Bakuchiol

I’m one of the unfortunate few who can’t use an effective dose of retinol. I’ve tried many times, and my skin always reacts badly. While I understand some sensitivity and peeling is to be expected, having my eyelids become swollen and inflamed (I don’t put strong actives on my eyelids – ever) was an irritation too far. So I’ve avoided retinol and all of its wonderful benefits.

A few months ago, I heard about Bakuchiol, a plant-derived alternative to retinol. It is supposed to offer the same benefits – collagen production, pigmentation reduction, and overall texture improvement. The key difference is that there is much less irritation with Bakuchiol, so I decided to give it a try. I chose The Inkey List’s Bakuchiol for testing as their products have a good reputation for being elegant, effective, and reasonably priced.

While I’ve not used it long enough to see any long-term benefits, I’m happy to report my experience with it has been positive. First and foremost, there has been absolutely no irritation, and that’s with consecutive nightly use for three weeks. I’ve not experienced any peeling, and I’ve not had to buffer my skin with extra moisturisers. My skin feels smoother and less textured, and I fully expect to see more improvements the longer I use the product.

For me, Bakuchiol’s most impressive attribute is that it can be used with other actives, including acids. I’m able to layer it with lactic acid with no irritation. This is something I’d not dream of trying with retinol for fear my face would fall off. Being able to layer means that I get the maximum effect from both actives because I’m able to use them more often.

The formulation I’m using is a light lotion, but Bakuchiol is available in all sorts of products from lotions to serums to facial oils. The product I bought from The Inkey List was £9.99 at the time of writing.