Bakuchiol vs retinol: what the clinical trials actually show

The most useful sentence in the Dhaliwal et al. 2019 paper is buried on page three: “No statistically significant difference was observed in the efficacy between the two compounds.” That’s the whole story of bakuchiol vs retinol, as far as the clinical literature is concerned. It deserves a careful read, because the entire skincare aisle has built a marketing apparatus on top of that one finding, and the apparatus has stretched well past what the data actually says.

Here is what the trial measured, what it found, and where the gap between data and copy now lives.

What Dhaliwal actually ran

Dhaliwal, Rybak, Ellis, Notay, Trivedi, and Burney published “Prospective, randomized, double-blind assessment of topical bakuchiol and retinol for facial photoageing” in the British Journal of Dermatology in 2019. The study took 44 subjects with facial photoageing, randomised them to either 0.5% bakuchiol cream or 0.5% retinol cream, and tracked them for 12 weeks. Both creams were applied to the face. Bakuchiol was used twice daily; retinol once nightly, which is the protocol most dermatologists recommend for retinol because of irritation risk.

The primary outcomes were wrinkle surface area, hyperpigmentation, and elasticity, measured with the same imaging software (VISIA) at baseline, week 4, week 8, and week 12. Both groups improved significantly on the wrinkle and hyperpigmentation endpoints by the end of the trial. Neither group beat the other on any endpoint.

What did differ was tolerability. The retinol arm reported more facial skin scaling and more stinging than the bakuchiol arm. The bakuchiol arm had essentially no irritation events. That isn’t a surprise, and it isn’t trivial. The reason most retinol users quit before they see results is the first month of barrier disruption: dryness, redness, peeling. Bakuchiol delivered the same outcome without the on-ramp.

The trial is small. Forty-four subjects is a pilot-scale study, and the authors say so. It hasn’t been replicated at meaningful scale in the seven years since. Until someone runs a 300-person follow-up, the Dhaliwal numbers are the strongest evidence we have, and the gap between “44-person pilot” and “as effective as retinol, full stop” is the gap that beauty marketers have walked into.

The gene-expression follow-up

The other half of the bakuchiol story is mechanistic, not clinical. A 2014 paper by Chaudhuri and Bojanowski, published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, did gene-expression profiling on skin cells treated with bakuchiol and compared the resulting transcription changes to skin cells treated with retinol.

The finding: bakuchiol up-regulated many of the same collagen-related and ECM-remodelling genes that retinol up-regulated. The two compounds were producing convergent transcriptional signals, even though their molecular structures share no obvious similarity. Retinol is a vitamin-A derivative; bakuchiol is a meroterpene phenol extracted from the seeds and leaves of Psoralea corylifolia, an Ayurvedic medicinal plant traditionally called babchi.

Chaudhuri’s paper concluded that bakuchiol functions as a retinol-like compound at the gene-expression level. The Harvard Health write-up frames this in plainer language: bakuchiol may work via the same downstream pathway as retinol, with a different upstream signal. That’s a reasonable summary.

The PMC review on bakuchiol’s multidirectional activity catalogues additional findings: bakuchiol up-regulates collagen types I and III, suppresses MMP-1 (the enzyme that breaks down collagen as skin ages), and shows antioxidant activity comparable to vitamin E in some assays. The mechanism story is genuinely interesting.

Where bakuchiol still loses

There are two places where retinol still has a clear edge.

Acne. The dermatological literature on tretinoin (prescription retinoic acid) and on adapalene for acne is enormous and consistent: retinoids suppress comedone formation, normalise follicular keratinisation, and reduce inflammatory acne lesions. There is no comparable body of evidence for bakuchiol. A handful of papers suggest mild anti-inflammatory action that might help acne-prone skin, but if your primary concern is breakouts, retinoids are the better-evidenced choice and your dermatologist will tell you so.

Photodamage at higher doses. The Dhaliwal trial used 0.5% bakuchiol and 0.5% retinol, which is roughly equivalent to a moderate-strength over-the-counter retinol. Prescription tretinoin is typically 0.025% to 0.1% retinoic acid, the active form, which is several times more potent than the equivalent dose of retinol. We don’t have head-to-head data of bakuchiol against tretinoin, and there’s no reason to expect bakuchiol to match the prescription strength based on what we know about the mechanism.

For a 28-year-old with mild fine lines and a sensitive barrier, bakuchiol is a credible alternative to over-the-counter retinol. For a 45-year-old with serious actinic damage and no contraindication to a prescription retinoid, tretinoin is still the gold standard, full stop.

Where the marketing copy breaks

The phrase that should make any reader pause is “natural retinol.” Bakuchiol is a botanical extract, which is true, but “natural” is doing rhetorical work in that phrase that the data doesn’t support. Carmine is natural. Poison ivy is natural. The botanical origin tells you almost nothing about whether the compound is gentle or effective.

The other claim to discount is the photostability talking point. Yes, bakuchiol is more photostable than retinol in laboratory conditions. In practice, both compounds are usually formulated in opaque packaging and used at night, which renders the photostability argument largely moot. It matters for shelf life, not for daily wear.

The Journal of Integrative Dermatology review puts the honest summary on the page: “Bakuchiol may be a promising natural alternative to topical retinol in terms of efficacy and safety,” with the operative word being alternative. Not a replacement. Not a superior product. An alternative for users who can’t tolerate retinol or who prefer to avoid vitamin-A derivatives for personal reasons.

That framing is the right one. Bakuchiol is a gentler compound that produces roughly similar outcomes at similar concentrations over similar timeframes, with a smaller evidence base. If you’ve never used a vitamin-A derivative and you have sensitive or rosacea-prone skin, bakuchiol is a reasonable starting point. If you’ve tolerated retinol for years and want incremental anti-aging benefit, switching to bakuchiol is downgrading the evidence quality without an obvious upside.

What this means for a daily routine

A bakuchiol serum or moisturiser at night, applied after a hydrating toner and before an occlusive moisturiser, is a sensible inclusion for skin that wants the benefits of a retinoid without the irritation tax. Ole Henriksen’s Goodnight Glow, Herbivore’s Bakuchiol Serum, and Paula’s Choice 2% Bakuchiol Boost are the three formulations with documented concentration on the label, which is the bare minimum to expect from a credible product in this category.

For a soft, even base that lets the skincare show, the no-makeup makeup and clean girl modern tutorials in the slaye library both rest on a barrier that hasn’t been compromised by overactive ingredients. Bakuchiol is one of the few topicals you can use the morning of a wedding or a photoshoot without worrying about reactive flushing under makeup. That alone has earned it a permanent place in a thoughtful routine, regardless of where it lands on the retinol-comparison chart.