This Newly Launched ‘Intensive Rescue Serum’ Has One Surprising Ingredient Derms Love for Its Inflammation-Fighting Powers

Ever since Tower 28 first launched its line of trendy, sensitive skin-friendly cosmetics in 2019, its SOS Rescue Spray ($28) hasn’t left my side. My skin can be fussy, and whether it’s random redness, the occasional breakout, or desert-level dryness, something is seemingly always happening to my face. Whatever that something is, though, this spray always seems to come into to save the day, throwing my skin a much-needed lifeline whenever it’s calling “SOS.”

And now, that spray comes in a super skin-saving serum that’s even more powerful at stopping red spots and blemishes in their tracks. The brand’s latest launch, the SOS Intensive Rescue Serum ($34), is practically a lifeguard in a bottle, formulated to soothe “extra angry skin” with its minimalist-but-mighty ingredients.

Tower 28, SOS Intensive Rescue Serum — $34.00

Your skin’s new superhero. Available to buy at Tower 28 and Sephora.

Tower 28 SOS Intensive Rescue Serum: An honest review

Like the original spray, the SOS Intensive Rescue Serum is fueled by hypochlorous acid, a natural acid found in the body’s white blood cells that help fight off things like bacteria and inflammation. It has similar effects on your skin as it does inside the body, encouraging the skin to restore itself when it feels out of whack. Since the serum has such a potent dose of the stuff, it’s particularly good at soothing that “extra angry skin,” stimulating the face’s blood flow to increase healing. Think: de-puffed red spots, cleared blemishes, and hydrated dry patches.

“[Hypochlorous acid] is a really interesting ingredient because we don’t really see this a lot in medicine and in the beauty space where something just works for everyone for a variety of different things,” said double board-certified plastic surgeon and Dr. 90210 star Kelly Killeen, MD, FACS, in a Tower 28 event. She praised the ingredient for working with the body’s natural rhythm (since it’s already found in it), rarely upsetting any of her patient’s skin. “This product gives your skin the opportunity to heal because your skin wants to heal.”

These ultra-healing powers have in fact wow’d me and my face. While you can use it as a daily serum to protect your skin on the reg, I like to use mine as a spot treatment—that concentrated dose of hypochlorous acid going a long way when I’m in a pinch. If, say, my face is super dry and itchy or a breakout is spreading, I’ll double-dip, spritzing my face with the spray before giving it an all-over rub down with the serum. And unlike other super efficacious products I’ve tried, this one doesn’t dry you out. It’s made with only two other ingredients—water and salt—chosen specifically to mimic the body’s natural moisture, and my face has never felt so clear and healthy.

Others on the Well+Good team love it for its SOS-answering capabilities, too. “The Tower28 SOS Rescue Spray has become my go-to facial mist. I love spritzing it on after I wash my face and before I do my routine so the hypochlorous acid can get my skin nice and clean,” says beauty writer Kara Jillian Brown. “I’m beyond pumped to have this ingredient in a serum. It goes on so smooth and now I feel like I can lay it on thick on any pimples, scrapes, and cuts.”

For the days your skin is begging for some extra help, the Tower 28 SOS Intensive Rescue Serum is the lifeline it needs. A bottle of this stuff goes a long way, your skin’s on-duty lifeguard waiting to save the day whenever you need.

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