are not doing that…What frustrates me is that some Black girl is going to see all the advertising about this product and say, ‘Oh my God, they said it had no white cast.’ They’re going to buy it, they’re going to use it and then they’re going to end up looking like this [with a white cast].”
Ford argues that, if a brand doesn’t want to do extensive testing or develop tinted sunscreen options, it should “stop including dark skin in the marketing and stop advertising it as white cast-free.”
Koestline underscores that the backlash against SOS FaceGuard forces the beauty industry to confront bigger questions about inclusivity. “If a brand were to launch a sunscreen and say, ‘This won’t work on deeper skin tones,’ wouldn’t that spark backlash for being non-inclusive, just as we saw years ago when brands launched foundations in only a handful of shades? There’s now an expectation for universal performance, and yet mineral sunscreen, by nature, poses real formulation challenges.” She continues, “Brands are walking a tightrope: Striving for inclusivity while working with ingredients that don’t always make it easy.”
Koestline appreciates Liu’s apology. “It’s a difficult thing to do, especially when you’ve built a brand around transparency,” she says. “But it’s also an opportunity for the industry to level up on inclusive product development. It’s not just about intention, it’s about rigor in testing and communication.”
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