Americans may soon see a new generation of sunscreens that consumers in Europe and Asia have used for years. Some of the companies best positioned to take advantage of that shift are in South Korea.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Bemotrizinol, a UV filter used widely outside the U.S., as an active ingredient in over-the-counter sunscreen products. The approval, set to take effect on August 9, gives beauty companies a legal path to sell sunscreens containing the ingredient in the U.S. market.
For the American sunscreen industry, the decision marks a rare regulatory opening. In the U.S., sunscreens that claim SPF protection are regulated as OTC drugs, not ordinary cosmetics. That means companies must follow FDA rules covering approved active ingredients, ingredient levels, labeling and manufacturing standards.
The framework has long separated the U.S. sunscreen market from much of the rest of the world. Bemotrizinol has been used in Europe, Australia and parts of Asia, but companies selling in the U.S. have had to rely on older approved filters such as avobenzone and octocrylene, along with mineral ingredients including zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.
The change could give South Korea’s beauty industry a new opening in a category where it already has global momentum. Korean sunscreens have built followings abroad by combining UV protection with lighter textures, moisturizing formulas and skincare-like finishes. Those features have helped distinguish Korean products from heavier sunscreen formulas that many American consumers associate with the category.
The timing is favorable for Korean beauty companies. According to South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the country’s cosmetics exports rose 27.3% from a year earlier to $7 billion in the first half of the year, a record for the period. The U.S. was the largest destination, accounting for $1.4 billion, or 20.7% of exports, after overtaking China last year as the top market for Korean cosmetics.
The FDA decision could particularly benefit Kolmar Korea and Cosmax, two of South Korea’s largest cosmetics manufacturers. Both companies operate as original design manufacturers, developing and producing cosmetics for domestic and global beauty brands. Their role in the supply chain makes them important players when international companies seek new formulas quickly.
Until now, brands using ingredients not approved in the U.S. often had to create separate versions of sunscreen products for the American market. That meant additional research, reformulation costs and longer launch schedules. With Bemotrizinol now approved, Korean manufacturers may be able to design products that work across more markets from the start.
The change could also help South Korea’s fast-growing independent beauty brands. The Founders, the company behind Anua, Goodai Global, which operates Beauty of Joseon, and d’Alba Global are among the companies expected to benefit. These brands have used online channels, social media and specialty beauty retail to reach global consumers without relying on the traditional expansion model of older cosmetics groups.
For them, the FDA approval is not simply about adding one ingredient. It could make it easier to bring U.S. products closer to the formulas that helped Korean sunscreens gain popularity elsewhere. Korean companies have years of experience working with Bemotrizinol and building textures around it, giving them an advantage as the ingredient becomes available in the U.S.
Retailers are also likely to watch the change closely. CJ Olive Young, South Korea’s largest health and beauty retailer, opened a store in Pasadena, California, in May. A broader range of U.S.-compliant Korean sunscreen products could support exclusive collaborations and private-label sun-care lines as Korean beauty retailers and brands expand their American presence.
There are limits to how quickly the market can change. DSM-Firmenich, the Netherlands-based company that requested the FDA approval, will hold exclusive U.S. supply rights for Bemotrizinol for 18 months after the rule takes effect. During that period, companies that want to use the ingredient for the U.S. market will need to source it through DSM-Firmenich.
That makes the approval more of a starting point than an immediate transformation. Still, for a U.S. sunscreen market that has moved slowly compared with Europe and Asia, the decision opens the door to more competition and more product variety.
For South Korean beauty companies, it offers a chance to extend the K-beauty boom from skincare into sun care, using a category where product feel, speed of development and global manufacturing networks matter as much as brand recognition.
