Pregnancy changes a lot of things, and your skincare shelf is one of them. Retinol is usually the first casualty. Along with every other retinoid, it goes straight in the drawer, which leaves an obvious question for anyone who relied on it: is bakuchiol safe during pregnancy?
One thing before anything else. Always check with your midwife, GP or pharmacist before using any active skincare ingredient during pregnancy. They know your history. A blog post doesn't. Everything below is general education to help you have that conversation, not medical advice.
Why retinoids get retired first
UK health guidance consistently advises against retinoids (retinol, retinal, tretinoin and their vitamin A relatives) during pregnancy. High doses of vitamin A have been linked to harm in developing babies. Topical skincare delivers far smaller amounts than oral medication, but the standard advice is to avoid the whole family as a precaution. If you're pregnant or trying to conceive and still using a retinoid, have that conversation with your GP now rather than later.
So where does bakuchiol come in?
Bakuchiol is a plant-derived ingredient from the babchi seed that produces retinol-like visible benefits, smoother texture and a more even-looking tone, without being a retinoid. It has no chemical relationship to vitamin A at all. That's the whole reason it dominates pregnancy skincare discussions.
Because of that distinction, many dermatologists consider bakuchiol a reasonable option to raise with your healthcare provider as a pregnancy-era alternative. We'll be straight with you about the evidence, though. Bakuchiol has not been specifically studied in large clinical trials on pregnant women. Very few cosmetic ingredients have, for understandable ethical reasons. "Not a retinoid" and "well tolerated in general studies" are real reassurances, but they aren't the same thing as dedicated pregnancy safety data. Which is exactly why the check-with-your-midwife step matters so much.
Questions worth taking to your midwife or GP
- "I'd like to use a bakuchiol serum. Here's the full ingredient list. Is anything here a concern?"
- "Are there other ingredients I should pause while pregnant or breastfeeding?"
- "My skin has changed during pregnancy. Is that expected, or worth looking at?"
Bring the full INCI list from the packaging or product page. It lets your healthcare provider assess the whole formula rather than just the headline ingredient. Every Halo Skin product publishes its complete INCI list for exactly this reason.
A few general pointers for pregnancy skincare
- Keep it simple. Pregnancy skin can turn reactive without warning, and fewer, gentler products usually win.
- SPF every day. Hormonal changes make some people more prone to melasma (sometimes called the "mask of pregnancy"), and daily sunscreen is the single best defence against it.
- Vitamin C is generally considered pregnancy-friendly in topical form and often comes up for dullness and pigmentation. Confirm with your provider all the same.
- Patch test anything new, even products your skin tolerated before.
About The Glow Serum
The Glow Serum combines bakuchiol with 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, a stabilised form of vitamin C. Both ingredients come up constantly in conversations about retinoid-free routines. If you're considering it during pregnancy, take the full ingredient list from the product page to your midwife or GP first. We'd rather you asked than assumed, and honestly, any brand worth buying from should feel the same way.
So, is it safe?
Bakuchiol is not a retinoid, which is why it has become the most talked-about retinol alternative for pregnancy. But no cosmetic ingredient has extensive dedicated pregnancy trial data. The responsible answer is this: it's a reasonable option to raise with your healthcare provider, and their answer is the one that counts.
Questions about our formulas or full ingredient lists? Email us any time at info@haloskinshop.com.
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