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The TikTok-viral Beauty of Joseon sunscreen

Have you got your hands on this TikTok-viral Beauty of Joseon sunscreen yet?
This minimalist toothpaste-like packaged sunscreen has taken TikTok by storm since 2022.

Beauty of Joseon sunscreen has caught the eyes of 112.9M TikTok viewers.

Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice & Probiotics Sunscreen SPF50+ PA++++

Key Ingredients:
Rice extract (Anti-aging, Antioxidant, Skin Brightening)
Grain probiotics (Anti-acne, Reduces rosacea redness, Improves skin texture & tone)
Niacinamide (Anti-aging, Antioxidant, Moisturising, Skin Brightening, Improves skin barrier)

This is a lightweight organic chemical sunscreen with calming and brightening ingredients, 30% of rice extract and grain probiotics complex to deeply hydrate and nourish the skin. With its thick yet weightless texture and no fragrance, this is a very comfortable daily sunscreen especially loved by those with dry skin as it moisturises on the skin giving a dewy finish without leaving any white cast.
For its quality and value, it absolutely deserves its hype.

However on the Hwahae app – Korea’s no.1 trusted beauty app with over a 7 million daily viewers, this has so far received just 7 reviews in total.

(Note: Korea’s most sought-after sunscreen – Round Lab birch juice moisturising suncream has received over 10K reviews. The details on this suncream will be covered later in this article.)

Seeing a popular K-beauty product which isn’t actually popular locally may raise some doubts and questions about the product. Is there something we are missing out? Maybe there is a hidden truth we don’t know about.

I don’t know about other brands but for Beauty of Joseon, I can confidently say that there is nothing to be sceptical about their products. This Western consumer’s most beloved sunscreen isn’t getting neglected in Korea for any flaws but it is more that the brand Beauty of Joseon isn’t as well known in South Korea.

According to the K-beauty expert Lauren Lee at Style Story she has shared an interesting story about Beauty of Joseon in her Korean Beauty Show podcast episode: Does it matter if K-beauty products aren’t popular in Korea?

She claimed that Beauty of Joseon was not a brand that was particularly trying to target the Western market. Their first launched product, the Dynasty cream was actually popular in Korea which eventually grabbed the attention of couple of foreign beauty bloggers. They tried the product and introduced it to others and this is how this brand blew up in the Western market.

Beauty of Joseon is a unique brand providing an affordable yet high quality Hanbang skincare (Skincare using Korean herbal medicine ingredients) products and most of their products including the Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics sunscreen that contains one of the key Korean skincare ingredients, rice along with grain probiotics and niacinamide definitely deserves the hype.

Suitable for Dry, Normal, Sensitive

However, there are many other Korean sunscreens that are just as good or even better than this sunscreen that deserves more attention. Let’s uncover some other top Korean sunscreens loved by the Western skinfluencers as well as Korean consumers living in Korea.

ISNTREE Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel SPF50+ PA++++

Along with Beauty of Joseon sunscreen, this was the sun care product that always got sold out on Amazon! Ranked top 3 in Amazon US sunscreen category and selected as the 2021 winner of the best sunscreen by Picky – a fast-growing skincare review community. https://www.gopicky.com/isntree/hyaluronicacidwaterysungelspf50pa

Key Ingredients:
Centella Asiatica (Anti-aging, Antioxidant, Anti inflammatory, Improves skin barrier)
Hyaluronic Acid (Hydrates and replenishes the skin’s moisture levels) Ceramide (Hydrating, Moisturising, Improves skin barrier)
Niacinamide (Anti-aging, Antioxidant, Moisturising, Skin Brightening, Improves skin barrier)

This is another lightweight and hydrating chemical sunscreen infused with Centella Asiatica and 8 types of Hyaluronic Acid. All these ingredients will help to lock in the moisture and minimise irritation and redness. This also contains ceramides and niacinamide for hydration, helping the skin’s oil-moisture balance giving a dewy finish. A very comfortable daily sunscreen that deserves its high ranking.

Suitable for Dry, Normal, Sensitive

DR CEURACLE Hyal Reyouth Moistu Sun SPF50+ PA++++

A very unique soft and silky serum-like sunscreen that deserves more attention.

Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid (Hydrates and replenishes the skin’s moisture levels) Panthenol – Vitamin B5 (Moisturises and repairs the skin) Niacinamide (Anti-aging, Antioxidant, Moisturising, Skin Brightening, Evens skin tone, Builds healthy skin barrier)

This sunscreen provides intense hydration with 10 types of Hyaluronic Acid that helps the skin to feel smooth & hydrated. It has a serum like appearance with an extreme lightweight texture that contains maximum UVA and UVB protection for your skin. Its subtle scent of a sun-protecting substances definitely proves that this is a sunscreen and not a serum. This also contains Panthenol which is vitamin B5 that helps to nourish and revitalise the skin. Its gel serum like texture will benefit dehydrated skin with lots of hydration and dewy finish without any white cast making your skin looking smooth and radiant.

Suitable for Dry, Normal skin

BY WISHTREND UV Defense Moist Cream SPF50+ PA++++

The product that is born in collaboration with the Wishtrend which is one of the largest K-beauty community with 5.4M Wishtrend members and 1.8M Wishtrend TV subscribers and Amorepacific – Korea’s largest cosmetics company.

Key ingredients: Panthenol – Vitamin B5 (Moisturises and repairs the skin) Adenosine (Anti-aging, helps to soothe and smooth the skin)

Wishtrend and Amorepacific, together they have successfully created a sunscreen with high UV protection and beautiful texture. A moisturiser like texture sunscreen that is designed to hydrate and nourish your skin with 5000ppm of Panthenol giving lush hydration without stickiness. It also contains Adenosine which helps to improve fine lines and wrinkles.

This sunscreen has passed meticulous in-vivo test by 3 separate labs to ensure that it provides highest level of sun protection as well as broad-spectrum protection against harmful UVA and UVB rays.

Whilst the brand claims that this is hydrating enough to skip a moisturiser, myself with dry skin didn’t feel that this was hydrating enough and it also contains a typical scent of the sun-protecting substances. Nevertheless, this is a reliable sunscreen with a high UVA and UVB protection with many other benefits such as preventing premature aging and hyperpigmentation.

Suitable for Normal, Oily, Combo skin

ROUND LAB Birch Juice Moisturizing Sun Cream SPF50+ PA++++

This sunscreen has won Olive Young (Korea’s largest beauty retailer) award twice in a row 2021 and 2022 in sun care as well as Hwahae (Korea’s most trusted beauty app) award in the best of the best product.

In Hwahae app there are over 16,000 reviews on this sunscreen to this day and this has scored total of 4.57 out of 5.

REF PIC

Key Ingredients:
Niacinamide (Anti-aging, Antioxidant, Moisturising, Skin Brightening, Improves skin barrier)
Adenosine (Anti-Aging, Smoothes skin, Anti-Acne)
Ascorbic Acid – Vitamin C (Anti inflammatory, Reduces hyperpigmentation)

Without a doubt, this is Korea’s most sought-after sunscreen that can be used as 2-in-1 moisturiser and sunscreen. It contains a whopping 74 naturally derived minerals from the deep sea waters of Ullengdo island that provide hydration and nourishment to your skin. It also contains adenosine and niacinamide that helps to prevent the signs of ageing and brighten and even out your skin tone. Any skin type will enjoy this fragrance-free sun cream as a multipurpose sun protection and moisturiser.

Suitable for Dry, Normal, Oily, Combo, Sensitive

SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum SPF50 PA++++

Another social media craze product that deserves the hype.

Key Ingredients:
Hyaluronic Acid (Hydrates and replenishes the skin’s moisture levels)
Centella Asiatica (Anti-aging, Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory, Improves skin barrier)
Niacinamide (Anti-aging, Antioxidant, Moisturising, Skin Brightening, Improves skin barrier)
Betula Alba Bark/Leaf Extract (Protects the skin from environmental aggressors, Moisturising, Anti-inflammatory)
Ginkgo Leaf Extract (Helps treat acne, eczema, and skin inflammation)

Loved for its lightweight and moisturising texture and soothing finish. This uniquely thick yet lightweight sun serum contains hyaluronic acid as well as centella asiatica from Madagascar which helps to heal and hydrate the skin. This is a non-nano chemical sunscreen that blocks UV rays while hydrating the skin giving a dewy finish. Its serum-like texture glides simultaneously to the skin without leaving any white cast. This is a gentle sunscreen without any fragrance or white cast. Another sunscreen that is suitable for any skin type, even though some of the feedback from extremely dry skin types claimed that this may not be hydrating enough. On that account, this would be recommended to normal to oily skin types who are looking for a comfortable daily sunscreen with multiple benefits.

Suitable for Normal, Oily, Combo, Sensitive

OEB YouTube video review on selection of above sunscreens + 1 NEW classic K-beauty sunscreen: