Would you like to add some bakuchiol products to your skincare routine? There’s plenty of good reasons to do so! This exciting plant-based antioxidant offers surprisingly fast improvement to the appearance of fine lines, which is why it’s frequently marketed as a “gentle retinol alternative”. It has plenty of other benefits, like improving skin tone, soothing the skin, countering pigmentation, and potentially even reducing acne!
If you’re ready to add this gentle yet effective ingredient to your routine, we’ve selected the best bakuchiol products in the cosmetics market right now. Bakuchiol comes in many shapes and forms, including serums, moisturizers, cleansers, and more. We’ve curated the best products from each category to suit every skin type, so you can give your skin the gift of bakuchiol.
This light, lotion-serum hybrid is one of the top bakuchiol products out there. It features all of the ingredient categories we want in a serum: hydrating agents, anti-aging ingredients, moisturizers, and skin brighteners.
The ant-aging effects come from wrinkle-fighting bakuchiol, of course, which is supported by the antioxidant and brightening effects of niacinamide. Hyaluronic acid and squalane hydrate and moisturize the skin, making for a comprehensive formula that works both in the short and long term. It’s excellent for all skin types, although there is a fragrance. Find it at Sephora!
With this moisturizer from The Inkey List, you can add bakuchiol to your routine without breaking the bank or complicating your skincare routine. It’s a simple moisturizer that you can use in the morning or night, with a light cream texture that works across skin types. On its own, it might be too light for those with dry skin, but that’s easy to remedy with another occlusive step at night.
This fragrance-free cream is simple and gentle, with non-comedogenic emollient ingredients like squalane and sacha inchi oil that moisturize the skin without feeling greasy. It also includes glycerin for hydration, making it a comprehensive moisturizer. There are no other active ingredients in the formula beyond bakuchiol, so it’s a lightly anti-aging and protective product that won’t complicate your life. Get it from Sephora!
If you’re willing to invest in your beauty routine, this serum is a powerful option that justifies the high price point. This serum combines antioxidant and smoothing bakuchiol with multiple forms of vitamin C as well as melatonin.
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant in its own right, and it’s also famous for its skin-brightening effects. Finally, the last ingredient to mention is melatonin, a hormone associated with the sleep cycle. When it’s applied topically, early research suggests that melatonin boosts the skin’s resiliency against sun exposure and UV damage, making it a wonderful preventative ingredient. In combination, the bakuchiol, vitamin C, and melatonin make for a wonderful nighttime product that’ll keep the skin youthful over time.
The serum’s texture is light but a little oily, so while it can be used by all skin types, it’s ideal for dry and normal skin. Order it from Amazon!
Bakuchiol is usually marketed as a retinol alternative, but the reality is that the two ingredients actually work very well together. Retinol is, of course, the gold standard when it comes to anti-aging cosmetic ingredients (aside from its prescription-only sibling, tretinoin). Retinol boosts collagen production and cell turnover, which helps with a very wide range of skin concerns, with photoaging and wrinkles chief amongst them.
Retinol is not a very stable molecule, though, so combining it with strong antioxidants like bakuchiol helps to stabilize it. This means that retinol remains potent for a lot longer! In this formula, there’s only 0.3% retinol, so it’s a lovely choice for newcomers to the powerful ingredient. If you’re looking specifically for something retinol-free, though, this won’t work.
The formula also includes skin-firming peptides and a whole range of soothing plant extracts. It’s fragrance-free, so it’s also a safe choice for slightly sensitive skin. Shop for it at Paula’s Choice or Nordstrom!
Key Features:
Format: Serum
Size: 1 oz.
Skin Type: All
Bakuchiol Percentage: 2%
Key Ingredients: Bakuchiol, retinol, peptides
Cruelty-Free/Vegan: Yes/Yes
Fragrance: No
Pros
Features retinol for dramatic anti-aging effects
Bakuchiol supports retinol and offers added results
Also contains beneficial firming and soothing ingredients
If you’re not in the mood to introduce a new product into your routine for daily use, this sleeping mask can be a nice product for once in a while. It’s a sleeping mask that offers a serious dose of moisture, along with many skin-nourishing ingredients.
At 1%, there’s more than enough bakuchiol in this blend to help smooth out fine lines and to protect the skin from free radical damage. The blend also includes squalane, beta-glucan, and a probiotic fermented extract, for overall moisturization and skin rejuvenation. It can work for all skin types, thanks to a super light texture, but it’s especially ideal for dry and dehydrated skin.
This formula is fragrance-free, which, in this case, is a double-edged sword. For those with sensitive skin, it’s wonderful news. Unfortunately, the raw, natural ingredients do end up smelling a little off-putting without a fragrance to make them. Buy it at Ulta!
Omorovicza is a luxury skincare brand from Hungary, and this face oil from them may be expensive, but it’s certainly sumptuous. It’s a lightweight and non-greasy yet deeply moisturizing formula with almond, apricot, seabuckthorn, and many other plant oils. These oils nourish the skin with fortifying fatty acids, although they do make the formula potentially unsuitable for acne-prone or oily skin.
