Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun Review: Two Testers, Two Empty Tubes

Bought at: YesStyle · Paid: $18.40 for 50 ml · Time on test: 11 weeks, two testers, one full tube each

Beauty of Joseon’s Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics has spent the last few years as the sunscreen that people on the internet tell you to buy, which is exactly the kind of consensus worth poking at. We ran two tubes to empty across eleven weeks — one on oily, acne-prone skin and one on dry, winter-cracked skin — applied every morning at roughly the recommended quantity.

What it actually is

This is an organic-filter (chemical) sunscreen rated SPF50+ PA++++, sold in a 50 ml squeeze tube. The “rice + probiotics” of the name refers to grain extract and a fermented filtrate sitting alongside the UV filters, and the formula is pitched somewhere between a sunscreen and a hydrating serum rather than as a dedicated beach product.

Worth saying plainly before anything else: the filters that make this formula so pleasant are not all approved for use in sunscreens sold in the United States, so American buyers are purchasing an imported cosmetic through a retailer such as YesStyle rather than an FDA-regulated OTC drug. That is a legitimate route and millions of people use it, but it means no US-standard label, and it means batch dates and storage during shipping are on you to check.

Eleven weeks on two faces

The texture is the reason this product has the reputation it has. It pours like a thin lotion, spreads with almost no resistance, and disappears in about forty seconds. Neither tester saw a white cast, including on the drier, paler of the two. There is no greasy film and no of that tacky, cling-film sensation that makes heavier sunscreens unbearable in humidity.

On dry skin it behaved like a light moisturiser and genuinely replaced one step in the routine. On oily skin the finish settled to a soft glow rather than a shine, though by hour five there was visible oil at the nose and forehead — blotting handled it, and it never slid off. Under makeup it performed well provided it was allowed two or three minutes to set; rushed over with a foundation brush it pilled, and that happened often enough to be a pattern rather than bad luck.

Both testers noted a faint scent — slightly grainy, a bit like rice water, fading within minutes. It is not fragrance-free despite how mild it reads. Neither tester had it sting the eyes when applied carefully to the lid margin, but one did report watering if applied heavily and then exposed to wind, which is normal behaviour for a chemical filter at this concentration.

Across eleven weeks the acne-prone tester had no new congestion attributable to the sunscreen, which is a meaningful result for a product this emollient. Neither tester burned, including on two long afternoons outdoors, but we want to be clear that we measured nothing: we are reporting lived use, not laboratory SPF verification.

Scores by criterion

What we liked

• The best-feeling daily sunscreen either tester has used; weightless and invisible within a minute.
• No white cast on either skin tone in the test, which removes the usual excuse for skipping it.
• Hydrating enough that dry skin can drop a moisturiser step and save money elsewhere.
• Around $18 for 50 ml is reasonable, and it encourages the generous application that SPF actually requires.
• No new breakouts on acne-prone skin over a full tube.

What we did not

• It pills if you layer makeup on too quickly. Build two or three minutes of waiting into your morning or expect flaking.
• It is scented, lightly but detectably, which rules it out for the strictly fragrance-free crowd.
• A 50 ml tube is a face-and-neck product. Using it on arms and shoulders burns through it in days.
• US buyers are importing a foreign cosmetic, with the labelling and sourcing caveats that carries.
• Like every sunscreen, it needs reapplying, and the texture that makes it lovely at 8 a.m. does not survive a reapplication over full makeup at 1 p.m.

Verdict

Most people do not skip sunscreen because they doubt the science; they skip it because the product on the shelf is unpleasant. This one removes that excuse almost completely, and after eleven weeks and two empty tubes we understand the enthusiasm. The deductions are for real and repeatable problems — the pilling under makeup, the fragrance, the small tube, the import caveat for American shoppers — not for anything that spoils daily use.

Score: 9.1 / 10. If you want one sunscreen you will genuinely wear every morning, buy it. If you need a fragrance-free formula or a body-sized bottle, keep looking.

Disclosure: both tubes were purchased at retail with Coupontdn funds. We did not measure SPF performance and make no laboratory claims. No brand reviewed the text before publication.