The Beauty of Joseon sunscreen that Korea buys, Relief Sun (맑은쌀선크림, mal-geun-ssal seon-keu-rim, “clear rice sun cream”, SPF 50+ PA++++), is no longer sold by the brand in the United States: it pulled Relief Sun and three other sunscreens from the US in February 2025 and sells US formulas with FDA-listed filters instead. In the US, the brand’s answer is Day Dew Sunscreen SPF 50, $18 at Sephora; in Korea, Olive Young’s promotional set, ₩15,000 (about $11) on sale on October 24 (regular ₩20,000), is the cheapest way to get the original.
The two tubes share a brand and a rice-extract story, but none of the four UV filters in the Korean tube is on the FDA’s list, so the US tube uses four older filters instead. Day Dew is “made for the U.S. market using active ingredients officially defined under FDA regulations,” in the brand’s words. The “Relief Sun” listing that tops an Amazon search for the brand’s sunscreen is listed under another brand name, not Beauty of Joseon.
Four names you will see
- Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics
- The original English name of the Korean sunscreen, still used by most overseas retailers and in Amazon searches.
- Relief Sun: Rice + Niacinamide
- The name on the brand’s Korean shop and its global store page in 2026 (in Korea, 맑은쌀선크림 : 쌀추출물+나이아신아마이드); the global FAQ still uses the Probiotics name. Same product line. We found no brand note explaining the change.
- Day Dew Sunscreen SPF 50
- The brand’s current US formula. It is not a Relief Sun with a new label; the UV filters are different, and the brand says it is “only available in the U.S. for now.”
- Daily Relief Sunscreen SPF 40
- A US formula that preceded Day Dew, which the brand describes as a reworked version of it. The brand’s FAQ says Daily Relief is the only sunscreen sold on its official Amazon US store. It is not the Korean product either.
Why there are two versions
In the United States a sunscreen is an over-the-counter drug. The FDA keeps a list of permitted active ingredients, and a product can only use those. In Korea a sunscreen is a “functional cosmetic” (기능성 화장품, gi-neung-seong hwa-jang-pum) reviewed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and Korean makers can use a wider range of filters, including ones allowed in Korea and the EU but not in the US; two of the four in Relief Sun (diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate and bisoctrizole) cover UVA. In February 2025 the brand pulled four sunscreens from the US market, Relief Sun and its Matte Sun Stick among them, and released two US-only versions, saying it had changed the formula to remove the regulatory risk. Day Dew is the one it compares with Relief Sun today.
The gap is narrowing slowly. In June 2026 the FDA added bemotrizinol to its list, the first new filter in decades. It is not one of the four in Relief Sun, so nothing changes for this product yet.
The filters, side by side
Korean labels do not give filter percentages; US Drug Facts labels do.
| Relief Sun (Korea), SPF 50+ PA++++ | Day Dew (US), SPF 50 Broad Spectrum |
|---|---|
| Diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate (UVA) | Avobenzone 3.0% (UVA) |
| Ethylhexyl triazone (UVB) | Homosalate 7.0% (UVB) |
| Methylene bis-benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol (UVA and UVB) | Octisalate 5.0% (UVB) |
| Diethylhexyl butamido triazone (UVB) | Octocrylene 5.0% (UVB, stabiliser) |
| Not on the FDA list (all four) | All four on the FDA list; water-resistant 80 minutes |
The labels cannot be ranked against each other: PA++++ grades UVA strength on the Korean scale, while “Broad Spectrum” is a US pass-or-fail test of UVA coverage. Both tubes carry niacinamide and rice extract, and neither leaves a white cast, according to the brand and the reviews we read.
Reports on feel differ. The brand’s own FAQ says Day Dew has a lighter texture than Relief Sun; a Singapore dermatologist who reviewed Day Dew found it heavier than the Korean Aqua Fresh version, with a sunscreen film she could feel, and called it “functional but overall disappointing”; a K-beauty blog comparing the two line-ups says many users prefer the feel of the Korean formulas. We have not tested either ourselves.
What the Korean label says
Olive Young Korea publishes the full ingredient list required under Korea’s Cosmetics Act for each product. For the Relief Sun set sold in October 2026 it reads, in order: water, dibutyl adipate, propanediol, the first UV filter, polymethylsilsesquioxane, the second filter, niacinamide, the third filter, coco-caprylate/caprate, caprylyl methicone, the fourth filter, glycerin, two solvents, then the plant extracts and ferments the brand talks about (rice extract, rice germ extract, green tea, lactobacillus and bacillus ferments, kelp, coconut, red ginseng, black tea, rice ferments) and the usual thickeners and preservatives. It is made by Kolmar Korea for Goodai Global, the company behind the brand, in Korea, with a 36-month shelf life and 12 months after opening.
One number worth knowing. The current Korean label lists rice extract at 3,000 ppm, which is 0.3%. Older ingredient databases and retailer pages for the “Rice + Probiotics” version describe 30% rice extract. The extract also moved further down the list. We could not find a brand statement about it, and we could not confirm whether the formula changed or only how the extract is declared, so treat “30% rice” in older reviews as describing an earlier label.
