Neutrogena has introduced two facial sunscreens built around bemotrizinol, the ultraviolet filter commonly shortened to BEMT, giving shoppers in the United States broader access to an ingredient that has been available in other markets for years. The company is applying its mass-market distribution and drugstore pricing to the filter. The two products are Neutrogena Clear Face Sunscreen SPF 60 and Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Daily Face Sunscreen SPF 70, each priced at 19 dollars. Both went on sale through Amazon at launch, with placement in physical stores expected the following month.
The releases follow a regulatory milestone. The US Food and Drug Administration cleared bemotrizinol on June 10, the first new sunscreen filter it has approved for the domestic market in more than 25 years. The decision narrows a long-standing gap between the United States and regions including Europe and parts of Asia, where the ingredient has already been used in sun care for an extended period.
Neutrogena is not the first company to bring the filter to American consumers. Ultra Violette introduced the first US bemotrizinol product on August 31. Neutrogena becomes the second brand to offer it and the first to do so at drugstore level, a step that extends availability well beyond prestige retail channels.
The two formulas are aimed at different needs. Clear Face Sunscreen SPF 60 uses an oil-free, mattifying base with niacinamide and is directed at blemish-prone skin. Ultra Sheer Daily Face Sunscreen SPF 70 is a lightweight formula that contains peptides and combines bemotrizinol with avobenzone and homosalate. Both products are described as delivering broad-spectrum protection with an invisible finish, addressing a frequent complaint that some mineral formulas can leave a visible cast on the skin.
Specialists welcomed the wider choice. Dermatologist Daniel Schlessinger described bemotrizinol as a welcome expansion to the filters cleared for use in the country. Cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos said the ingredient absorbs efficiently across both UVA and UVB wavelengths, and noted that it gives brands more flexibility to formulate high-SPF products without leaning heavily on zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. The launches show how quickly the newly permitted filter is moving into everyday product lines.