Bakuchiol gives this formula an added anti-aging touch and helps to stabilize the antioxidants in some of the natural ingredients in the formula. For those with dry skin, this could be a wonderful nighttime step either before or after your normal moisturizer. Pick it up from Neiman Marcus!
This bakuchiol product might be a bit of a mouthful, but it’s also a welcome addition to the skincare world. It’s a super-hydrating moisturizer that works incredibly well on normal and oily skin. If you’d like the anti-aging effects of bakuchiol without feeling greasy or adding too many steps to your routine, it’s a lovely option. The texture verges on liquid-y, so it’s light, but it leaves the skin looking very dewy and moist.
It features hyaluronic acid, which pulls water into the skin. Yuzu seed oil is one of the other star ingredients here, and it adds a second dose of antioxidant protection. The formula also features dimethicone, which means that it helps seal moisture into the skin while also leaving a smooth canvas for makeup. It can be used either morning or night, although those with dry skin will want to add a heavier occlusive balm in the evenings. It’s available at Sephora.
If your skin can’t get enough from probiotic ingredients, Tula is the brand for you. This gorgeous serum is light and milky (Tula describes it as an oil serum), offering the skin deep hydration and light moisturization. It’s a solid choice for all skin types, but we think it’ll be most beneficial to those with dry skin.
The main ingredients here are probiotics or fermented extracts that help fortify the skin’s microbiome and hydrate thoroughly. It’s a product category that’s fantastic for sensitive skin, so we’re also happy to mention that this serum is overall fragrance-free and unlikely to irritate. The only drawback to this serum is the slightly high price. Pick it up from Dermstore!
This serum from Herbivore Botanicals has generated some controversy in the last couple of years, but we thought it still merited inclusion on this list. Despite being marketed as a bakuchiol serum, this product doesn’t contain isolated bakuchiol. Instead, it contains a respectable amount of Babchi extract, which is the plant from which bakuchiol is derived. As a result, it doesn’t have as much bakuchiol as other products on our list.
The misleading marketing is unfortunate since this is a nice product otherwise. In addition to bakuchiol, Babchi contains other beneficial compounds that have antioxidant effects on the skin. The serum also includes a wide range of soothing extracts and hydrating ferments, so it’s an overall lovely hydrating and lightly anti-aging serum. You can find it at Sephora.
It can be complicated to use retinol around the eyes, where the skin is much thinner than anywhere else. That’s why, even if you’re happy to use retinol on your face, you may want to try something milder around your eye area.
This non-greasy yet moisturizing eye cream is a great choice. The gel-cream formula is very light and silky, with a touch of dimethicone that has an instant smoothing effect. Long-term anti-aging effects come courtesy of bakuchiol, as well as a few skin-firming peptides and orchid stem cells. There is also soy protein in the formula, which gives a skin-brightening boost!
Just be aware that some users find this product a little too heavily fragranced and that the price can be steep considering the small amount of product in a bottle. Purchase it from Sephora!
Key Features:
Format: Gel-Cream
Size: 0.5 oz.
Skin Type: All
Bakuchiol Percentage: Undisclosed
Key Ingredients: Bakuchiol, orchid stem cell, peptides, soy protein
We usually don’t look to our cleansers for skin benefits, but there’s certainly no harm in using a cleanser with bakuchiol. This fantastic face wash from Dr. Zenovia is thoroughly cleansing, but it’s also gentle and hydrating.
The formula does include sodium laureth sulfate, which can be drying for some, although it’s mitigated by the presence of gentler surfactants that reduce SLES’ potential to irritate the skin. The formula as a whole, despite the SLES, is quite gentle and hydrating. In addition to bakuchiol, it also includes resveratrol, which is another potent antioxidant. It also features a range of skin-soothing and brightening extracts to give the skin a glow. It’s available at Sephora.
Indeed Labs is a scientifically-minded brand that makes really cool skincare. These bakuchiol pads sit in their portfolio along with a retinol serum, and it’s clear that it’s not a ‘one or the other’ situation.
So far, most of our selection has focused on serums and moisturizers, but these pads are a great option for anyone who doesn’t have space in their routine for more moisturizing products. The pads are saturated with a liquid that’s more like a toner, to be used after cleansing and before serums and moisturizers.
Bakuchiol does the heavy lifting when it comes to anti-aging effects, but this formula has other benefits. It features a respectable amount of niacinamide, which helps to balance oily skin, brighten the skin, reduce breakouts, and even give an antioxidant boost. Just be careful not to use these in conjunction with other niacinamide products since you can have too much of this one good thing.
We recommend these pads to all skin types but especially oily skin. Get them at Ulta!
If you’re a fan of clean or all-natural beauty, you’ll probably like this moisturizer. It’s a light, silky cream that sinks into the skin easily but provides dramatic hydration. The formula is positively loaded with hyaluronic acid for its water-attracting abilities.
It also includes a range of nourishing emollients, like coconut alkanes, apricot oil, and squalane. These ingredients help with long-term moisturization, but they also make this moisturizer potentially too rich for those with oily or acne-prone skin.
