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What bakuchiol is and where it comes from

An ingredient with a hard-to-pronounce name, a plant used for centuries, and a fairly recent discovery for the cosmetics industry.

Updated 14 September 2026

A plant, not a laboratory

Bakuchiol is extracted from Psoralea corylifolia, a plant commonly known as babchi. Its seeds were used traditionally, both on the skin and internally, long before the cosmetics industry took an interest in them.

What ends up in serums today is not "babchi extract" but one specific molecule, isolated from the plant. The distinction matters: an extract contains dozens of compounds, some of which can be problematic on skin. Purified bakuchiol is a different thing.

What it is, chemically

Bakuchiol belongs to the terpenophenol class, a type of meroterpene — compounds with a partial terpenoid structure. Take one thing from that: it has no structural relationship to vitamin A.

This is why phrases like "plant retinol" or "natural retinol" are literally incorrect. Bakuchiol is not a form of retinol. It is a different compound that has been shown to produce similar effects on skin.

Why it ended up in so many products

Interest took off after 2019, when a study in the British Journal of Dermatology compared a 0.5% bakuchiol cream directly against a 0.5% retinol cream over twelve weeks. Both significantly decreased wrinkle surface area and hyperpigmentation with no statistical difference — but the retinol group reported more scaling and stinging.

For an industry where irritation is the main reason people abandon retinol, that result was enough to change formulas.

What it is not

• It is not vitamin A and it is not a retinoid.
• It is not a newly discovered ingredient — the plant has been used for centuries; the cosmetic use of the isolated molecule is recent.
• It is not automatically gentler because it is plant-derived. The good tolerance seen in the study belongs to that molecule, not to the fact that it came from a plant.

Where it sits in a routine

Bakuchiol usually appears in serums and evening creams, on its own or alongside barrier-supporting ingredients — squalane, plant oils, bisabolol. Apply it to clean skin, before moisturiser.

Frequently asked

Is bakuchiol the same as babchi oil?

No. Babchi oil is an extract from the plant seeds and contains many other compounds. The bakuchiol in modern cosmetic formulas is the isolated, purified molecule.

Can I use it in the morning?

Yes. Unlike retinoids, bakuchiol is not associated with photosensitivity. Many routines still use it in the evening, out of habit.

How does bakuchiol appear in the Baby Face ingredient list?

It appears as Bakuchiol, alongside coconut oil, evening primrose oil, jojoba oil, squalane, calendula extract, bisabolol and tocopherol. The full list is on the product page.

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