Purito Centella Green Level Unscented Sun: What an Independently Commissioned Lab Measured
Last updated September 13, 2026
A test commissioned and paid for by the ingredient blog INCIdecoder and run at Ita-Test in Poland returned a mean in vivo SPF of 19 against a label of SPF 50+ PA++++, the result that opened the Korean sunscreen affair of 2020.
The number that brought this product down did not come from a consumer-testing organisation or a regulator. It came from a laboratory that an independent blogger, Judit Racz of INCIdecoder, commissioned and paid for. That matters for how much weight the figure carries, and INCIdecoder disclosed more than most brands do: the laboratory, the method and the number of subjects.
What was tested
Ita-Test (Poland), commissioned by INCIdecoder measured SPF 19, 3 December 2020
Ita-Test (Poland), commissioned by INCIdecoder measured SPF 19 against a label of SPF 50+. In the body's own words:
So we went on to order the 10 person in-vivo test according to the ISO 24444 standard needed in Europe to put an SPF claim on the bottle. The results came back five weeks later. The mean SPF was 19.
Method, as Ita-Test (Poland), commissioned by INCIdecoder states it: ISO 24444 in vivo with 10 subjects, alongside an in vitro determination (SPF 15.8 +/- 2.3, UVA-PF 9.1 +/- 1) and a five-subject screening test at an unnamed German laboratory (SPF 19.2 +/- 2.4).
What the brand said
Purito responded on Instagram. The original post could not be reached and its wording circulates only through trade-press reports, so it is neither quoted nor dated here: the date is not verifiable from any source cited on this page.
What happened next
- 22 December 2020 — INCIdecoder updated the same article to report that there is now also another independent test of the PURITO Centella Green Level Unscented Sun done by the Korea Institute of Dermatological Sciences that measured an SPF of 28.4, and that Purito had suspended sales of all three of its sunscreens. INCIdecoder.
Market status: no change has been published by any source cited here. Statuses in this story moved repeatedly between 2025 and 2026, so check the regulator before assuming a product is still on sale.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who paid for the test?
INCIdecoder, an independent ingredient-analysis blog, commissioned and paid for the testing itself. It is not a consumer-testing body such as CHOICE or Consumer Reports, and the attribution on this page says so. What it did publish is the laboratory's name, the method, and the number of subjects.
Does the figure apply to Purito's other sunscreens?
No. The testing covered the Centella Green Level Unscented Sun. A measured figure belongs to the product, the batch and the date tested, and nothing here is a measurement of any other product.
What came of it in Korea?
Nothing punitive that any source cited here has published. The one regulatory document on this site is an advance notice: 공고 제2026-409호, registered on 18 August 2026, in which Korea's MFDS proposed amending its Regulation on the Review of Functional Cosmetics so that in vitro test data from internationally standardised methods may also be submitted as evidence of SPF and PA. It was open for comment until 18 September 2026, and it is a proposal, not an enacted rule.
SPF List did not test this product. The results on this page were published by the named test body or regulator; quotes and links go to the original publication. Brand responses and later developments are listed where they were published. Formulations change; a result applies to the batch and date tested.