If your main concerns are dryness, dehydration, and aging skin, this moisturizer really delivers. It includes bakuchiol, of course, as well as vitamin C and centella asiatica, which boost the anti-aging effects. Buy it from Sephora!
If you’re a fan of natural products but you’re also on a bit of a budget, this is a fantastic bakuchiol product to consider. It’s ideal especially for dry skin, since, despite being advertised as a serum, it’s more of an oil.
The main ingredients in this blend are lighter oils, so it’s not too greasy, but it still might be too heavy for those with oily skin. The oils in the formula include linoleic acid-rich sunflower oil, skin-like squalane, and jojoba seed oil. This makes for a deeply reparative formula that’s nice even on sensitive skin, and that feels nice as it repairs the skin barrier.
It’s not the most potent anti-aging product on our list since the only dramatic ingredient in the formula is bakuchiol. If your routine is already quite intense, and you mostly need the added emolliency, however, then it’ll be a nice addition.
While it does contain some plant extracts that may not work for everyone, the formula is fragrance-free and should generally help those with sensitive skin. We’d still recommend patch-testing it, of course. It’s available at Ulta.
Dual-phase serums are a pretty cool category, so if you haven’t tried one before, this is your chance! It’s a simple, gentle, natural serum that hydrates and protects the skin while giving it an anti-aging boost.
This formula features 0.5% bakuchiol, along with other skin-loving ingredients. It includes soothing turmeric and antioxidant eggplant extract. Dual-phase means that there are two layers to this serum. There’s a water layer that includes the plant extracts as well as humectants like glycerin and an oil layer that includes skin-softening jojoba oil.
To use it, you simply shake up the serum before dispensing. The two layers combine, so the skin gets all of the goodness. While the oils do give it a slightly greasy texture, the overall formula is non-comedogenic for most, so you can use it even with acne-prone skin. Pick it up from Ulta!
What to Look for in the Perfect Bakuchiol Product for You?
Bakuchiol products come in so many formats, so finding the best one for you can be tough. If you’re not sure which to choose, this section should help.
Consider Your Skin Type
When looking for new skincare products, consider your skin type and main concerns. Here are our tips for finding a bakuchiol product that will work well with your skin’s particular needs, based on skin type.
Oily or Acne-Prone
If you have oily or acne-prone skin, it’s important to keep an eye out for greasy bakuchiol products or ingredients that might break you out. Because bakuchiol products are usually formulated to be anti-aging, keeping them light and non-greasy is often an afterthought. This is quite unfortunate since bakuchiol is also a promising anti-acne ingredient.
Thankfully, amongst our list of the best bakuchiol products, most of the options should work well, even for very acne-prone or oily skin. The Reface Pads from Indeed Labs, in particular, have the lightest texture, so they’re unlikely to cause issues.
Dry
Dry skin often thrives when using bakuchiol. Bakuchiol is usually formulated in serums or moisturizers with rich, highly nourishing ingredients and deeply hydrating humectants.
Almost all of the serums and moisturizers on our list are a great choice for those with dry skin, so you don’t need to think too hard about which product to choose. Our top pick from Biossance is especially nice, thanks to the added squalane in the formula. You may also decide to use a bakuchiol oil as a final skincare step at night.
Normal
When you have normal skin, almost any bakuchiol product can work for you. You may want to avoid overly greasy creams, but most lotions and serums should fit into your routine nicely. The Inkey List’s Bakuchiol Moisturizer is a particularly nice choice, thanks to its light but moisturizing texture.
Sensitive
Bakuchiol is often recommended specifically for sensitive skin since it’s less likely to irritate when compared to retinol. However, that doesn’t mean that all bakuchiol products are safe for sensitive skin.
Those with sensitive skin usually have particular ingredients that they’re more likely to react to. Fragrance is chief amongst them, which is why we made sure to include a few fragrance-free options on our list. As a rule, the longer the ingredient list, the more likely it is that it’ll contain something that doesn’t agree with your skin.
That’s why, whenever you introduce a new product to your routine, it’s important that you first test it on a small patch of skin for a few days to make sure you don’t have a negative reaction to it.
Bakuchiol Percentage
Most studies on bakuchiol tested products with 0.5% of the stuff. This means that for a bakuchiol product to be effective, it doesn’t need to have bakuchiol right at the top of its ingredient list – 0.5% is already plenty!
Most brands don’t disclose the amount of bakuchiol in their products. As long as it’s listed as bakuchiol near the top half of the ingredient list, we can safely assume there’s a sufficient quantity of it.
Routine Step
Bakuchiol can technically show up in any product category, which makes it super easy to add to an existing routine. When looking through our list of products, consider whether there are any “steps” missing in your skincare routine.
For example, if you’ve recently run out of your moisturizer, it makes more sense to just buy a moisturizer with bakuchiol. It’ll keep your routine simple while giving you the anti-aging boost.
If you already have a basic routine with cleanser and moisturizer, then it might be easier to instead introduce bakuchiol as a serum step, in which case you’ll also enjoy the added hydration from a well-formulated serum.