Bakuchiol vs Retinol: What the Research Actually Shows

Bakuchiol vs Retinol: What the Research Actually Shows

The short version

• A 12-week clinical trial compared 0.5% bakuchiol against 0.5% retinol. Both reduced wrinkles and hyperpigmentation about equally.
• Retinol users reported more stinging and scaling. Bakuchiol was better tolerated.
• Bakuchiol edged retinol on pigmentation: 59% of users improved, vs 44%.
• Retinol has decades of research. Bakuchiol has less — but what exists is good.
• Choose bakuchiol if your skin is sensitive, dry, or reactive, or retinol didn't work out.
• Look for 0.5%–1% concentration and refined bakuchiol, not raw babchi oil.

Retinol has been the gold standard in anti-aging skincare for decades. It also has a reputation — peeling, redness, stinging, and a "retinization" period that sends plenty of people back to their old moisturizer within a month.

Bakuchiol has been offered up as the gentler answer. But is it actually comparable, or is it a botanical stand-in that sounds good on a label?

There's real research here. Let's look at it.

What is bakuchiol?

Bakuchiol is a plant compound found mainly in the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia — the babchi plant, long used in traditional Indian and Chinese medicine. It has documented antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

What made it interesting to dermatologists is that bakuchiol behaves like a retinoid at the cellular level, despite being structurally unrelated to vitamin A. Gene expression studies found it triggers similar pathways in skin cells, which is why researchers describe it as a functional analogue of topical retinoids rather than a chemical relative.

That distinction matters. Bakuchiol is not "natural retinol." It's a different molecule that appears to produce comparable effects.

What is retinol?

Retinol is a vitamin A derivative and one of the most studied ingredients in all of skincare. It works by increasing cell turnover, supporting collagen production, and interrupting the processes that break collagen down.

Its efficacy isn't in question. Its tolerability is. Retinol commonly causes stinging, scaling, and redness — especially in the first weeks of use, and especially on sensitive or dry skin.

The head-to-head study

The most rigorous comparison to date was published in the British Journal of Dermatology in February 2019, by Dhaliwal and colleagues at UC Davis, with collaborators from universities in Michigan, Florida, and Pennsylvania.

The design:

• Randomized, double-blind, 12 weeks
• 44 participants, mean age 47
• One group applied 0.5% bakuchiol cream twice daily
• The other applied 0.5% retinol cream once daily
• High-resolution facial photography and analysis at weeks 0, 4, 8, and 12
• A board-certified dermatologist, blinded to who was using what, graded pigmentation and redness
• Participants self-reported side effects

The results:

Both bakuchiol and retinol significantly reduced wrinkle surface area and hyperpigmentation. There was no statistically significant difference between them on those measures. After the full 12 weeks, both groups saw roughly a 20% reduction in wrinkle severity.

On pigmentation, bakuchiol edged ahead: 59% of the bakuchiol group showed improvement in hyperpigmentation at week 12, compared with 44% of the retinol group.

The clearest difference was tolerability. Retinol users reported more facial skin scaling and stinging.

The authors concluded that bakuchiol is comparable with retinol in its ability to improve photoaging, and is better tolerated.

What the study doesn't prove

Good content is honest about its limits, so:

This was one trial with 44 people over 12 weeks. That's a small sample and a short window for an ingredient category where meaningful change often takes months. Retinol has decades of accumulated research behind it; bakuchiol does not. The 2019 trial is strong evidence, not settled science.

It also doesn't tell us how bakuchiol performs at lower concentrations, in different formulations, or over years of use.

The 0.5% question — and why it matters when you shop

Here is the detail most brands don't mention.

The Dhaliwal trial used 0.5% bakuchiol. That's the concentration clinically associated with the results above. One analysis of 48 commercial bakuchiol products found several containing bakuchiol at levels significantly below 0.5% — while still marketing themselves on retinol-comparable claims.

If a product's bakuchiol content sits well under the studied threshold, the claim that it performs like retinol isn't supported by the research it's borrowing from.

Sytheon — the manufacturer of the pharmaceutical-grade bakuchiol used in most professionally formulated products — puts the effective, safe range at 0.5% to 1.0%. More is not better. Bakuchiol works through gene expression, not aggressive exfoliation, so the relationship between concentration and results follows a curve, not a straight line. Doubling the percentage doesn't double the outcome, and there's little published evidence that concentrations above the recommended range deliver superior results.

Our balm is formulated at 1% — the upper end of that range.

One more thing to look for: purity. Bakuchiol is refined from babchi seed. Raw, unrefined babchi oil contains psoralens, compounds that can cause serious sun sensitivity. Properly refined bakuchiol is photostable, doesn't degrade in UV light, and doesn't increase photosensitivity — which is why it can be used morning and evening. If a label reads "babchi oil" rather than "bakuchiol," those are not the same thing.

