Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun ($10) vs Supergoop Unseen ($38)
Korea’s most viral SPF vs Sephora’s favorite. $28 apart.
Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun is having a moment. It’s the fastest-growing K-beauty SPF in the US market, with search volume that’s tripled in the last year. Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen is the Sephora crowd’s go-to at $38. We put them side by side.
Protection
Both offer SPF 50+ with PA++++ (the highest UVA protection rating in the Korean/Japanese system). Supergoop uses chemical filters. Beauty of Joseon uses a blend of chemical filters plus rice bran extract for additional antioxidant protection. On pure UV protection, they’re comparable.
Texture and finish
Supergoop Unseen: clear, silicone-based, velvety matte finish. Functions as a primer. Feels like a lightweight silicone serum. Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: lightweight cream, slightly dewy finish. Rice bran gives a natural glow. Less primer-like, more skincare-like. Both are invisible. Neither leaves a white cast on any skin tone.
The ingredient gap
Supergoop Unseen is purely protective — it blocks UV and that’s it. Beauty of Joseon adds rice bran extract (brightening, antioxidant) and grain ferment filtrate (nourishing). It’s doing skincare while it protects. Korean sunscreens tend to be multi-functional; Western sunscreens tend to be single-purpose.
Insight
Beauty of Joseon is named after the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897), when Korean rice bran skincare traditions originated. The brand is literally built on 600 years of ingredient history.
The math
Beauty of Joseon: $10 for 50ml = $0.20/ml. Supergoop Unseen: $38 for 40ml = $0.95/ml. Nearly 5x more expensive per ml. If you reapply twice a day (as dermatologists recommend), a tube of Supergoop lasts about 2 weeks. A tube of Beauty of Joseon lasts about 3 weeks and costs 1/4 as much. Over a year, that’s the difference between $65 and $494 on sunscreen alone.
Beauty of Joseon
Relief Sun 50+
$10
vs $38
The verdict
If you love the silicone-primer feel: Supergoop is uniquely good at that. If you want skincare benefits + UV protection at 1/4 the price: Beauty of Joseon. For most people, the $10 option is the smarter buy. The $28 you save every tube can go toward the rest of your routine.