Any beauty lover knows there’s one must-visit location when traveling overseas: The pharmacy. European, Australian, and Asian sunscreens are also known for their special formulations, sunscreen filters, and more. And for the longest time, US-regulated sunscreen has gotten a bad rap for being outdated and lackluster formula-wise compared to its international counterparts. That is, until now. Earlier this summer, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) finally approved a new sunscreen filter that could signal the start of better sunscreen innovation in the States: bemotrizinol (BEMT).
“The agency’s action to add bemotrizinol as an active ingredient to the sunscreen OTC monograph marks the first time in 20 years that a new sunscreen active ingredient has become available to US consumers,” a spokesperson for the FDA tells Vogue. “It also represents the first industry-initiated administrative order to be finalized under the landmark OTC monograph reform legislation enacted in 2020.”
The process of approving new filters and ingredients for sun protection in the US can be complicated as sunscreen is regulated as an OTC drug. But the FDA wants to assure consumers that it is not lagging on purpose, and that when a new ingredient is presented, the federal agency will do its due diligence to review it and get it to market as quickly as possible should it pass all the safety requirements.
“The agency has not delayed the approval of new ingredients,” says the FDA. “The delay comes because information has not been provided to us. It’s important to clarify that there are no pending submissions to the agency for new sunscreen ingredients. The FDA is strongly committed to helping facilitate the entry of new sunscreen active ingredients and sunscreen drug products to the U.S. market that are safe and effective.”
Read on to see just how bemotrizinol changes the US sunscreen game.
What is bemotrizinol?
Bemotrizinol is a synthetic organic UV filter that, as cosmetic chemist and founder of KKT Innovation Labs Krupa Koestline explains, absorbs both UVB and UVA rays at a wider range on the UV spectrum than other single-molecule filters. “What’s exciting about this filter is that it gives you really good broad-spectrum protection in one molecule,” says Koestline. “It’s particularly strong around 340 nanometers, which is an area where some of the filters we’ve traditionally had access to in the US aren’t necessarily the strongest.”
Like other chemical filters, she says it works by absorbing UV rays and releasing that energy as heat. And while it may be new in the US, BEMT has been widely used all over the world, particularly in Asia, Australia, and the EU, for decades.
What makes bemotrizinol different?
“BEMT gives us something we’ve been missing in the US,” says Regine J. Mathieu, MD, FAAD, board-certified dermatologist and Skin of Color Society member. “Strong, stable UVA and UVB protection in a single filter.”
Helen He, MD, director of lasers and cosmetic surgery and co-director of the Mount Sinai-Clinique Healthy Skin Dermatology Center, agrees and calls bemotrizinol a unique chemical sunscreen filter in that sense. She explains that most chemical or hybrid sunscreens in the States contain a selective combination of chemical filters and other ingredients to get that wide coverage across the UV spectrum. With BEMT, you get all of that with just one and as a result, you get protection from both the UVB wavelengths that cause skin cancer and UVA radiation that causes skin aging and hyperpigmentation.
The Other Benefits
One of BEMT’s main benefits is that it is photostable, which Koestline says means it won’t break down as quickly when you’re out in the sun. Dr. He adds that BEMT has a larger molecular weight than other chemical filters, and that it is likely too large and oil-soluble to penetrate the skin barrier to be absorbed into the blood stream.
