Anessa vs Korean Sunscreen: Two Labels, Two Different Days
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Two filters. Line up the ingredient lists for Anessa’s Perfect UV Skincare Milk and Beauty of Joseon’s Relief Sun and that’s all they share at the filter level: Uvinul A Plus and Uvinul T 150. Nine filters on one label, four on the other, two names in common. Which is why an Anessa vs Korean sunscreen matchup isn’t a contest between two versions of the same idea. It’s a choice between two products that were designed for two completely different days.
TL;DR: The labels settle most of this. The Japanese Anessa Perfect UV Skincare Milk we read uses nine UV filters including zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, plus alcohol, talc and fragrance, and the export version registered in the US, a different five-filter formula sold under the same name, is labeled water resistant for 80 minutes. Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun uses four filters, no alcohol, no fragrance, and 30% rice extract near the top of the list. One is a sunscreen for sweat and water. The other is a sunscreen for the ten minutes before you leave for work. Neither one wins on paper. They answer different days.
What each sunscreen was designed to do
Ingredient lists are ordered by how much of each ingredient is in the formula, so the first few lines tell you what a product mostly is. Read the two openings back to back and each design brief gives itself away.
Anessa’s milk starts with dimethicone, water, zinc oxide at 10.35%, alcohol and talc.[1] That’s a silicone and mineral base with a fast-evaporating solvent and a powder mixed in, which is what you make when the job is to dry down quickly and hold through heat, sweat and water. A word of care about evidence here. The version of this milk registered in the US is not the Japanese one we read: it lists five actives, zinc oxide, octocrylene, homosalate, ethylhexyl salicylate and titanium dioxide, under a Hong Kong distributor, and that label is the one carrying the 80 minute water resistance instruction. So treat the 80 minutes as a claim about the export formula rather than a measured property of the Japanese milk.[4]
Relief Sun starts with water, rice extract at 30%, dibutyl adipate and propanediol, with niacinamide appearing eighth.[2] No alcohol anywhere on the list, and no fragrance either. That’s a moisturizer with UV filters in it, which is what you make when the job is to be a comfortable last step in a morning routine.
Neither brief is the better one. They’re answers to different questions, and that’s what a country-level argument tends to flatten. We did the border version of this debate in our Korean vs Japanese sunscreen guide, which lands on a simple point: filter choice is a per-product decision, not a national one. This piece picks up where that one stopped, with two specific tubes and their actual lists.
Where the two labels overlap, and where they split
Here they are side by side, which is where an Anessa vs Korean sunscreen comparison actually gets decided. The percentages are the ones printed on the Anessa label; Beauty of Joseon doesn’t publish filter percentages.
| Anessa Perfect UV Skincare Milk N (Japan) | Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun | |
|---|---|---|
| UV filters | Nine: zinc oxide 10.35%, octocrylene 5%, ethylhexyl salicylate 4.9%, Uvinul A Plus 1.8%, titanium dioxide, homosalate 1%, Uvinul T 150 0.8%, Polysilicone-15 0.5%, Tinosorb S 0.5% [1] | Four: Uvinul A Plus, Uvinul T 150, Tinosorb M, Iscotrizinol [2] |
| Shared filters | Exactly two: Uvinul A Plus and Uvinul T 150 | |
| Rating | SPF 50+ PA++++ | SPF 50+ PA++++ |
| Alcohol | Yes, fourth on the list | None on the list |
| Fragrance | Yes | None on the list |
| Skincare extras | Hyaluronic acid derivative, soluble collagen, green tea and licorice root extracts, all in the back half of the list | 30% rice extract, niacinamide, ferment extracts, near the front |
Nine against four reads like a gap in protection, and it isn’t. Both products carry SPF 50+ and PA++++, which are the highest steps their labels can claim, so the filter count describes method rather than strength. PA is the UVA rating used on Korean and Japanese labels, and our guide to PA ratings explains what the pluses stand for. Anessa divides the job across two mineral filters and seven chemical ones, several of them older UVB workhorses like homosalate and ethylhexyl salicylate. Beauty of Joseon uses four modern chemical filters and nothing else. If those names don’t mean much to you yet, our guide to Korean sunscreen filters translates them one by one.
Two rows on that table change what you’ll actually notice on your face.
- Alcohol. Anessa has it fourth on the list, Relief Sun has none at all. Alcohol is what makes a sunscreen dry fast and feel like almost nothing, and it’s also what dries out or stings some people. That single line explains a lot of the gap in how the two get described.
