Korean Sunscreen With Mexoryl: Which Tubes Have It, and What US Labels Say
Two long names keep turning up on the back of Korean sunscreens: terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid and drometrizole trisiloxane. Those are the filters L’Oreal sells as Mexoryl SX and Mexoryl XL. Once you know the names, finding a Korean sunscreen with Mexoryl is easy. Finding one with Mexoryl printed on a US Drug Facts panel is a different story, and the public database of US drug labels shows why.
The short version: We found Mexoryl SX, Mexoryl XL or both on the ingredient lists of seven Korean sunscreens, including COSRX Ultra-Light Invisible, Beplain Mung Bean and LANEIGE Water Bank UV Barrier.[1][2][4] On DailyMed, the public database of US drug labels, we found 27 labels that list a Mexoryl filter as an active ingredient. Twenty-five are L’Oreal labels marked export only and one is a Korean cream filed as an unapproved drug. The last is a Chinese cream whose labeler filed it under the US sunscreen monograph, even though Mexoryl is not on that monograph’s list.[8][19] Where a Korean brand in this piece has filed a monograph label for the US under its product name, the filters changed.[9][11]
What Mexoryl looks like on a Korean ingredient list
You will rarely see the word Mexoryl on a Korean box. Korean labels print ingredient names, and Mexoryl is a trade name. Here is how to spot each one:
- Mexoryl SX is printed as terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid. On US drug labels the same molecule is called ecamsule.[10]
- Mexoryl XL is printed as drometrizole trisiloxane, and US drug labels use the same name.[8]
There is a third one, Mexoryl 400, and it is the exception. As we found when we compared Korean and European sunscreens, it still shows up only in L’Oreal-owned brands, so none of the Korean tubes below carries it. If you want the rest of the filter vocabulary decoded, our guide to Korean sunscreen filters covers it.
Korean sunscreen with Mexoryl: the seven tubes we checked
We opened the ingredient list of each product below in the INCIDecoder database on 28 September 2026 and recorded where each Mexoryl filter sits. A lower number means the ingredient appears earlier on the list, which usually means more of it. We also searched DailyMed for a US label under each brand name.
| Korean product | Mexoryl SX (position) | Mexoryl XL (position) | US label found on DailyMed |
|---|---|---|---|
| COSRX Ultra-Light Invisible Sunscreen SPF 50[1] | 9 | 5 | Other COSRX products only |
| Beplain Mung Bean Cooling Moisture Sunscreen SPF50+[2] | 9 | 7 | None |
| Tage Cica-tree Soothing Daily Sun Fluid SPF 50+[3] | 7 | 12 | None |
| LANEIGE Water Bank UV Barrier Sunscreen SPF 50+[4] | 7 | 4 | A different LANEIGE product |
| Tocobo Bio Watery Sun Cream SPF50+[5] | 5 | Not listed | Same name, different filters |
| numbuzin No.1 Clear Filter Sun Essence[6] | 9 | Not listed | A different numbuzin product |
| SKIN1004 Tea-Trica Soothing Sun Milk[7] | 6 | Not listed | A different SKIN1004 product |
The first four carry both Mexoryl filters. The last three carry only Mexoryl SX. Here is what else is in the five we would point you to first.
COSRX Ultra-Light Invisible Sunscreen
Four chemical filters and no mineral one: Mexoryl XL at position 5, ethylhexyl triazone at 6, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate (Uvinul A Plus) at 8 and Mexoryl SX at 9.[1] Both Mexoryl filters are inside the first ten ingredients. Our COSRX Ultra-Light Invisible review goes through the rest of the label.
One Korean reviewer of the COSRX liked how it holds up in sweat and had one complaint about the tube:
Beplain Mung Bean Cooling Moisture Sunscreen
Five filters: ethylhexyl triazone at 5, Mexoryl XL at 7, Mexoryl SX at 9, Uvinul A Plus at 12 and bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine (Tinosorb S) at 25.[2] It is the only one of the five that pairs both Mexoryl filters with Tinosorb S. Our Beplain Mung Bean review has the full breakdown.
