Bakuchiol Is Not Weaker Retinol. It Is a Different Molecule Entirely.

The myth that will not go away

Bakuchiol is not "plant retinol." It is not a gentler version of retinol. It is not retinol at all.

This distinction matters. The comparison shapes how people understand the molecule, and a flawed understanding leads to flawed expectations about what it does and why it works.

Retinol is a vitamin A derivative. Bakuchiol is a meroterpene isolated from the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia (babchi). The two molecules share no structural similarity. They do not bind to the same receptors. They achieve comparable clinical outcomes through entirely separate biological pathways.

Two different mechanisms, one shared outcome

Retinol works by binding to retinoid receptors (RAR and RXR) on the surface of skin cells. This triggers gene expression changes that increase cell turnover, stimulate collagen synthesis, and regulate melanin production. The process is well established and effective. It is also the reason retinol causes irritation: the receptor activation that drives renewal simultaneously drives inflammation, peeling, and sensitivity.

Bakuchiol does not bind to retinoid receptors.

It acts on mitochondrial proteins called prohibitins. These proteins regulate cellular energy production, membrane stability, and the signalling pathways that control how cells proliferate and differentiate. By modulating prohibitins, bakuchiol supports similar end points, including collagen production and improved cellular function, without triggering the inflammatory cascade that retinoid receptor activation creates.

This is not an academic distinction. It explains why two structurally unrelated molecules can produce comparable results in clinical testing while causing markedly different side-effect profiles.

What the clinical trial actually showed

The comparison was tested directly in a 2019 randomised controlled trial published in the British Journal of Dermatology (Dhaliwal et al., University of California Davis). Forty-four patients used either 0.5% bakuchiol twice daily or 0.5% retinol once daily for twelve weeks. It was double-blind. Neither the participants nor the researchers knew who was using which product.

The results were clear.

Wrinkle reduction was equivalent. Both groups showed statistically significant improvement in wrinkle depth and surface area, with no meaningful difference between them.

Pigmentation improvement favoured bakuchiol. The bakuchiol group achieved a 59% improvement in hyperpigmentation scoring, compared with 44% in the retinol group.

Tolerability was significantly better with bakuchiol. The retinol group reported more scaling and stinging. The bakuchiol group reported neither.

This was not a brand-funded study. It was a university-led clinical trial, peer-reviewed and published in one of dermatology's most respected journals.

A substantial antioxidant in its own right

Beyond its prohibitin-mediated effects on cell function, bakuchiol is also a powerful antioxidant. Research indicates it is 50 to 60 times more effective than vitamin E (tocopherol) at inhibiting lipid peroxidation, the process by which free radicals damage cell membranes.

This adds a second layer of protection during the overnight repair window. While the PM Protocol is designed to support cellular renewal, the antioxidant capacity of bakuchiol helps protect newly produced cells from oxidative damage.

Why the Night Cream uses both

If bakuchiol and retinol work through different pathways, combining them creates coverage that neither achieves alone.

Retinol activates retinoid receptors for gene-level renewal. Bakuchiol modulates mitochondrial proteins for cellular energy and stability. Together, they address skin renewal from two directions without doubling the risk of irritation.

The Ultimate A Night Cream was formulated by Dr Alison Jamieson, Cosmetic Physician, with this dual-pathway logic as its foundation. The retinol is micro-encapsulated (extending its functional half-life ninefold), and bakuchiol is present at a 4:1 ratio to retinol: the same ratio shown to completely prevent retinol photodecomposition in stability testing.

The formulation does not choose between the two molecules. It uses them for what they each do best, through the pathways each one activates, in a single step of the PM Protocol.

Where this sits in the PM Protocol

The Night Cream is the final step in the PM Protocol, applied after cleansing and serum application. This sequencing is deliberate: the serums that precede it prepare the skin surface and deliver targeted active ingredients, while the Night Cream provides the sustained, overnight renewal environment.

Dr Alison Jamieson designed the PM Protocol as a system. Each step supports the next. The dual-pathway formulation in the Night Cream is the culmination of that system, working through the hours when your skin's repair processes are most active.

For more on how retinol and bakuchiol work together in this formulation, see Clinical Notes: Retinol and Bakuchiol in the Night Cream.

The bottom line

Calling bakuchiol "weaker retinol" misrepresents the molecule and the science behind it. It is a structurally distinct compound that works through different cellular machinery to achieve comparable, and in some measures superior, clinical outcomes.

The evidence supports this. The formulation logic of the Ultimate A Night Cream is built on it.

Dr Alison Jamieson is a Cosmetic Physician with over 40 years of clinical experience, and the formulator behind Aliangé.