Korean sunscreen filters decoded: SPF, PA and the ingredient list

The Cosmetics Act defines products that help protect skin from UV as functional cosmetics, a category that has to be reviewed or reported to MFDS before sale. Korea's cosmetic safety standards then list the permitted UV filters in Annex 2 and state that UV filters not on that annex may not be used. The current annex lists 32 filters with a maximum concentration for each.

The list still changes. Through a route for newly designated ingredients, Korea added methoxypropylamino cyclohexenylidene ethoxyethylcyanoacetate in November 2023 and approved tris-biphenyl triazine after a 2024 review, and the March 18, 2026 amendment added phenylene bis-diphenyltriazine. The same rules say a filter used below 0.5% only to stop a product discolouring does not make the product a sunscreen, which is why a UV filter can appear on the label of a product with no SPF.

The US treats sunscreen as an over-the-counter drug. A US sunscreen sold under the FDA's monograph may use only the active ingredients listed in it. Once a 2026 order takes effect in September 2027, that list will have 15 actives, and most of the filters common in Korean products are not among them.

SPF (자외선차단지수) is a ratio: the UVB dose that reddens skin with the product, divided by the dose that reddens it without. PA is based on persistent pigment darkening, the tanning response to UVA. MFDS's test method measures both on the backs of at least 10 volunteers, applying 2 mg of product per square centimetre. MFDS also accepts results from international methods such as ISO 24444 for SPF and ISO 24442 for UVA.

The label may show an SPF up to 20% below the measured average, and anything measured at 50 or above is printed as "SPF50+". That is why Korean packs stop at SPF50+ even when a number like 100 appears in a product name. Water-resistance claims (내수성) need a separate water-resistance test under the same standard.

MFDS's own consumer guidance from 2016 suggests SPF15 to 30 with PA+ or PA++ for mostly indoor days or brief time outside, and SPF50+ with PA+++ or PA++++ for long exposure to strong sun such as hiking or a day at the beach.

Korean labels use standardized Korean ingredient names, so the filters appear as long transliterations such as 디에칠아미노하이드록시벤조일헥실벤조에이트. Brands spell the same syllable two ways (에칠 or 에틸, 메칠 or 메틸); treat both spellings as the same ingredient. Even a small pack that is allowed to shorten its ingredient list must still name the ingredients that deliver its functional claim, which for a sunscreen means the UV filters.

Ingredients are listed from most to least, but anything at 1% or less, along with fragrance and colourants, may appear in any order, and filters are rarely given a percentage. One ingredient in several lists below, butyloctyl salicylate (부틸옥틸살리실레이트), is not on Korea's permitted filter list, so we do not count it as a UV filter even though its name resembles one.

Glow in Seoul tracks which products Korean beauty YouTubers mention. We picked the 12 entries below from the most-mentioned sunscreens in our July 2026 snapshot (several others are tied at the bottom of this range); the full sunscreen list has more. The counts show how many creators mentioned a product, and how many of those said the mention was not a paid ad or that they bought it themselves. A mention is not a test, a rating or a recommendation; the methodology page explains how the counts work.

We then read each product's current ingredient list on the brand's own Korean mall. Two products in our data are no longer listed by their brands. For those, the counts refer to the older product, and the filters are from the closest product the brand sells now; we could not confirm whether it is the same formula or a successor.

Two patterns stand out in this table. Every product its maker describes as tone-up (d'Alba's, numbuzin's, UIQ's and espoir's Ceramide) lists titanium dioxide, while none of the products here sold as moisture sun creams lists a mineral filter. And every formula except numbuzin's mineral shade relies at least partly on filters that are not active ingredients under the US sunscreen monograph.

Korea and the EU allow most of the same modern filters at similar maximums. The US list is shorter because a filter has to go through the FDA's drug process to be added. In 2026 the FDA added bemotrizinol, the US name for BEMT, at up to 6%, effective August 9, 2026. The order gives the company that requested it 18 months of marketing exclusivity, and it does not allow the ingredient in powders or in sprays where a propellant is mixed with the product.

"Not in the US monograph" does not mean the FDA found a filter unsafe. In its 2021 proposal the FDA said it had enough safety data to propose only zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as generally recognized as safe and effective, and asked for more data on 12 others, including avobenzone and octocrylene, which remain permitted in US sunscreens. The FDA says that request is not a conclusion that those ingredients are unsafe.

Two gaps matter for Korean products. The EU now limits homosalate to 7.34% and only in face products that are not propellant sprays; Korea allows 10% and the US 15%. Two products in the table above list homosalate without stating how much. The EU also removed 4-methylbenzylidene camphor from its filter list after its scientific committee found evidence it may act as an endocrine disruptor; Korea still allows it at up to 4%, but none of the 12 products we checked lists it.

A Korean sunscreen bought abroad may not be the formula on the Korean page. goodal's Heartleaf Soothing Moisture Sun Cream is registered in the US as an over-the-counter drug whose active ingredients are avobenzone 2.85%, homosalate 7%, octisalate 4.5% and octocrylene 9%. The Korean version lists DHHB, EHT, MBBT and DBT instead.

Formulas also change at home. espoir's product page says the Water Splash Sun Cream Ceramide was reformulated to reflect stricter European standards, without saying which ingredients changed. numbuzin sells two shades with different filters and different contract manufacturers on one product page. For d'Alba's Waterfull Essence Sun Cream, the brand's Korean page and Olive Young Global show different ingredient lists (the retailer's includes ethanol), though both list the same five filters. Olive Young Global's numbuzin lists match neither current shade.

The practical rule is to read the list on the pack in your hand. A US over-the-counter version shows a Drug Facts panel with its active ingredients and percentages; a Korean pack shows the full Korean ingredient list and the 기능성화장품 wording.

The label tells you which filters are in the product and what SPF and PA it was tested to. It usually does not tell you how much of each filter is present (of the lists we checked, only goodal states amounts), how the product feels, or whether your skin will tolerate it. SPF and PA are measured under laboratory conditions with a fixed amount of product.

Counting filters is not a measure of protection either. The SPF and PA on the pack are the tested results; a product with four filters and one with five can carry the same rating. We did not test any product here, and none of the creator counts above are endorsements.