- Tinosorb M. Relief Sun contains it and Anessa doesn’t. It is a particle filter rather than a dissolved one, which is why it can leave a grey look on deeper skin tones, and that is the chemistry we took apart in our no-white-cast explainer. Anessa’s white cast risk comes from a different place: it contains both zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.
Which Anessa are we even talking about?
Before you go label-checking, know this: Anessa is not one fixed formula. It gets revised, and different markets get different boxes.
- The version in the table is the Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk N, the Japanese 2022 formula, and it’s the one with percentages printed on it.[1]
- A separate 2025 Japanese listing for the milk shows eight filters rather than nine, with Polysilicone-15 gone from the list.[3]
- A US drug listing for the milk, filed by an importer rather than by Shiseido, declares only five active ingredients: zinc oxide 10%, octocrylene 8%, homosalate 8%, ethylhexyl salicylate 4% and titanium dioxide 3%.[4] The modern filters that make the Japanese version interesting, Uvinul A Plus and Tinosorb S among them, are listed as inactive ingredients on that one instead.
So when someone says Anessa has nine filters, the useful follow-up question is which Anessa. Everything here describes the Japanese milk, because that’s the label we read, and we’re not going to guess about the rest. Korean brands have their own version of this headache, which we went through in our piece on US versions of Korean sunscreens. On the Beauty of Joseon side we read one list, the Rice + Probiotics one, and the brand’s other sun products are different formulas with their own.
How they feel, and what reapplying actually looks like
We haven’t tested either of these, so this part is other people’s experience plus what the labels imply.
A reviewer at K-Beauty Hobbit, writing about the Anessa milk, calls it a “lovely liquid texture that’s very easy to spread and dries down quickly”, with “no white cast on me” and a finish “somewhat on the matte side”.[7] They flag the scent too, “a mix of florals and alcohol”, noticeable enough to be worth mentioning. One review is not a measurement, but it matches what the list would predict: alcohol plus talc, silica and corn starch adds up to a quick, powdery, low-shine finish.[1]
Relief Sun’s label points the other way. Rice extract at 30%, glycerin, butylene glycol and zero alcohol adds up to a soft, hydrated finish instead, and the retailer listings describe it as lightweight and quick to absorb with no white cast.[2]
Now the part these comparisons usually skip, which is reapplying. Neither of these is easy to put back on over makeup, because neither is a stick, a cushion or a powder. Anessa’s milk is a liquid you shake and pour; Relief Sun is a cream you squeeze and spread. Over a finished face, both mean rubbing a wet layer onto makeup that’s already there. If that’s the problem you’re actually shopping for, our guide to reapplying sunscreen covers the formats that solve it.
Taking it off splits them too. A formula designed to survive water is a formula you have to remove on purpose, and the retailer listing for the Anessa milk says soap will do it.[6] Relief Sun is an everyday sunscreen with no water-resistance claim on any listing we read, so it comes off the way daily sunscreens do. Our sunscreen removal guide has the routine for both cases.
Price, and where you can actually get them
Prices move around, so these are the ones we saw on 25 July 2026.
- Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun, 50 ml: listed at $18.00, on sale at $12.60, at the Korean retailer Jolse.[5]
- Anessa Perfect UV Skincare Milk NA, 60 ml: $34.98 at the Japanese import retailer Japanese Taste.[6]
Per milliliter that works out to roughly $0.25 to $0.36 for the Relief Sun against about $0.58 for the Anessa. Call it double, give or take. And since you’re supposed to use a generous amount every single morning, the per-milliliter figure is the one you feel over a summer, not the sticker price.
The buying route is the other real difference. Relief Sun is stocked by pretty much every K-beauty retailer that ships internationally, so you can shop it around. The Japanese Anessa usually reaches English-speaking buyers through import sellers, which is exactly why the version question above matters so much: the box that shows up is whichever one that seller happened to stock.
Pick by the day you’re dressing for
There’s no winner to hand out here. An Anessa vs Korean sunscreen choice isn’t two products fighting over the same slot in your routine, so here’s the split as plainly as we can put it.
- Get the Anessa milk if your days put you in water or in long stretches of heat. Its base is silicone and mineral with alcohol and talc, a structure meant to dry down fast, and the export version of the same product carries an 80 minute water resistance claim on its US label.[1][4] Just know what comes attached: alcohol, fragrance, and roughly double the price per milliliter. It sells through Japanese import retailers rather than through us, so there’s no link here, only the name.