Tage Cica-tree Soothing Daily Sun Fluid
This one leads with Mexoryl SX at position 7, then ethylhexyl triazone at 9, Uvinul A Plus at 10, Mexoryl XL at 12 and diethylhexyl butamido triazone (iscotrizinol) at 17.[3] Tage makes other sunscreens with a different filter set, so check that you have the Sun Fluid. Our Tage brand guide sorts the five Cica-tree sunscreens.
LANEIGE Water Bank UV Barrier Sunscreen
Mexoryl XL is the first filter on this list, at position 4, which is earlier than it appears in any other product in the table. Ethylhexyl triazone follows at 5, Uvinul A Plus at 6 and Mexoryl SX at 7.[4] The LANEIGE sunscreens we found on DailyMed are a different product, Hydro UV Defense, in two labels, each filed with avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene.[12] If you are shopping from the US, check which of the two you are looking at.
Not every Korean review is glowing. One reviewer who bought it with their own money moved it to body use after using it for a little while:
Tocobo Bio Watery Sun Cream
The Korean list has five filters: ethylhexyl triazone at 4, Mexoryl SX at 5, Uvinul A Plus at 11, polysilicone-15 at 13 and Tinosorb S at 29.[5] It is also the clearest case in the US label section below, because a product with the same name is on DailyMed with none of those five. Our Tocobo Bio Watery review covers the Korean formula.
One Korean reviewer tried a friend’s tube first, then bought one at Olive Young, and wrote about wearing it under cushion foundation:
On US drug labels, Mexoryl shows up mostly as export only
In the US, sunscreen is an over-the-counter drug, and DailyMed is where its labels are public. The database, run by the National Library of Medicine, “contains labeling, submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by companies”.[18] We searched it on 28 September 2026 under four names, ecamsule, terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid, drometrizole trisiloxane and mexoryl, and then by the ingredient codes for ecamsule and drometrizole trisiloxane, because a name search can miss a label. Together the searches returned 27 labels, and we opened each label file to read its marketing category.[8]
| Who filed it | Marketing category on the label | Labels |
|---|---|---|
| L’Oreal USA Products (Kiehl’s and Garnier Ombrelle products) | Export only | 25 |
| Life With Corporation (P.CALM Water Barrier Suncream, Korea) | Unapproved drug other | 1 |
| Guangzhou Yueyou Biological Technology (Centella Sunscreen SPF 50, China) | OTC Monograph Drug | 1 |
| Anyone, under a drug application | 0 |
Those category names come from a controlled list. The FDA’s page of SPL marketing categories gives “Export only” the code C73590 and “Unapproved drug other” the code C73627,[16] and the NCI Thesaurus, the terminology behind those codes, defines the first as “A category specifying that a product is marketed for export only.”[15] So the 25 L’Oreal labels are on DailyMed, but not as products marketed in the US. The Yueyou label is a different case, and we come back to it below.
There are US approvals for a Mexoryl filter, and they are older than most of these labels. Drugs@FDA lists four New Drug Applications with ecamsule, all held by L’Oreal USA and approved between 2006 and 2008: Anthelios SX (021502, 07/21/2006), Capital Soleil 15 (021501, 10/02/2006), Anthelios 20 (021471, 10/05/2006) and Anthelios 40 (022009, 03/31/2008). Each pairs ecamsule with avobenzone and octocrylene. We found no application for drometrizole trisiloxane.[13] That is a separate route from the monograph most US sunscreens use. The federal sunscreen labeling rule names 16 active ingredients, neither Mexoryl filter among them, and says its provisions “do not apply to sunscreen products marketed under approved new drug applications or abbreviated new drug applications.”[19] The FDA’s June 2026 final order added one filter to the sunscreen monograph, bemotrizinol, and not a Mexoryl filter.[20] Drugs@FDA still shows all four as over-the-counter, but none of the 27 DailyMed labels we found is one of them, and we did not confirm whether any is on US shelves today.
Same name, different filters
The most useful thing DailyMed shows is what happens when a Korean brand files a US label for a product you already know.
