What is the best Mineral Sunstick in Korea?
Most of the famous mineral sunstick in Korea are produced by Kolmar Korea.
Why is that?
Before the SPF manipulation scandal in December 2020, many companies launched a variety of sunscreen sticks.
However, with the increased scrutiny on SPF values from the public, fewer companies could produce sunscreen sticks that met these standards due to technical limitations.
In particular, organic UV filters, which are mostly organic, are easier to blend without leaving a white cast.
They can also achieve high SPF levels with relatively low amounts and the greasy feel can be managed with powder ingredients like silica.
However, inorganic UV filters inherently have a white cast, making it difficult to achieve high SPF levels that meet consumer expectations.
Thus, many inorganic UV filter products in the market still fail to meet the SPF requirements.
Recently, WITH.C KOREA has been developing a mineral sunscreen stick for oily skin and hot weather at a client’s request.
This process has not been easy.
The client wanted bulk rather than filled products, and the companies we wanted to produce from did not provide bulk.
After extensive research, we found a few company satisfying our all conditions, only to discover they wanted to sell us a deceptive recipe.
After struggling to get the desired samples, we finally found a feasible company.
We are now smoothly proceeding with the second sampling and SPF tests.
The product below received approval from the client for its application and lack of a white cast during the first sample.
However, we proceeded with a second sampling due to the lack of confidence in achieving SPF50 during the pending SPF and PA test.
The second samples below consist of five types including first sample.
Unlike the first sample that only contained titanium dioxide, two of the five types include zinc oxide to enhance the SPF and PA.
And even with the same raw material content, we made the particle size and shape different.
| Sample No. | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5 | |
| Sun Ingredients % | Titanium Dioxide | A | A | A+4.5 | A-1.5 | A |
| Zinc Oxide | - | - | B | C | - | |
The IN-VITRO test results are as follows:
| Sample No. | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5 | |
| Test Result | SPF | 63.64 | 52.84 | 82.92 | - | 50.44 |
| PA | 73.54 | 32.5 | 34.39 | - | 23.26 | |
Of the five, the fourth product, which had the most noticeable white cast, was excluded from testing despite its high SPF due to quality concerns.
All products met SPF50 PA++++, and one product, Sample 3 even achieved a remarkable SPF80.
(PA++++ is achieved when the PA value is 16 or higher.)
It is impossible to completely eliminate the white cast due to the characteristics of inorganic UV filters.
However, based on my experience, there are few companies within the Korean cosmetics industry capable of producing products with the same quality as ours with SPF50 and above.
We recommend launching a new product this summer targeting a Vegan Mineral Sunstick that are relatively gentle on the skin.
Please contact WITH.C KOREA, the representative Korean Vegan OEM ODM company.