Ultra Violette is turning a long-awaited regulatory breakthrough into a retail differentiator. The Australian sun care brand has launched Unblock Screen SPF 50 Breakout-Friendly SkinScreen, what it claims is the first sunscreen on the U.S. market formulated with bemotrizinol (BEMT), following the FDA’s June 2026 addition of the UV filter to the U.S. sunscreen monograph.
As previously reported, bemotrizinol is the first new sunscreen UV filter cleared by the FDA since 1999, ending a regulatory drought that has left U.S. formulators working with a much narrower filter toolbox than their counterparts in Europe, Australia and Asia. The ingredient has been used internationally for years and is marketed by BASF as Tinosorb S and dsm-firmenich as Parsol Shield. (dsm-firmenich was granted an 18-month exclusive right to market the ingredient in the U.S. market; however, BASF secured a supplemental licensing agreement with DSM Nutritional Products to gain co-exclusive U.S. commercialization rights during the FDA’s 18-month exclusivity period, covering bemotrizinol for sunscreens manufactured domestically as well as products imported into the country.)
That strategy is particularly evident in Unblock Screen, which targets acne-prone, oily and reactive skin. The SPF 50 formula combines BEMT with BASF's Bix'Activ, positioned to help control excess oil and blur pores, and dsm-firmenich's Pentavitin for hydration.
The positioning as a daily solution could prove important as the U.S. sun-care market enters what may be a new era of filter innovation. For years, brands have had to differentiate largely through texture, packaging, claims and added skin care benefits because the underlying FDA-approved filter set was effectively frozen. Bemotrizinol changes the competitive equation by giving brands a genuinely new piece of UV-protection technology to build around.
Looking forward, Ultra Violette's next BEMT-powered product, Fave Screen, is slated for January 2027.
