Is bakuchiol safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about bakuchiol during pregnancy?

1. Bakuchiol acts as a functional retinoid analogue, producing retinol-like skin benefits through a different biological pathway rather than by working the way topical retinoids do. 1
2. In head-to-head testing, 23% of a 52-person retinol group reported skin reactions like redness, peeling, or dryness, compared with a single mild reaction across the entire bakuchiol group, though this measures skin tolerability, not fetal safety. 1
3. A review of skincare safety in pregnancy frames topical ingredients largely by how much reaches the bloodstream: products that act locally with minimal systemic absorption are generally considered lower concern, while those with higher absorption or unsettled evidence warrant more caution. 2
4. MotherToBaby advises avoiding topical retinoid medications such as tretinoin and adapalene during pregnancy and lists benzoyl peroxide, azelaic acid, salicylic acid, and glycolic acid as better-studied alternatives, without including bakuchiol among them. 3
5. Pregnant people are exposed to many personal-care and cosmetic ingredients daily, often without realizing it, and research suggests awareness of the risks tends to be low, which is part of why an untested trend ingredient deserves the same scrutiny as an established one. 4

Is bakuchiol safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. First-trimester skin often reacts differently as hormones shift, and since bakuchiol hasn't been studied in pregnancy at all, this is a reasonable point to default to ingredients with more established pregnancy safety data instead.
• Second trimester. If acne or skin texture prompted the switch to bakuchiol, ask your provider about azelaic acid or benzoyl peroxide, which have more pregnancy-specific evidence behind them.
• Third trimester. Nothing in the bakuchiol research points to a late-pregnancy-specific concern, but that mostly reflects the lack of any pregnancy research at all rather than a confirmed safety record.