Natural Retinol Alternative Oil Serum

A natural retinol alternative in the form of a face oil, built on bakuchiol, for skin that wants a smoother texture and a more even tone without the peeling and stinging retinol can cause. It suits all skin types that get on with oils, and it is vegan.

Bakuchiol, a compound from the seeds of the babchi plant, is the seventh ingredient. In a 2019 randomised, double-blind trial of 44 people, a 0.5% bakuchiol cream used twice a day for 12 weeks reduced wrinkles and pigmentation about as much as a 0.5% retinol cream, and caused less scaling and stinging. That trial used a cream, and this oil does not state its bakuchiol percentage. Around it are organic jojoba, rosehip and evening primrose oils, with strawberry, raspberry and blueberry seed oils and vitamin E, in a light base of plant-derived emollients.

Warm a few drops between your fingertips and press them onto clean skin, morning, evening or both, or mix them into your moisturiser. It contains fragrance (parfum and geranium oil, with geraniol, citronellol and linalool), so patch-test first if scent tends to irritate your skin.