Save this story Save Story Save this story Anyone who’s applied sunscreen only to be left with a chalky white cast, a greasy finish knows American sun care has long been a frustrating experience. The US is decades behind European and Asian counterparts, which have long been blessed with sunscreens that are lighter, more luxurious, and easier to wear every day. For skincare obsessives (this writer included) trips abroad are also opportunities to stock up on superior sunscreens they can’t find at home.
The root of the problem is regulation. The Food and Drug Administration classifies sunscreen as a drug rather than a cosmetic. Because of that distinction, more time and testing is required to get new sunscreens on the shelves, dramatically reducing innovation in American sun protection. But for the first time since the ‘90s, we’ve had some movement on that front. In June of this year, the FDA approved a new sunscreen filter called bemotrizinol —also known as Tinosorb S or BEMT—after years of lobbying in the states by dermatologists, skincare brands, and Congress members. It’s a meaningful step toward better sun care, but the US is still lagging behind.
Bemotrizinol is prized for its ability to provide both UVA and UVB protection while remaining stable in sunlight. That’s a significant advantage over some existing US-approved filters, which offer protection against one type of UV radiation more effectively than the other. BEMT also has the potential to make sunscreen more pleasant to wear: “And because it’s a large, oil-loving molecule, it mostly stays on the surface of your skin instead of soaking in, and it blends into lightweight, non-greasy formulas with no white cast,” says Dr. Joel Spitz, co-founder, chief medical officer, and board-certified dermatologist at Honeydew, a virtual dermatology platform.
Bemotrizinol might be new for the US market, but it’s already been used in sunscreen formulations abroad for 20 years, Spitz says. That long track record helps explain why consumers in the US have spent years coveting the more cosmetically elegant formulas available in countries like South Korea and France. While most consumers would love if major brands like Neutrogena, La Roche-Posay, or Beauty of Joseon brought their European or Asian formulations to the US, those SPFs still contain filters that the FDA hasn’t approved. As a result, many brands are developing entirely new BEMT-centric formulas for use stateside.
Australian label Ultra Violette was the first brand to release a BEMT sunscreen in the US with its Unblock Screen SPF 50 in August 2026. Neutrogena debuted its Ultra Sheer Daily Face Sunscreen SPF 70 in September. Earlier this month French drugstore staple La Roche-Posay put its Anthelios UVDefense Sunscreen SPF 50 up for sale online. Don’t mistake the relatively quick arrival of these products after the FDA’s approval for ease in which brands can develop new formulations. According to Emanuella Louis, La Roche-Posay’s public relations manager, the brand had been working on its new formula for more than two years.
That long lead time reflects the way sunscreen development works: Brands can research and test formulas in anticipation of regulatory changes, then move a product forward when a particular filter gets the green light. Louis says La Roche-Posay has access to filters the FDA may be considering for approval and is “actively working, playing, testing on what possibly those formulas would be.” When a filter is approved, she explains, a formula already in the testing pipeline can be moved up.
Some brands are still tinkering with BEMT formulas for the US. Round Lab, one of South Korea’s most popular sunscreen manufacturers, has sold a version of its SPF in the US since 2024, and is hard at work on a new version of those formulas that contains bemotrizinol.
“Bemotrizinol’s approval in the US is a meaningful change, but it does not mean a Korean formula can simply be brought to the US market as is,” says Koochul Kwon, Round Lab’s chief technology officer. Beyond incorporating the newly approved filter, brands must ensure the ingredients keep the UV filters stably dissolved and working alongside other components, including moisturizing ingredients. The finished product must then meet US requirements for SPF and broad-spectrum testing, product stability, and labeling. With those considerations in mind, Kwon expects Round Lab to release its own bemotrizinol sunscreen sometime in 2027.
A sunscreen is only as useful as a person’s willingness to wear it consistently. Bemotrizinol’s ability to protect against UV damage is important, but its potential to make formulas lighter, less greasy, and more comfortable could be just as consequential to get people to implement it in their everyday skincare routines.
“One of the strengths of Korean sun care is how naturally it has built sun protection into the everyday skincare experience,” Kwon says. “For people to apply enough sunscreen and reapply it when needed, the way it feels matters as much as how well it protects.”
But better filters alone won’t transform American sun care. The real breakthrough will be sunscreens that people actually enjoy wearing—and, as a result, are more likely to apply generously and reapply throughout the day, a key step to ensuring its effectiveness.
Charlotte Palermino, cofounder and chief brand officer of skincare brand Dieux, has been an advocate for easier sunscreen filter approvals ever since she tried her first Japanese sunscreen, Biore UV, a decade ago. She realized sunscreen could stave off skin issues after her dermatologist told her that her hyperpigmentation had been the result of failing to use sun protection. In the years since she has publicly pushed for regulatory reform . She’s hesitant to put an estimated release date on Dieux’s upcoming BEMT-centric sunscreen, simply because the brand is dialed in to ensure its able to deliver a quality, wearable product.
“We’ve gone through this with [Dieux’s] SkinMercy, which is an OTC colloidal oatmeal cream, but for sunscreen, the stability of your sunscreen is so fucking important,” she says. “If my sunscreen separates or if it’s not at that stated SPF 50, if that degrades at all with broad spectrum protection, I would be mortified.”
Palerimo cites brands like Korea’s Beauty of Joseon, which is more popular in the US than in its home country , as evidence that Americans have long been on the hunt for better sunscreen. And though BEMT is a step forward, we still have a way to go. Board-certified dermatologist Jane Yoo has been lobbying Congress to get new sunscreen filters approved for the US and is tracking the FDA’s progress in making those approvals . Currently there are seven other filters—bisoctrizole, drometrizole trisiloxane, octyl triazone, amiloxate, diethylhexyl butamido triazone iscotrizinol, ecamsule, and enzacamene—under the agency’s Time and Extent Application (TEA) pipeline. Those filters are part of the 2014 Sunscreen Innovation Act meant to speed up the process of determining if ingredients are Generally Recognized as Safe and Effective, or GRASE. But here we are 12 years later, and we’re still waiting for their approval.
“A good analogy is we’ve been making sunscreens with both of our hands tied behind our backs,” Palermino says. “We’ve now had one hand released. I would like both hands released.”
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