About Bakuchiol in skin care

One alternative for those who cannot tolerate any retinoids, is Bakuchiol.

What exactly is Bakuchiol?  

Bakuchiol does not belong to the family of the retinoids. It is structurally different but induces similar gene expression which means that they similarly affect cell pathways. Bakuchiol is derived from the seeds of the Babchi plant and hence is often portrayed in the media as ‘the natural alternative to retinol’ or ‘a plant based retinol’. It is important to add that the Babchi plant is an endangered species and as such you should only buy products with bakuchiol if the brand is transparent and uses a sustainable source of bakuchiol  in the product.

The ADVANTAGE of bakuchiol is that it is generally better tolerated than retinoids whilst doing the same job. The DISADVANTAGE is that bakuchiol is a more recent discovery in skincare and hence less scientific evidence is available at the moment, which will hopefully change in the near future. One recent study compared the use of retinol to bakuchiol as a treatment of skin ageing and showed that the effects of twice daily bakuchiol are similar to the effects of once daily retinol with less irritation seen in participants treated with bakuchiol. In summary, there is still quite a lot of unknowns with bakuchiol so if you can tolerate retinol or another retinoid, maybe it is best to stick to the product with the most evidence.