Last Updated on April 26, 2026 by Giorgia Guazzarotti
Thank You Farmer Sun Project Water Sun Cream SPF50+ PA+++ is showing up everywhere with claims of being the ultimate sun protection that protects, hydrates AND soothes all at once. Claims like this don’t get me excited. They get me suspicious. Because that’s a lot of promises from one product, and the skincare world is absolutely full of products that talk a big game and do very little. Is this just another one of those? In this Thank You Farmer sunscreen, I’m going to tell you honestly whether it earns that claim or whether the marketing is doing more work than the formula, which skin type it’s best for, and if this Korean sunscreen deserves a spot in your skincare routine.
Key Ingredients In Thank You Farmer Sun Project Water Sun Cream SPF50+ PA+++: What Makes It Work?
UV FILTERS
This product uses six UV filters. That’s not unusual. No single filter covers the full UV spectrum on its own, and some degrade in sunlight if left alone, so using a bunch gives you better, broader, and stabler sun protection. Let’s look at each UV filter one by one:
- Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate (a.k.a octinoxate): one of the most widely used UVB filters in the world. It absorbs UVB rays to protect the skin from UV damage and has good dissolving properties for other solid-type UV filters.
- Homosalate: a UVB filter from the salicylate family. It works, but it comes with a notable regulatory flag: the EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety concluded that concentrations of 10% were not safe, suggesting 1.4% as the maximum, though the committee also noted that evidence of endocrine disruption is “inconclusive, and at best equivocal.”
- Ethylhexyl Salicylate (a.k.a octisalate): another UVB filter in the salicylate family. It’s considered quite safe and is frequently used alongside other filters to extend the duration of protection.
- Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate (a.k.a. uvinul a plus): a newer UVA filter covering the UVA-I range (the longer, deeper-penetrating wavelengths). Research using electron spin resonance spectroscopy on human skin biopsies showed it achieved more than 50% reduction in UV-induced free radicals under full-spectrum solar-simulated irradiation.
- Octocrylene: a UVB and short-UVA filter with one very important job beyond its own coverage: it stabilises avobenzone (the only long-range organic UVA filter available in the US), which degrades by 50% after just one hour of UV exposure without it.
- Titanium Dioxide: the one mineral filter in this formula, it both absorbs UV light and scatters a tiny portion of it away from your skin. The trade-off is aesthetic: larger particles leave a white cast.
CENTELLA ASIATICA EXTRACTS
A staple in Korean sunscreens, centella asiatica has been used in traditional Asian medicine for centuries. In modern skincare, it’s used for its calming and skin-repair properties. Its soothing compounds (asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid, and madecassic acid) reduce inflammation, support the skin barrier, and stimulate collagen production. In a sunscreen, that translates to less post-UV redness and a skin barrier that recovers faster. Side effects are rare. This is a plant well-tolerated by most people./
HYALURONIC ACID
Sodium hyaluronate is the salt form of hyaluronic acid, a molecule your body already makes naturally, found in skin, joints, and eyes. The main job here is hydration, and it does it well. It works as a humectant, a fancy way of saying it attracts and holds onto water (up to 1,000 times its own volume!). Clinical evidence is solid. A randomised controlled trial in 65 women with under-eye wrinkles found significant improvement in both skin hydration and elasticity after 60 days of using 0.1% sodium hyaluronate formulations. In this product specifically, it’s doing two things: keeping skin feeling comfortable and hydrated under a sunscreen film (which can sometimes feel tight or drying), and supporting the skin barrier while UV filters do their job on top.
Related: Everything You Need To Know About Hyaluronic Acid In Skincare
The Rest Of The Formula & Ingredients
NOTE: The colours indicate the effectiveness of an ingredient. It is ILLEGAL to put toxic and harmful ingredients in skincare products.
- Green: It’s effective, proven to work, and helps the product do the best possible job for your skin.
- Yellow: There’s not much proof it works (at least, yet).
- Red: What is this doing here?!
- Aqua/Water: The base that holds the whole formula together. Every water-soluble ingredient gets dissolved in this.
- C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate: This is an emollient ester and it’s basically here to make the formula feel nice on your skin – lightweight, smooth, not greasy. It also helps dissolve some of the UV filters so everything blends together properly.
- Butylene Glycol: A humectant, so it pulls water into your skin and keeps things hydrated. It also helps other ingredients absorb better and stops the formula from feeling dry or tight on application.
- Alcohol: This is here to make the formula feel light and fast-drying, and to help dissolve some of the other ingredients. If you’ve got really dry or sensitive skin it might be something to keep an eye on, but at the levels used in SPF formulas it’s usually totally fine.
- Cyclopentasiloxane: A silicone, and the reason your SPF glides on so smoothly on your skin. It evaporates after you apply it.
- Glyceryl Stearate: An emulsifier that stops the water and oil parts of the formula from separating into a mess. It also adds a soft, slightly creamy feel to the texture which is nice.
- 1,2-Hexanediol: This one is doing like three things at once – it’s a humectant, a solvent, and it has mild antimicrobial properties that help preserve the formula.
- Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer: A film-forming polymer that basically helps the formula wear better on your skin and gives it that smooth, slightly blurred finish.
- Behenyl Alcohol: Don’t let the word alcohol fool you – this is a fatty alcohol, totally different vibe. It’s an emollient and thickener that makes the formula feel cushiony and rich.
- PEG-100 Stearate: An emulsifier working alongside the glyceryl stearate to keep the whole formula stable and blended.
- Cyclohexasiloxane: Another silicone, it’s just adding more of that silky, lightweight texture and evaporates off after application.
- Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer: A synthetic polymer that thickens the formula and keeps the emulsion stable.
- Phenoxyethanol: One of the most common preservatives in cosmetics, it’s here to stop bacteria and mould growing in your product.
- Isohexadecane: A lightweight, oil-like emollient that helps everything spread easily and contributes to a non-greasy finish.
- Aluminum Stearate: This is here specifically to help disperse the titanium dioxide evenly throughout the formula. Without it the mineral particles would clump together and you’d get patchy, uneven coverage.
- Polyhydroxystearic Acid: Same deal. It coats the titanium dioxide particles and stops them clumping, which also reduces the white cast you’d otherwise get with mineral filters.
- Propanediol: A gentle humectant and solvent that keeps skin hydrated and helps certain ingredients dissolve.
- Octyldodecanol: A fatty alcohol-based emollient that adds slip and richness to the formula.
- Parfum: It’s why the product smells the way it does. If you’ve got sensitive or reactive skin this is worth flagging because fragrance is one of the most common causes of cosmetic irritation and contact allergy.
- Xanthan Gum: A natural thickener made by fermenting sugar, it gives the formula that gel-like body and helps keep all the ingredients evenly suspended.
- Polysorbate 80: An emulsifier that helps oil-soluble ingredients play nicely in a water-based formula.
- Bambusa Vulgaris Water: It brings some trace minerals and mild antioxidant properties, and it’s a gentler, more skin-friendly alternative to using plain water in this part of the formula.
- Alumina: Aluminium oxide, and it’s here as a coating on the titanium dioxide particles. It stabilises them and helps them disperse better.
- Sorbitan Oleate: An emulsifier derived from sorbitol and oleic acid that helps keep the oil-in-water emulsion stable.
- Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil: An oil rich in omega-3 and GLA that’s genuinely good for your skin barrier – anti-inflammatory and nourishing.
- Portulaca Oleracea Extract: Purslane loaded with omega-3s and antioxidants, really good at calming inflammation and protecting skin from environmental stress.
- Viscum Album Leaf Extract: Mistletoe leaf, it’s here for its antioxidant and soothing properties.
- Glycine Soja Lipids: Soy-derived lipids that help reinforce your skin’s natural lipid barrier.
- Cardiospermum Halicacabum Flower/Leaf/Vine Extract: I’s got real anti-inflammatory and anti-itch properties and is often used as a natural alternative to low-level hydrocortisone.
- Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil Unsaponifiables: This is the non-oily fraction of sunflower oil (basically the good stuff without the heaviness). Rich in phytosterols and squalene, it repairs the barrier and calms inflammation without making the formula feel greasy.
- Ethylhexylglycerin: A preservative booster that makes the other preservatives in the formula work more effectively. It also has mild antimicrobial properties of its own, and it’s a skin-conditioning agent on top of that.
- Tocopherol: Vitamin, an antioxidant that protects the formula itself from oxidising and going off, and also gives your skin some antioxidant protection. It’s also gently emollient so it conditions the skin’s surface too.
- Plukenetia Volubilis Seed Oil: Sacha inchi oil, which has one of the highest omega-3 contents of any plant oil. It’s lightweight, nourishing, and great for the skin barrier.
- Althaea Rosea Flower Extract: Hollyhock extract, which is rich in polysaccharides that soothe and moisturise skin.
- Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract: Aloe vera, it soothes, hydrates, calms redness and irritation, and is just a really solid all-rounder that makes sense in any SPF formula that’s trying to be skin-kind.
- Linalool: A naturally occurring fragrance component that shows up in a lot of plant extracts and also gets added as part of the parfum. It’s a known sensitiser for some people, so if you react to fragrance-containing products this is likely part of why.
- Limonene: Another natural fragrance compound – citrusy, found in lots of botanical oils. Like linalool it can be an allergen at higher concentrations, and the two together in a formula is something to flag if you know your skin doesn’t love fragrance.
Texture
It’s a lightweight, lotion-like consistency. Thin enough that it almost feels like a milky essence, which means it absorbs fast. No tackiness, no drag, no that horrible film that makes you want to skip SPF entirely. The finish is dewy. If you have dry skin, you’ll probably love it. If you run oily, you’re going to need powder on top or you’ll be shiny by mid-morning. It doesn’t pill under makeup, which puts it ahead of a lot of SPFs in this texture category.