Tocobo Bio Watery. The Korean Bio Watery Sun Cream lists Mexoryl SX fifth.[5] The US Bio Watery Sun Screen filed by Picton lists four active ingredients: avobenzone 2.7%, homosalate 13.5%, octisalate 4.5% and octocrylene 9%.[9] None of those appears among the five filters on the Korean list.
A Korean reviewer living in New Jersey bought the Bio Watery Sun Cream on Amazon in the US. The tube in that review is labeled SPF 50 Broad Spectrum with no PA rating, which the reviewer noticed too. The review does not list the filters, so read it as a note on texture:
P.CALM Water Barrier. Here the switch happened on DailyMed itself. A 2024 label for P.CALM Water Barrier Suncream lists ecamsule at 26.4 mg per mL, which is 2.64%, alongside ethylhexyl triazone, polysilicone-15, Uvinul A Plus and bemotrizinol, filed as an unapproved drug.[10] A 2026 label for P.CALM Water Barrier Sunscreen SPF 50 lists avobenzone 2.7%, homosalate 13.5%, octisalate 4.5% and octocrylene 9%, filed as an OTC monograph drug.[11]
Those two US formulas print the same four numbers, and they are not the only ones. The US version of SKIN1004’s Water-Fit Sun Serum lists the same four filters at nearly the same strengths, which we laid out in our SKIN1004 line guide. The other US labels we opened from these brands, COSRX’s Airy-Light Clear Sunscreen Stick, LANEIGE’s Hydro UV Defense EX and numbuzin’s No.9 NAD sunscreen, also use avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene, at their own strengths.[12] We are not going to guess why the numbers line up. What these labels show is that none of the US versions filed under the monograph keeps Mexoryl. The one US label from these brands that does, P.CALM’s 2024 Suncream, is filed as an unapproved drug.[10]
What the category on a label can and cannot tell you
It is tempting to read a DailyMed category as a verdict from the FDA. The FDA’s own directory page warns against that. It says: “Assignment of an NDC number does not in any way denote FDA approval of the product.” And: “The content of each NDC Directory entry is the responsibility of the labeler submitting the SPL file.”[14]
You can see why that matters on a Mexoryl label. The Yueyou Centella Sunscreen SPF 50 cream, published on DailyMed on 16 July 2025, lists drometrizole trisiloxane, Mexoryl XL, as an active ingredient and gives its category as OTC Monograph Drug.[8] Mexoryl XL is not on the US monograph list.[19][20] The same label also lists bisoctrizole, which you may know as Tinosorb M and which is not on that list either, and at least two more recent DailyMed labels that list bisoctrizole give their category as OTC Monograph Drug.[17] Our Tinosorb S vs M comparison covers where that filter does and does not have approval. The category field is what the company typed in. It is useful for finding a label, and not proof of approval.
How to tell which version is in your hand
- Look for a Drug Facts panel. A US-labeled sunscreen has one, with active ingredients and percentages. A Korean-market tube has a single ingredient list instead.
- Read the actives, not the product name. If the actives are avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene, there is no Mexoryl in that tube, whatever the front says.
- Search the ingredient list for the two long names. Terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid is Mexoryl SX. Drometrizole trisiloxane is Mexoryl XL.
Our piece on why the US version of a Korean sunscreen is different has more on how the two versions compare in use.
FAQ
Is Mexoryl allowed in US sunscreen?
Not under the sunscreen monograph that most US sunscreens use. The federal sunscreen rule names 16 active ingredients and neither Mexoryl filter is one of them, and the June 2026 order added bemotrizinol, not a Mexoryl filter. The US approvals we found are four New Drug Applications for ecamsule products, all held by L’Oreal USA and approved between 2006 and 2008, starting with Anthelios SX on 07/21/2006. Of the 27 DailyMed labels we found with a Mexoryl filter, 25 are marked export only and one unapproved drug other. The last was filed as a monograph drug by its labeler, although Mexoryl is not on the monograph list.
Which Korean sunscreens have Mexoryl?
