And we are still not done, as Bakuchiol shows not only anti-aging properties but also nice anti-acneeffects. 1% Bakuchiol seems to be very effective in itself (57% reduction in acne after 6 weeks treatment) and even better when combined with 2% salicylic acid(67% reduction in acne after 6 weeks). We like that Bakuchiol is such a good team player! The molecule works against acne in multiple ways: It downregulates 5α-reductase (asebum-controlling enzyme), it is antibacterial (including P. acnes), anti-inflammatory and it inhibits lipid-peroxidation, an evil oxidative process that is recently thought to be a very early trigger in the acne process. What's more, a 2018 double-blindstudy with 44 people compared 0.5% Bakuchiol with 0.5% retinol cream and found that " bakuchiol is comparable to retinol in its ability to improve photoagingand is better tolerated than retinol". A super promising result after 12 weeks. We feel that this description is becoming very long so we will just mention that Bakuchiol also seems to positively regulate hydration-related genes such as Aquaporin 3 and also shows some melanin-inhibiting properties. If you are not a daredevil-type who doesn't want to stop using a super well-proven retinol for a newbie like Bakuchiol, we have good news. The two also workvery nicely together and Bakuchiol can actually help tostabilize the otherwise unstable and hard to formulate retinol.