Fragrance
Distinctly fruity, somewhere in the apricot-peach territory with a floral edge. It’s not the classic sunscreen smell, which most people will consider an upgrade, but it’s not subtle either. If you’re used to fragrance-free skincare or your skin doesn’t love added scent, this is the part where you’d want to pause. For most people it fades after application and isn’t an issue day-to-day. But if fragrance sensitivity is on your radar, this isn’t the one.
How To Use It
Last step in your morning routine, on dry skin, before makeup. The texture means it doesn’t need much working in as a small amount goes a long way and it spreads easily. The real issue, as with any sunscreen, is using enough. SPF only delivers what’s on the label if you’re applying the full 2mg per cm² of skin, which, for most people’s faces, is roughly a teaspoon. Most of us don’t use nearly that much. Keep it away from your eyes. The chemical filters in here (particularly octocrylene and ethylhexyl salicylate) are notorious for stinging, and this formula is no exception. Apply close to the orbital area and you will feel it.
Packaging
Compact plastic squeeze tube with a twist-off cap. It’s practical, easy to dispense, easy to control the amount, easy to travel with. There’s nothing exciting about it and nothing wrong with it either. The 50ml size is the sticking point. For a daily-use SPF where proper application requires a generous amount, 50ml disappears faster than you’d like.
Performance & Personal Opinion
This is the sunscreen that finally made me stop dreading the last step of my morning routine, and that alone is worth something because if you hate putting it on, you’ll skip it, and then what’s the point. It sits beautifully on the skin, doesn’t make you look like you’ve shellacked your face, and plays nicely with everything that goes on top of it (which sounds like a low bar but genuinely isn’t when you’ve cycled through as many SPFs as I have). For everyday life, walking around, sitting by windows, the general low-level sun exposure that adds up over years and does the most quiet damage, it does its job without making you miserable.
What I Like About Thank You Farmer Sun Project Water Sun Cream
- The texture is genuinely unlike most SPFs at this price point – lightweight, lotion-like, absorbs fast with no tackiness or residue
- Doesn’t pill under makeup, which is rarer than it should be
- No white cast despite containing titanium dioxide
- Hydrating enough that dry skin types can skip a separate moisturiser
- Doesn’t break out acne-prone skin, which chemical sunscreens often do
What I DON’T Like About Thank You Farmer Sun Project Water Sun Cream
- The fragrance is strong and distinctly fruity – not for anyone with fragrance-sensitive skin
- The dewy finish needs powder on top if you have oily skin or combination skin,
- Eye stinging is a real issue if you apply anywhere near the eye area
Who Should Use This?
Dry to normal skin types who want a daily SPF that doesn’t feel like a sunscreen. Something that layers cleanly under makeup, hydrates without heaviness, and makes the whole last-step-of-routine thing less of a chore. It’s also worth considering if you’ve struggled with SPFs breaking you out, since it tends to be well-tolerated on reactive skin as long as fragrance isn’t your trigger. It’s not the right fit for oily skin unless you’re prepared to powder over it, and it’s a hard no if you’re fragrance-sensitive.
Does Thank You Farmer Sun Project Water Sun Cream SPF 50+ PA+++ Live Up To Its Claims?
| CLAIM | TRUE? |
|---|---|
| Natural ingredients include bamboo water and Centella asiatica extract are excellent for soothing and moisturising the skin, blocking UV rays, and protecting skin barrier from sun with soothing effects. | These ingredients are great to moisturise and soothe skin, but they do NOT provide UVB and UVA protection! |
| Suitable for all skin types, particularly dry or dehydrated skin. | Mostly true. I wouldn’t recommend it to sensitive skin. |
Price & Availability
$32.00 at Cult Beauty, Face The Future, and Ulta
The Verdict: Should You Buy It?
If you have dry or normal skin, don’t react to fragrance, and you’re the kind of person who skips SPF because every formula you’ve tried feels horrible on, yes, buy it. It solves a real problem, which is making daily sun protection something you’ll actually do consistently. If you have oily skin, fragrance sensitivity, or you apply your SPF close to your eyes, there are better options for you.
Aqua/Water, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Homosalate, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate, Octocrylene, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Butylene Glycol, Alcohol, Titanium Dioxide, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glyceryl Stearate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Behenyl Alcohol, Peg-100 Stearate, Cyclohexasiloxane, Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Isohexadecane, Aluminum Stearate, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Propanediol, Octyldodecanol, Parfum, Xanthan Gum, Polysorbate 80, Bambusa Vulgaris Water, Alumina, Sorbitan Oleate, Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil, Centella Asiatica Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Viscum Album Leaf Extract, Glycine Soja Lipids, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cardiospermum Halicacabum Flower/Leaf/Vine Extract, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil Unsaponifiables, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopherol, Plukenetia Volubilis Seed Oil, Althaea Rosea Flower Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Linalool, Limonene