- Get Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun if your day is a commute, a desk and errands, if alcohol or fragrance is a problem for your skin, or if you want the sunscreen step doing hydrating work at the same time. Four modern filters, SPF 50+ PA++++, no alcohol, no fragrance, and a formula centered on rice extract rather than on durability.[2] Check price
And if what you wanted all along was Korean and water-resistant, you don’t have to cross the sea for it. Our guide to water-resistant Korean sunscreens has options that stay put. Leaning toward Relief Sun but want to see it against the other Korean default first? We put the two of them head to head in Beauty of Joseon vs Round Lab.
FAQ
Is Anessa better than Korean sunscreen?
Not better, different. The Anessa Perfect UV Skincare Milk is engineered for water and sweat, with nine filters including zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, plus alcohol and a powdery base. A Korean daily like Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun uses four modern filters with no alcohol and no fragrance, and it’s designed for comfort under makeup. Both are SPF 50+ PA++++, so choose the one that matches your day rather than looking for a ranking.
Do Anessa and Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun use the same UV filters?
They share exactly two: Uvinul A Plus and Uvinul T 150. After that the lists split. Relief Sun adds Tinosorb M and Iscotrizinol for four filters total, while the Japanese Anessa milk adds zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, octocrylene, ethylhexyl salicylate, homosalate, Polysilicone-15 and Tinosorb S for nine.
Which one is better for swimming and sweating?
The Anessa milk, going by what the labels say, with one caveat. The 80 minute water resistance instruction belongs to the export version registered in the US, which is a different five-filter formula sold under the same name. What we can say about the Japanese milk itself is that its base is silicone and mineral with alcohol and talc, a structure built to dry down and stay put. The Relief Sun listings we read make no water-resistance claim, so treat it as an everyday sunscreen rather than a swimming one.
Why does Anessa cost so much more than a Korean sunscreen?
Mostly the import route. In July 2026 we found Relief Sun at $12.60 to $18.00 for 50 ml and the Anessa milk at $34.98 for 60 ml, which is roughly double per milliliter. Relief Sun is stocked by most K-beauty retailers that ship internationally, while the Japanese Anessa usually reaches English-speaking buyers through specialist import sellers.
Is the Anessa formula the same everywhere?
No, and that catches people out. The Japanese Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk N lists nine filters, a 2025 Japanese listing for the milk shows eight with Polysilicone-15 missing, and a US drug listing filed by an importer declares only five active ingredients. Check the box you’re actually buying instead of assuming an ingredient list you found online applies to it.
Sources
Ingredient lists (INCIDecoder, read 2026-07-25):
[1] Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk N SPF50+ PA++++, Japanese 2022 formula (nine filters: zinc oxide 10.35%, octocrylene 5%, ethylhexyl salicylate 4.9%, diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate 1.8%, titanium dioxide, homosalate 1%, ethylhexyl triazone 0.8%, polysilicone-15 0.5%, bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine 0.5%; alcohol fourth on the list; fragrance present): link
[2] Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics SPF50+ PA++++ (four filters: diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate, ethylhexyl triazone, methylene bis-benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol, diethylhexyl butamido triazone; 30% rice extract, niacinamide; flagged alcohol free, no fragrance listed): link
[3] Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk, 2025 Japanese listing (eight filters, no polysilicone-15): link
US drug label:
[4] DailyMed, Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk GB (actives: zinc oxide 10%, octocrylene 8%, homosalate 8%, ethylhexyl salicylate 4%, titanium dioxide 3%; “Reapply after 80 minutes of swimming or sweating”; listed by an importer, not by Shiseido; label updated 3 June 2026): link
Prices and retailer claims (read 2026-07-25, prices change):
[5] Jolse, Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics 50ml, listed $18.00 and on sale at $12.60: link
[6] Japanese Taste, Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk NA SPF50+ 60ml, $34.98, described as waterproof, stronger on contact with water, and removable with soap: link
Reviewer quoted:
[7] K-Beauty Hobbit, review of the Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk (24 May 2022; texture, finish and scent quotes above): link
Note on scope: we compared the Japanese Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk N against Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics, and nothing here should be read as describing other versions of either line. Texture and finish notes are reviewer and retailer descriptions, not lab measurements.
