What Is Bemotrizinol? The New US Sunscreen Filter

What bemotrizinol is, why the US hasn't had it until now, and why the formula around it still decides everything.

Written by Dr. Aimee Paik, MD, board-certified dermatologist and VIZE co-founder

In short

Bemotrizinol, or BEMT, is the first new active ingredient the FDA has added to the sunscreen monograph since the late 1990s. It's broad-spectrum, very photostable, and it feels lighter than most of the filters we've had access to in the US. It's also capped at 6% of a formula, which on its own, is unlikely to reach the SPF 30 most dermatologists recommend. Its main advantage is that it helps stabilize other UV filters, allowing them to work better together and strengthening the overall protection they provide. Every BEMT sunscreen you see will still be built on the filters we already had.

What is BEMT?

Formally, bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine. You'll see it sold under trade names like Tinosorb S and PARSOL Shield. It's a synthetic organic filter, which is the category most people call "chemical," as opposed to the mineral filters zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.

Beyond finally having something new to formulate with, here’s why everyone's excited.

• It's very photostable. It holds up well under UV exposure, and it can help stabilize other filters alongside it.

• It's broad-spectrum on its own. It covers both UVA and UVB, which not every filter does.

• A little goes a long way. It absorbs a lot of UV at a low concentration, and it raises the performance of the filters around it. Either way, a formula reaches the same protection with less filter in it, which is what makes a sunscreen feel lighter.

The FDA issued its final order in June 2026, permitting bemotrizinol in US formulas at concentrations up to 6 percent.

Wait, why doesn't the US have the same sunscreen filters as everywhere else?

Because of how sunscreen is classified.

In the US, the FDA regulates sunscreen as an over-the-counter drug. A new UV filter has to clear a review process closer to what a pharmaceutical goes through than a cosmetic. That's a high bar, and it's slow. 17 filters are currently permitted here, with only 8-9 in common use.

Almost everywhere else, sunscreen is a cosmetic. That allows far more flexibility in which actives a manufacturer can use, and the lists are much longer. The EU, Japan and South Korea all regulate sunscreen as a cosmetic, and they have more than 30 approved filters each.

Two other differences are worth knowing.

• EU manufacturers voluntarily follow a recommendation that a sunscreen's UVA protection be at least one third of its SPF. An SPF 30 sold in the EU should carry UVA protection factor of at least 10.

• Japan and Korea use the PA system. That's the grade written PA+ through PA++++, and it tells you how much UVA protection you're getting. It isn't required on US labels, which is why most American sunscreens don't carry one. The US uses a pass/fail “broad spectrum” designation based on critical wavelength testing. 

This is why people come home from Paris, Seoul and Tokyo with a suitcase full of sunscreen. Those markets have had access to filters that are more potent at lower concentrations, which allows for more elegant textures, and those products can't be sold here as they are. It's also why there was some disappointment from shoppers realizing that all of the sunscreen in the U.S. Olive Young locations had to be reformulated with US-permitted filters first.

Will BEMT revolutionize sunscreen in the US?

It will absolutely produce a wave of new formulas, and some of them will be very good.

But here's the part that isn't in most of the coverage. BEMT is capped at 6% of a formula. At that concentration it can't get you to the SPF 30 that dermatologists recommend for daily use. It has to be combined with other filters to get there.

Which means every BEMT sunscreen arriving on US shelves will still be built on zinc oxide, avobenzone, homosalate, octinoxate and the rest of the filters we already had. BEMT is a new tool in the toolbox, but it won’t be the sole factor in what makes a formula great. 

Why sunscreens use more than one filter

Most sunscreens already combine several, mineral and organic together. There's a reason for that.

Every filter has a range it covers, a weight, a texture, a stability profile and a maximum permitted concentration. Getting to a high SPF with a texture anyone wants to wear means balancing all of those against each other.

It's also why we spend our time getting the most out of the filters we already have. Cloudwear Daily SPF 30 PA+++ uses a proprietary zinc oxide dispersion. Most mineral sunscreens start with zinc as a powder or a thick paste, which has to be forced into a cream. That means adding thickeners to keep it suspended, and thicker dispersions feel heavier on the skin. Ours arrives as a fluid liquid. It suspends in the formula easily without additional gelling or emulsifying agents that make it feel thicker. Fewer things holding the formula together means a lighter formula.

That's one example of the care every single ingredient in a sunscreen needs if the formula is going to be any good. The brands that end up making the best BEMT sunscreens will be the ones that were already good at this. New filter, same skill.

Is VIZE launching a sunscreen with BEMT?

Yes. We've been working on one for some time, and we expect it to launch in 2027.