Be yourself. Love yourself. Take care of each other.

Hello, world! Shelly here!

Quick follow-up to my last email about bakuchiol. I want to get into the weeds on something because I think it matters.

When a brand lists bakuchiol in their formula, there are actually two very different things they could mean: bakuchiol oil or pure bakuchiol meroterpene. These are not the same thing. Not even close.

Bakuchiol oil or bakuchi oil is the whole carrier oil extracted from the Babchi plant. It contains some bakuchiol in it, yes - along with everything else in the oil. The concentration of actual active bakuchiol meroterpene in the oil is low enough that you'd typically need 5%+ of the oil to get anywhere near a therapeutic effect. Placement on the ingredient list can help you determine if the formula has that much bakuchi oil but, spoiler alert - most formulas don't.

Pure bakuchiol meroterpene is the isolated active. The 2019 British Journal of Dermatology study that most brands love to cite? It used 0.5% pure meroterpene - and showed statistically significant improvement in wrinkle surface area and hyperpigmentation, with significantly less irritation than retinol. That's the research that actually means something.

In my GOOW Bakuchiol Face Cream, I use 1% pure meroterpene bakuchiol - double the concentration used in that landmark study.

The other thing I want to point out: bakuchiol is not retinol. They work through completely different molecular mechanisms. The results in studies are similar, not identical. Retinol has decades and hundreds of studies behind it. Bakuchiol has a handful of strong studies and a growing body of research. It's promising. It's legitimate. It's just not a drop-in replacement for retinol for everyone.

But for sensitive skin, reactive skin, or anyone who's tried retinol and lost the war with the flaking and irritation? Bakuchiol is genuinely worth knowing about.

The full ingredient breakdown - including what to look for on any brand's label - is in my video if you want to go deeper.

Watch: Bakuchiol Red Flags - What the Label Isn't Telling You →

Thanks and remember: be yourself. Love yourself. Take care of each other,

💜 Shelly