Bakuchiol is not natural retinol. So what is it?

Bakuchiol is often described as natural retinol.

It sounds simple, but it is not quite accurate.

Bakuchiol is not retinol. It is not vitamin A and chemically the two ingredients are very different.

The comparison comes from research suggesting that bakuchiol may have some similar effects on the appearance of the skin.

That is much more interesting to me than calling it a natural version of something else.

So what exactly is bakuchiol? How is it different from retinol and provitamin A? And what does the research actually tell us?

First, what is retinol?

Retinol belongs to the vitamin A family and has been studied in skincare for decades.

When retinol is applied to the skin, it is converted in a couple of steps until it reaches retinoic acid. That is the form the skin can use directly.

There is a considerable amount of research behind retinoids and their effect on things such as fine lines, pigmentation and skin texture.

Retinol can be very effective.

It can also be difficult for some skin to tolerate. Dryness, flaking, stinging and irritation are well known, particularly when someone first starts using it or uses more than their skin is comfortable with.

For many people it works very well. For others, it simply does not suit their skin.

And what about provitamin A?

This is another term that often gets mixed into the retinol conversation.

Beta-carotene is known as provitamin A because the body can turn it into vitamin A.

Carotenoids are found in colourful plants and in botanical ingredients such as sea buckthorn and rosehip.

That does not make a carotenoid-rich botanical oil the same as retinol.

They are different ingredients with different properties.

I think that distinction is worth making because botanical ingredients are often made to sound more impressive by comparing them with something familiar.

They really do not need that.

A botanical oil can be interesting for its fatty acids, carotenoids, tocopherols and other naturally occurring compounds without becoming a plant version of retinol.

So where does bakuchiol fit?

Somewhere else entirely.

Bakuchiol is a plant-derived compound associated with Psoralea corylifolia, also known as babchi.

For me as a formulator, it has another useful quality. Bakuchiol is oil-soluble, so it can be incorporated directly into an anhydrous formula such as the Six Seed Balm.

Bakuchiol is neither retinol nor provitamin A.

The reason it is compared with retinol is that research has looked at some of the same visible signs of skin ageing.

And that is where things get interesting.

Does bakuchiol actually work?

The research is promising, although there is considerably less of it than there is for retinoids.

One of the studies most often quoted lasted 12 weeks and involved 44 people.

Participants used either a cream containing 0.5% bakuchiol twice a day or a cream containing 0.5% retinol once a day.

Both groups showed significant improvement in wrinkle surface area and hyperpigmentation. For those measurements, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups.

The people using retinol reported more scaling and stinging.

It is an interesting result and one of the reasons bakuchiol has received so much attention.

But 44 people is still a relatively small study.

It does not mean that bakuchiol and retinol are interchangeable. And it certainly does not mean that every product containing bakuchiol will produce the same results.

The finished formula matters.

The amount used matters.

And the raw material itself matters too.

Not all bakuchiol ingredients are the same

This is something I find particularly interesting as a formulator, because it is rarely discussed outside formulation.

Pure bakuchiol is the isolated compound at a defined level of purity.

The term “bakuchiol oil” is much less precise.

Depending on the raw material, it may refer to babchi oil, a botanical extract carried in oil or bakuchiol that has already been diluted in another oil.

Those materials can contain very different amounts of actual bakuchiol. That difference matters.

If a diluted bakuchiol ingredient and a highly purified bakuchiol ingredient are both used at the same percentage in a formula, the diluted material delivers less actual bakuchiol.

So they cannot simply be compared as though they were the same ingredient at the same concentration.

This becomes particularly relevant when looking at research. A study carried out with a defined concentration of bakuchiol tells us about that amount of actual bakuchiol. Simply having an ingredient associated with bakuchiol somewhere in a formula is not the same thing.

The name on an ingredient list only tells you part of the story.

Purity, concentration and supplier documentation matter too.

What do I use in the Six-Seed Balm?

I use bakuchiol with a purity of 99%. I chose the highly purified ingredient because I wanted to know exactly what I was formulating with.

There is a considerable price difference too.

Highly purified bakuchiol is an expensive raw material. A diluted oil or extract may cost considerably less, but it may also deliver considerably less actual bakuchiol when used at the same level.

For me, this is simply part of formulation.

I want to know what an ingredient actually contains, how well it is documented and what the research behind it is based on.

Why I included bakuchiol in the Six-Seed Balm

The research around bakuchiol, particularly its effect on the appearance of fine lines, pigmentation and skin texture, made it an interesting ingredient for the formula.

Within the Six-Seed Balm, it sits alongside the six seed oils, squalane, butters and the other supporting ingredients. Each has a different role.

Bakuchiol is there to contribute to smoother, more even-looking skin over time.

The lipid-rich part of the formula has a different function. It helps soften the skin, support the barrier and reduce moisture loss. I wanted those things together.

Something you feel immediately when the balm melts into the skin, alongside ingredients that support the appearance and condition of the skin with regular use.

That is how I prefer to formulate.

Different parts of the formula working together, each with its own purpose. I call it Skin Architecture

Should you replace retinol with bakuchiol?

If you use retinol, your skin tolerates it well and you are happy with it, there is no obvious reason to change simply because bakuchiol exists.

For people whose skin does not tolerate retinol particularly well, bakuchiol may be interesting.

Its chemistry is different and the clinical research we have so far is encouraging.

I would still be careful with claims that make the two sound identical.

They are not.

Bakuchiol is interesting enough without calling it natural retinol.

For the Six Seed Balm, what matters to me is how it works within the complete formula. It adds another layer of support for the appearance of the skin, while the lipids around it have their own role.

Different ingredients doing different things, together. I call it Skin Architecture.

Study mentioned in this article

Dhaliwal S, Rybak I, Ellis SR, et al. Prospective, randomized, double-blind assessment of topical bakuchiol and retinol for facial photoageing. British Journal of Dermatology. 2019;180(2):289–296. DOI: 10.1111/bjd.16918.