Of the ones we checked on 28 September 2026, COSRX Ultra-Light Invisible, Beplain Mung Bean, Tage Cica-tree Soothing Daily Sun Fluid and LANEIGE Water Bank UV Barrier list both Mexoryl SX and Mexoryl XL. Tocobo Bio Watery, numbuzin No.1 Clear Filter and SKIN1004 Tea-Trica list Mexoryl SX.
Is the US version of a Korean sunscreen worse?
It is different, not automatically worse. The US labels we opened use avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene, which are permitted US filters. What you lose is the specific Korean filter set, including Mexoryl, so the feel and finish can differ from the version reviewers describe.
Is Mexoryl 400 in any Korean sunscreen?
Not in any we have found. Mexoryl 400 still appears only in L’Oreal-owned brands. The Korean sunscreens in this piece use Mexoryl SX, Mexoryl XL or both.
Sources
Korean ingredient lists (INCIDecoder, read on 2026-09-28; the site now serves from inkeedecoder.com):
[1] COSRX Ultra Light Invisible Sunscreen SPF 50 PA++++. Filter positions: drometrizole trisiloxane 5, ethylhexyl triazone 6, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate 8, terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid 9: link
[2] Beplain Mung Bean Cooling Moisture Sunscreen SPF50 PA++++. Filter positions: ethylhexyl triazone 5, drometrizole trisiloxane 7, terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid 9, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate 12, bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine 25: link
[3] Tage Cica-tree Soothing Daily Sun Fluid SPF 50+ PA++++. Filter positions: terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid 7, ethylhexyl triazone 9, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate 10, drometrizole trisiloxane 12, diethylhexyl butamido triazone 17: link
[4] LANEIGE Water Bank UV Barrier Sunscreen SPF 50+ PA++++. Filter positions: drometrizole trisiloxane 4, ethylhexyl triazone 5, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate 6, terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid 7: link
[5] Tocobo Bio Watery Sun Cream SPF50+ PA++++. Filter positions: ethylhexyl triazone 4, terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid 5, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate 11, polysilicone-15 13, bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine 29: link
[6] numbuzin No.1 Clear Filter Sun Essence. Terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid at position 9; drometrizole trisiloxane not listed: link
[7] SKIN1004 Tea-Trica Soothing Sun Milk. Terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid at position 6; drometrizole trisiloxane not listed: link
US labels (DailyMed web services, database dated Sep 25, 2026, searched 2026-09-28):
[8] Search record. Drug name “ecamsule” returned 3 set ids, “terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid” 8, “drometrizole trisiloxane” 23 and “mexoryl” 4, for 26 unique set ids. By UNII code, ecamsule (M94R1PM439) returned 11 and drometrizole trisiloxane (HC22845I1X) 20, which added one label the name searches missed, for 27 unique set ids. Marketing category read from each SPL file: 25 labels from L’Oreal USA Products, all export only; 1 label from Life With Corporation (P.CALM Water Barrier Suncream), unapproved drug other; 1 label from Guangzhou Yueyou Biological Technology (Centella Sunscreen SPF 50 Cream, set id 39f28d7d-7b22-16b5-e063-6394a90abc16, published 16 July 2025), OTC Monograph Drug (M020), whose active ingredients are drometrizole trisiloxane, methylene bis-benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol, bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate and ethylhexyl triazone. No label carried an application number: link
[9] Tocobo Bio Watery Sun Screen, labeler Picton Co. Ltd, set id 4129e00b-951d-adbf-e063-6294a90a675e, OTC Monograph Drug (M020). Active ingredients per 40 mL: avobenzone 1.08 g, homosalate 5.4 g, octisalate 1.8 g, octocrylene 3.6 g (2.7%, 13.5%, 4.5% and 9%). A second Picton label for the same product, set id 2f7eb413-ff49-711d-e063-6394a90ad6dc, lists the same amounts: link
