Back in December, something very unusual burst out of nowhere and I didn’t want to cover it just yet.  With more and more test results coming out, brands apologizing and more sunscreens being dragged into the fire pit, it is at a point now where I can’t let this story go.  It all started with our beloved Purito Centella sunscreen and one unknown website claiming they had test results to prove the best selling sunscreen did not have the amount of SPF claimed on the bottle.  As the story unfolds and pandora’s box being wide open, what is next for the skincare community and how will the K-beauty industry move forward with its relationship with overseas customers?

Please note, this isn’t supposed to be gossip but more of a documentary type of coverage.  Read this with a grain of salt as I am not an expert in the cosmetic field, nor do I claim to be.  This is purely created through researching and collecting data from the web that could or could not be fully accurate.

Purito centella sunscreen exposed

December 3, 2020
This was the day this post dropped on Instagram and was getting passed around like wildfire.  At first, I really didn’t want to believe it because of the deep trust and love I have for Purito as a brand.  I am not paid by Purito or any of these brands to say anything nice by the way.  I as a consumer have seen the way Purito has conducted themselves with transparency and apologized when they needed to.  I also didn’t have full trust in this Instagrammer/ website called Incidecodercom.  They only have two handfuls of posts and their website is relatively bare.  I took a look around the website and it seems to kind of be like Paula’s choice beauty dictionary where they break down ingredients and show you the ingredients of a product.

Here is the spark notes of what their Instagram post had to say about Purito centella green level safe sun:
-claims Purito uses only 2 filters (3% Uvinul A and 2% Uvinul T) at low percentage
-Purito claim their sunscreen is up to SPF 84??
-BASF calculator (tool for rough estimates)—> estimation of SPF 10.3 from BASF calculator vs. SPF 84
-did an in-Vitro test at a Polish lab, then an ISO 24444 10 person-in-vivo test
-checked results by 5 person in-vivo test in German lab
-both lab results: SPF 19

Now that’s a whole lot of confusing words for a consumer like me to understand. BASF is a sunscreen formulation tool to test the performance of sunscreens before doing an in-vitro test.  There is also something called the DSM sunscreen optimizer, a similar tool developed by another company.  I’m not even going to try and attempt to explain what in vitro SPF testing is since lab muffin did a way better job with the breakdown.

Purito sunscreen test results

At first, it was mostly speculation with Incidecodercom’s tests from Poland and Germany. Soon after, test results from the Korea Institute of Dermatological Science posted their test results for Purito sunscreen stating the sunscreen has a UV blocking effect of SPF 28.4.  That is a little better than SPF 19, but still far from SPF 50+.
So who are the KIDS and are they trustworthy? From the looks of it, they are a legit lab for testing cosmetics and the CEO Ahn In Sook (안인숙) is the lady who not only runs the company but is the face of the Youtube channel as well.  All her videos have multiple languages for subtitles and I’ve been binge-watching all of them.  She gives unbias opinions and educates the public with testing results to back up her claims as well. 

This was the first video she did covering the Purito sunscreen controversy and how her lab shows the Centella sunscreen gave the results of SPF 28.4.  Allegedly Incidecodercom’s testing machine was actually discontinued 10 years ago and the one they have in Korea is the latest model that costs $90,000 USD per machine (I love the d*ck measuring contest LOL).

How did this happen?  Who is at fault?

In Ahn In Sook’s first video, she broke down the process of producing sunscreen from beginning to end.  Let’s call our imaginary company, company A.  Company A would approach an OEM (original equipment manufacturing) company and tell them they want to produce X product.  In our case, this X product would be sunscreen.  To be able to get that sunscreen to be marked as SPF50, it needs to be tested by an inspection institution.  The manufacturer would give an expected SPF index along with a sample of the product to the inspection agency and the inspection agency would conduct pre-tests, then giving the results back. 

Somewhere in between that process, someone definitely tampered with the test results or someone was cutting corners.  We will never know if it is the manufacturer’s fault or the brand’s fault, but whoever is responsible won’t hear the end of it now since the war has blown up to this proportion. 

Purito and Dear Klairs sunscreens taking responsibility

Now how did Dear Klairs get dragged into this mess?  Unfortunately for them, Dear Klairs soft airy uv essence (aka. one of their top best selling product), is manufactured in the same company, Nowcos.  If you can’t seem to find the manufacture’s name on the back of your tube, it is actually written in Hangul so you’ll have to use Google Translator to translate it. 

If you click here, Nowcos actually manufactures a lot of big-name brands like Amorepacific, Nature republic, Mamonde, Memebox, the Saem to name a couple.  Don’t start tossing out your whole collection though, not every single product is produced by one sole manufacture.  I also see Missha sunscreens produced from this manufacture, yikes.  No news on whether Missha has any issues yet but I did remember Jude mentioning their Missha aqua sun gel being discontinued.  Is it a coincidence?  I truly hope so because I really love Missha’s sunscreens!

Purito was able to address the matter rather quickly, showing they really do listen to their customers.  They are offering refunds for anyone that has purchased their Centella sunscreen and have been off social media since then. They have taken a rather classy and personable approach to the matter and I really appreciate their quick response and have ceased sales of the Centella sunscreen.

Dear Klairs followed soon after with their response to the matter and to have ceased sales of all their sunscreens on their website.  They are also offering refunds for those who have purchased the sunscreen directly on the Wishtrend website.