Prices and where each one is sold
| Where | What | Price on October 24, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty of Joseon Korea (brand shop) | Relief Sun 50 ml | ₩18,000 (about $13) |
| Olive Young Korea (online) | Relief Sun 50 ml + two 10 ml minis, promotional set (rated 4.8 by 4,773 reviewers) | ₩20,000 → ₩15,000 on sale (about $11) |
| Olive Young Korea (online) | Relief Sun Aqua Fresh (아쿠아프레쉬, a-ku-a-peu-re-swi), two 50 ml | ₩30,000 → from ₩26,000 on sale |
| Beauty of Joseon US (brand site) | Day Dew Sunscreen 50 mL | $18.00, on sale at $16.20 that day |
| Sephora, Sephora at Kohl’s | Day Dew Sunscreen 50 mL | $18.00 (Sephora exclusive) |
| OLIVE YOUNG US | Any Beauty of Joseon product | Not carried (search returned other brands only) |
Dollar figures use ₩1,350 to the dollar, the rate on our K-Beauty Price Check. If you are flying home from Korea, a 50 ml tube fits the carry-on liquids limit, and several tubes still sit well inside the US personal exemption; see our K-beauty Black Friday guide for the duty rules on parcels and Olive Young sales and coupons for how the promotional sets work.
About the “Relief Sun” on Amazon
Search Amazon US for the Beauty of Joseon sunscreen and the first results, on the day we looked, were titled “Relief Sun Organic Korean sunscreen SPF50+, PA++++ Rice and Probiotics” at $17.99, with two-packs from $24.99. The top listing we opened names gonalulu as both brand and manufacturer, not Beauty of Joseon. The brand’s own FAQ says that its official Amazon US store sells only the Daily Relief Sunscreen SPF 40, and no other sunscreen. Before you pay for a “Korean version” online, check the brand field, the seller, and whether the box shows Korean text and Goodai Global as the responsible company. Day Dew did not appear among those results at all; it is sold on the brand’s US site and at Sephora.
Which one to buy
You are in the US and not travelling
Day Dew is the brand’s answer for you, at $18 from Sephora; the brand says it suits normal to dry skin best. If the dewy finish or the older filter set puts you off, any FDA-listed sunscreen you will wear every day does the job; the Korean tube is not sold by the brand in the US.
You are going to Korea
Pick up the Olive Young set: ₩15,000 on sale for 50 ml plus two minis was the lowest price we saw, and the minis are handy for a bag. Olive Young also sells the Aqua Fresh version (₩26,000 for two); the dermatologist reviewer above found it lighter than Day Dew.
You want the Korean formula shipped to the US
The brand does not sell it to US addresses itself, and OLIVE YOUNG Global stopped shipping to the US in May 2026. If you import, buy from a seller on the brand’s authorized retailer list, which it says includes sellers that ship worldwide, and check for Korean text and Goodai Global on the box.
Useful Korean phrases
For the Olive Young shelf. Pronunciations are approximate.
Sources and update date
Updated October 24, 2026. Korean ingredients and prices were read from Olive Young Korea and the brand’s Korean shop on that date; US details from the brand’s US product page the same day. Dollar figures use ₩1,350 to the dollar. Next check: when the brand announces a US launch of Relief Sun or a new filter approval changes the picture.
View sources
- Olive Young Korea, 조선미녀 맑은쌀 선크림 50ml+20ml 증정 기획, product information disclosure (ingredients, maker, shelf life), read October 24, 2026 (Korean).
- Beauty of Joseon Korea, official shop, Relief Sun and Aqua Fresh prices, read October 24, 2026 (Korean).
- Beauty of Joseon US, Day Dew Sunscreen, Drug Facts and FAQ, read October 24, 2026.
- US FDA, Sunscreen: How to Help Protect Your Skin from the Sun, active ingredient list including the June 2026 addition of bemotrizinol.
- Beauty of Joseon, FAQ: general inquiries (official Amazon US store carries only Daily Relief SPF 40; authorized retailers), read October 24, 2026.
- Korea JoongAng Daily, Explainer: Americans are hoarding Korean sunscreen. Should they?, April 10, 2025 (Beauty of Joseon pulled four sunscreens from the US in February 2025, released two US-only versions, and said it had changed its formula to remove the regulatory risk).
- Beauty of Joseon, Meet Day Dew Sunscreen (brand blog describing Day Dew as a reworked Daily Relief Sunscreen).
- OLIVE YOUNG US, search for “beauty of joseon”, read October 24, 2026 (no Beauty of Joseon products).
- One Eye Beauty (K-beauty blog), Beauty of Joseon Sunscreens: Korea vs USA Versions, July 5, 2026.
- Dr Rachel Ho, Review: Beauty of Joseon Day Dew Sunscreen.
- Amazon US search and product pages for “beauty of joseon day dew sunscreen”, read October 24, 2026.
- INKEEDecoder (formerly INCIDecoder), Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics ingredient record, uploaded 2021 (older label with 30% rice extract).
- Product images: Beauty of Joseon (beautyofjoseon.co.kr and beautyofjoseon.com), resized for display.
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