[10] P.CALM Water Barrier Suncream, labeler Life With Corporation Inc, set id 2dc19f13-1dad-470e-8267-3c72267f3156, marketing category unapproved drug other, marketing start 2023-10-17. Active ingredients per mL: ecamsule 26.4 mg, ethylhexyl triazone 27 mg, polysilicone-15 10 mg, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate 10 mg, bemotrizinol 5 mg: link
[11] P.CALM Water Barrier Sunscreen SPF 50 Broad Spectrum, labeler Life With Corporation Inc, set id 44ea9fb4-8e01-6969-e063-6294a90a6a94, OTC Monograph Drug (M020), marketing start 2026-02-01. Active ingredients per 100 mL: avobenzone 2.7 g, homosalate 13.5 g, octisalate 4.5 g, octocrylene 9 g: link
[12] Other US labels from the same brands, each OTC Monograph Drug (M020) with avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene as its actives: COSRX Airy-Light Clear Sunscreen Stick (COSRX Inc, set id 313b1a73-8863-c458-e063-6394a90a01d6); LANEIGE Hydro UV Defense EX Broad Spectrum SPF 50 (Amorepacific Corporation, set id 0e746836-ed84-7b33-e063-6294a90aeff3; an older LANEIGE Hydro UV Defense label, set id c0f624a8-cd8a-cc50-e053-2995a90acb39, lists the same four actives under the category OTC monograph not final); numbuzin No.9 NAD Bio Super Defense Glow Sunscreen SPF 50 (Benow Beauty Inc, set id 32bfb17c-5535-c016-e063-6394a90a1814). A DailyMed search under the names Beplain and Tage returned no labels: link
FDA and terminology, read on 2026-09-28:
[18] DailyMed, About DailyMed page, overview section. Source for the quoted description: link
[19] US Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 201.327, Over-the-counter sunscreen drug products; required labeling based on effectiveness testing (eCFR, up to date as of 9/24/2026). Its opening sentence lists 16 active ingredients; ecamsule, terephthalylidene dicamphor sulfonic acid, drometrizole trisiloxane and bisoctrizole appear nowhere in the section. Source for the quoted sentence on new drug applications: link
[20] Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 111, 10 June 2026, pages 35220-35221, FR Doc. 2026-11578, notice of availability of final order OTC000039, which amends OTC Monograph M020 “to add bemotrizinol at concentrations up to 6 percent as a sunscreen active ingredient”: link
[13] Drugs@FDA, New Drug Applications with ecamsule, company L’Oreal USA, each marketing status over-the-counter, original approval dates: 021502 Anthelios SX (avobenzone 2%, ecamsule 2%, octocrylene 10%), 07/21/2006; 021501 Capital Soleil 15 (avobenzone 2%, ecamsule 3%, octocrylene 10%), 10/02/2006; 021471 Anthelios 20 (avobenzone 2%, ecamsule 2%, octocrylene 10%, titanium dioxide 2%), 10/05/2006; 022009 Anthelios 40 (avobenzone 2%, ecamsule 3%, octocrylene 10%, titanium dioxide 5%), 03/31/2008. An openFDA drugsfda query on 2026-09-28 returned these four for ecamsule and none for drometrizole trisiloxane. Link to 021502: link
[14] FDA, National Drug Code Directory page (content current as of 03/04/2026). Source for the two quoted sentences: link
[15] NCI Thesaurus, concept C73590 (Marketed for Export Only), definition as quoted, and C73627 (Unapproved Drug Other Marketing Category), defined as “An unapproved drug product in a marketing category that is not reflected on a particular list.” Retrieved through the NCI EVS REST API: link
[16] FDA, Structured Product Labeling resources, Marketing Category code list (content current as of 08/27/2026): Export only C73590, Unapproved drug other C73627, OTC Monograph Drug C200263: link
[17] DailyMed labels listing bisoctrizole with the category OTC Monograph Drug (M020): Calming Days Vegan Sunscreen (MERCYCO Co. Ltd, set id 38898014-eefe-73ec-e063-6394a90a3738, published Dec 30, 2025) and Absolut Skin SPF 50 Moisturizing Sunscreen (set id 3264543c-e8f5-da9a-e063-6394a90ac8c6, published Dec 23, 2025, which names the filter methylene bis-benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol and so does not appear in the search linked here): link
