All scans / Moisturizers / Tatcha The Water Cream
Tatcha The Water Cream ingredients: is it worth it?
Beautifully elegant hydration, but the luxury price is doing more work than the formula.
Beautifully elegant hydration, but the luxury price is doing more work than the formula.
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The efficacy score is 3.9/5: glycerin, diglycerin, propanediol, dimethicone, and sodium hyaluronate provide credible short-term hydration and a smooth occlusive finish, while the formula lacks ceramides, cholesterol, fatty acids, niacinamide, retinoids, or a clearly quantified pore-treatment active. The botanical extracts and marketed gold do not meaningfully drive the score, and the undisclosed fragrance plus alcohol create avoidable tolerance concerns.
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DemythSkin rates Tatcha The Water Cream 3.9/5 for efficacy and 3.6/5 for safety.
CONTAINS COMMON SENSITISERS⌄
Fragrance components and essential oils that more often cause reactions in sensitive skin: Parfum/fragrance, Limonene, Linalool, Citral. Most people tolerate them; patch test if your skin reacts easily.
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS BY TIER
Gold Standards
High clinical proof | Skin-transformativeReliable
Proven resultsPotent
Developing evidenceOverhyped | Marketing
Hype | Limited dataDocumented Irritants
Evidence-backed flagFORMULATION BASE (15)⌄
FULL INGREDIENT LIST⌄
Aqua/water/eau, Saccharomyces/rice Ferment Filtrate, Dimethicone, Propanediol, Glycerin, Diglycerin, Diphenylsiloxy Phenyl Trimethicone, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Cladosiphon Okamuranus Extract, Peg-9 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone, Gold, Belamcanda Chinensis Root Extract, Rosa Multiflora Fruit Extract, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, Sophora Angustifolia Root Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Lecithin, Pistacia Lentiscus (Mastic) Gum, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Citrate, Mica, Tin Oxide, Dimethicone/peg-10/15 Crosspolymer, Dimethicone/phenyl Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Tocopherol, Butylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Dipropylene Glycol, Parfum/fragrance, Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Limonene, Linalool, Citral, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891)
WHAT EACH INGREDIENT DOES (24)⌄
- Aqua/water/eau
- Solvent and formula base
- Saccharomyces/rice Ferment Filtrate
- Fermented skin-conditioning agent
- Dimethicone
- Silicone emollient and protectant
- Propanediol
- Humectant and solvent
- Glycerin
- Water-binding humectant
- Diglycerin
- Humectant and skin conditioner
- Diphenylsiloxy Phenyl Trimethicone
- Silicone emollient and slip agent
- Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
- Green tea antioxidant extract
- Cladosiphon Okamuranus Extract
- Algae-derived conditioning extract
- Peg-9 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone
- Silicone emulsifier and conditioner
- Gold
- Decorative marketing ingredient
- Belamcanda Chinensis Root Extract
- Botanical skin-conditioning extract
- Rosa Multiflora Fruit Extract
- Botanical antioxidant extract
- Houttuynia Cordata Extract
- Botanical soothing extract
- Sophora Angustifolia Root Extract
- Botanical skin-conditioning extract
- Sodium Hyaluronate
- Hyaluronic acid humectant
- Lecithin
- Emollient and emulsifier
- Pistacia Lentiscus (Mastic) Gum
- Film-forming texture agent
- Sodium Chloride
- Viscosity and texture modifier
- Sodium Citrate
- pH buffering agent
- Mica
- Optical effect pigment
- Tin Oxide
- Pearlescent effect enhancer
- Dimethicone/peg-10/15 Crosspolymer
- Silicone gel-forming agent
- Dimethicone/phenyl Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer
- Silicone texture modifier
EXTERNAL CITATIONS
Glycerin: Established humectant that increases stratum-corneum water content.
Dimethicone: Well-established silicone emollient and occlusive that reduces transepidermal water loss.
Sodium Hyaluronate: Hyaluronic-acid salt used as a water-binding humectant.
Tocopherol: Vitamin E antioxidant used primarily for formula and skin conditioning support.
DISCLAIMER: THIS ANALYSIS IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. AI-GENERATED DATA BASED ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INGREDIENT LISTS. VERIFY WITH A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.
A cheaper moisturizer that scores as high or higher
A different formula for the same concern (hydration) that scores at least as high on both efficacy and safety.
Tatcha The Water Cream: common questions
Is Tatcha The Water Cream worth it?
Tatcha The Water Cream scores 3.9 out of 5.0 for efficacy (Effective) and 3.6 out of 5.0 for safety (Mostly Gentle) on DemythSkin's independent ingredient analysis. Beautifully elegant hydration, but the luxury price is doing more work than the formula.
What are the key active ingredients in Tatcha The Water Cream?
Tatcha The Water Cream contains no gold-standard actives. Its formula is built on supporting and base ingredients rather than clinically transformative actives.
Does Tatcha The Water Cream contain fragrance or known irritants?
DemythSkin flags these ingredients in Tatcha The Water Cream as documented irritants: Parfum/fragrance, Limonene, Linalool, Citral. This product does contain fragrance.
How is Tatcha The Water Cream scored?
DemythSkin grades every product on two independent scores: efficacy (whether the ingredients have clinical evidence of working) and safety (irritation and sensitisation risk). Ingredients are graded S through D against a database of over 3,000 compounds. Brand and price are not part of the score, and no brand pays for one.
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