When you shop, look for the concentration and the purity. If a brand won't tell you either, that's information too.

Bakuchiol vs retinol: side by side

So which should you use?

Retinol may suit you if your skin tolerates actives well, you want the ingredient with the deepest research base, and you're willing to work through an adjustment period.

Bakuchiol may suit you if you have sensitive, dry, or reactive skin, you've tried retinol and abandoned it, or you'd prefer an ingredient that doesn't come with a retinization phase.

A note on pregnancy: topical retinoids are generally avoided during pregnancy, and concerns about vitamin A derivatives are one reason people look for alternatives. Bakuchiol is not a vitamin A derivative and doesn't carry that same history — but it also hasn't been specifically studied for safety in pregnancy. If you're pregnant or nursing, talk to your doctor before adding any active to your routine. That advice applies to every product, ours included.

Can you use both?

Yes — though not necessarily at once. Some people alternate nights, or use bakuchiol during the day and retinol at night. If your skin is already reactive, adding two actives at the same time is the fastest way to find out what your barrier can't handle.

Start with one. Give it twelve weeks. That's the timeline the research uses, and it's a fair one.

How we use bakuchiol

An active is only as good as what carries it. Our Anti-Aging Bakuchiol Tallow Balm was built around that idea — every ingredient in it is there to do a job, and several of them do more than one.

1% bakuchiol — and why we say so

We formulate at 1%: the upper bound of the range clinical evidence supports, and double the concentration used in the landmark trial. Not because more is always better — it isn't — but because 1% sits at the top of what the research backs, and we'd rather tell you the number than let you guess.

The base is the point

Bakuchiol's whole advantage over retinol is tolerability. Put it in a stripping, drying base and you've thrown that advantage away.

So we start with organic grass-fed tallow. Tallow is rich in vitamins A, D, E, and K, and its fatty acid profile closely mirrors the skin's own sebum — which is why it absorbs so readily rather than sitting on the surface. Skin recognizes it. It nourishes the moisture barrier instead of taxing it.

There's a practical reason too. Bakuchiol is oil-soluble. A lipid-rich base doesn't just coexist with it — it carries it in.

A waterless formula

Most anti-aging creams are mostly water. Water is cheap, it thins a formula out, and it requires preservatives to keep the whole thing stable.

Ours has none. Every gram of this balm is fat, oil, botanical, or active. That means a higher proportion of the ingredients you actually came for, and no need for synthetic preservative systems to hold it together.

Rosehip seed oil, for what it brings on its own

Rosehip seed oil is prized in skincare for its own naturally occurring vitamin A compounds and its high linoleic acid content. It absorbs quickly, feels light despite its richness, and is traditionally reached for to support a smooth, even-looking complexion.

It's also there on purpose. Formulation guidance for bakuchiol calls for buffer oils that support the skin barrier alongside the active — and rosehip is named among them. It isn't decoration. It's part of how a bakuchiol formula is supposed to be built.

Vitamin E does two jobs

Organic vitamin E (tocopherol) is a well-known antioxidant for skin. But it earns its place in this formula for a second, less romantic reason: rosehip seed oil is delicate and prone to oxidizing. Vitamin E protects the oils in the jar.

That's the difference between an ingredient added for the label and one added because the formula needs it.

Lady's mantle and frankincense

Lady's mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) has been used in traditional European herbalism for centuries, valued for its naturally astringent, toning character. We infuse it slowly into organic jojoba — a carrier oil whose structure is unusually close to human sebum — so the botanical and the oil arrive together.

Frankincense (Boswellia) has been used on skin for millennia. It brings a warm, resinous depth to the scent and rounds the blend, so the balm smells like something made rather than something manufactured.

The whole idea

A gentle active, in a base that supports the skin rather than stressing it. Botanicals that contribute rather than decorate. No water, no fillers, no synthetic fragrance.

If retinol left your skin raw and you gave up on actives altogether, this is what we made for you. Use it consistently. Give it twelve weeks — the same window the research uses.

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This article is for general information and isn't medical advice. Consult a dermatologist or healthcare provider about your individual skin.

References

1. 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
2. Chaudhuri RK, Bojanowski K. "Bakuchiol: a retinol-like functional compound revealed by gene expression profiling and clinically proven to have anti-aging effects." International Journal of Cosmetic Science. 2014;36(3):221–230. doi:10.1111/ics.12117
3. Puyana C, Chandan N, Tsoukas M. "Applications of bakuchiol in dermatology: Systematic review of the literature." Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.