Keep cool soothe bamboo sun essence low SPF too?

Now how did another beloved sunscreen, Keep cool’s soothe bamboo sun essence, get dragged into this mess? With some amazing investigation of Reddit users, they were able to find another sunscreen made in the same manufacturing plant (Green Cos) with an almost identical ingredient list.  Unlike big brands, not all companies are able to spend tons and tons of money into researching and developing their own formulas.  So what they would do is approach manufacturing companies, see what formulas they have already and use that as a base.  From there, they’ll tweak it a little by adding plant extracts, oils, and such and then call it their own.

In the Reddit post, the sunscreen they were comparing it to, Fascy Lab green+ sunscreen, it clearly shows the following percentage for these UV filters used in the formula:
-Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate 2.0%
-Bis-ethylhexylophenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine 1.0%

With that information, many were speculating and some were even brave enough to ask to Keep cool directly just to clear the air or get clarification.  And what did these people get as a response?  Threats…

Now I understand the defamation laws in Korea are pretty strict, but this is no way to talk to your customers, especially ones overseas with different laws and we do have freedom of speech.  This is definitely a different tone than what Purito and Dear Klairs have set.  At this point, it was all just speculations, so I do kind of understand where they were coming from.  But threatening with lawsuits is kind of over the top, don’t you think?

Keep cool sunscreen controversy …finally giving a statement

I don’t want to say I didn’t see this coming, but I saw it coming.  I didn’t want it to be true, but it is true.  Keep cool finally gave a statement regarding the issue and they are offering vouchers for those who have purchased their soothe bamboo sunscreen.  The response is quite corporate and stale to be honest, and they didn’t really issue the statement out of the goodness of their heart.  They were rushed to put something out because this was about to drop….

Two days later, Ahn In Sook, our mother of dragons, came back to spit fire like the last season of Game of Thrones.  Of course in Korean fashion, the products were blurred out (defamation laws in Korea), but we know who you are.

In her first Youtube video regarding the Purito controversy, the following sunscreens were also tested and was proven to have SPF 30 or less:

(Left to right)
1) Dr. Jart solar biome ampoule SPF50+ PA++++
2) Dear klairs soft airy UV essence SPF 50 PA++++
3) Round lab birch juice moisturizing sun cream SPF50+ PA++++
4) ?? I have no clue 
5) Hyggee relief sun moisture SPF50+ PA++++

Biore Kao UV aqua rich watery gel SPF 50+ PA++++
Test results came back as SPF 55.2.  If this Biore UV aqua rich watery gel came back anything lower, I think the skincare community might start a damn riot LOL.  I was nervous about this Biore one too but I actually don’t care for the watery essence version.  I much prefer the one from Thank you farmer sun project water sun cream or even the newer Biore UV Athlizm skin protect essence.

IOPE UV shield sun protector XP SPF 50+ PA++++
I’ve actually never heard of anyone talk about this sunscreen oddly enough but it did come back with results of SPF 57.5! Also to my surprise, it isn’t super expensive!  It is retailing for $22.08 on Jolse currently!!  Get it now before it gets sold out :O.

Keep cool soothe bamboo sun essence 
Now we are not surprised the results came back with the SPF levels lower than 50.  But what are the real results?  Your in luck because someone actually caught it on Instagram.  I cut out their username just in case but you know who you are.

Asian sunscreens not trustworthy

So.. what now?  What now that the whole sunscreen category is being questioned by all of us.  Please keep in mind that this isn’t just an issue with Korean sunscreens and has happened with American and French sunscreens, like what Lab muffin pointed out in her post.  What we can do as consumers is educate ourselves on the different filters used in sunscreens, look at the ingredient list and make an educated guess on whether or not the sunscreen has enough filters to be effective.  There are still great sunscreens out there and one of them is still an all-time favorite of mine from Thank you farmer!

Tonic15, along with a very important statement to stop the racism, shared some lab results for Thank you farmer sunscreens which they will continue to carry in their shop.  I am very familiar with Thank you a farmer and lucky for you, I got reviews whoo whoo!

Thank you farmer sun project water sun cream is very similar to Biore’s UV aqua rich watery essence but better!  TYF’s version has a gorgeous creamy gel texture and actually provides hydration for my skin, while Biore’s applies like water on my skin with a heavy alcohol scent and dries my skin out within 3 hours of wear.

I don’t have a formal review of Thank you farmer’s sun project light sun essence, however, I do actually have it in my collection.  It is very similar to the water sun cream but slightly lighter and absorbs into the skin effortlessly.  I’d suggest this one for those with combo to oily skin types and it leaves no white cast.

Thank you farmer safe sun fluid one of their latest sunscreens and another one of my favorites as well.  It doesn’t have test results to prove the SPF levels, but I’m pretty confident this one would pass too.  This one would be better for those with normal to dry skin like me who need a little bit more hydration.  The watery sun cream and light sun essence would be better options for those who want something lighter.

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That is enough controversy for one day.  I don’t want to turn into a drama blog but this is pretty important, especially if people wear this to prevent skin cancer or just don’t want to get burnt under the sun!  Hopefully, the issue can be resolved with Purito and Klairs but it will take a long time since testing SPF (from what I heard) is a lengthy process.  For now, just stick to the couple of sunscreens that are proven to actually give us protection.  Stay safe <3.