Ever since I bought this extra cute Fromrier EGF Cica Water Sun Ampoule SPF 50+ PA++++ in May 2025, I’ve never been the same. Too dramatic? Don’t care. This is hands-down my. Favorite. Sunscreen. EVER. There’s nothing like this weightless SPF serum in my vast collection of Korean sunscreens (FDA-approved or otherwise). There’s almost zero rubbing required, as you can see in my demo clip. In short, there’s your typical, quick-absorbing chemical sunscreen…and then there’s this disappearing act of a chemical sunscreen.
It leaves my skin looking so fresh and dewy—truly as if I’m radiating from within. And luckily, the star ingredients are right there in the name: EGF (a vegan epidermal growth factor, to be exact, which in this case is a synthetic peptide called SH-Oligopeptide-1) and Centella asiatica (often shortened to cica), an all-time skin-soothing hero.
I haven’t tried many Korean mineral sunscreens (yet!), so I’m tapping Sarah Kinonen, our beauty director, for an assist with her top pick, Dr. G’s Green Mild Up Sun+ SPF 50+. “I wear this sunscreen every day—in the morning after my moisturizer, as the last step in my skin-care routine,” she says. However, she caveats that, despite more elegant mineral UV filters (we’d presume), it wouldn’t blend seamlessly into all skin tones. (Korean beauty standards = pale skin, after all.) “It even takes me a couple of seconds to blend out the cast. But once it’s rubbed in, it looks and feels great—and makes for a pill-free base before makeup,” she says, adding that she thought this was a chemical sunscreen all along. Pretty impressive, no?
Need more convincing? It’s also derm-approved. “Dr. G’s Green Mild Up Defense Mineral Sunscreen controls shine without over-drying—since overly dry skin will just produce more oil,” says Hee Jin Kim, MD, a board-certified medical doctor based in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
