Renews without retinol.
Bakuchiol is a plant-derived compound studied for renewal markers comparable to retinol — visible signs of skin tone, texture, and the appearance of fine lines.
EVENING
ETHER
Botanical Renewing Elixir
The sixth and final step of the evening. A botanical alternative to retinol — Bakuchiol within The Sixth Seal.
RENEWING
REFINING
ILLUMINATING
30ml
€155,00
ETHER closes the evening ritual. The final layer. The last silence.
Complimentary shipping above €99 · Delivered in 2–4 days (EU)
Natural origin: 99% · Organic origin: 61% · ECOCERT COSMOS Organic · Dermatologically Tested · Vegan · Full INCI Transparency · Manufactured in the EU.
Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil¹, Decyl Cocoate, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil¹, Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Fruit Oil¹, Bakuchiol, Tocopherol, Fragaria Ananassa (Strawberry) Seed Oil¹, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Seed Oil¹, Undecane, Parfum, Tridecane, Vaccinium Myrtillus (Blueberry) Seed Oil¹, Geraniol², Citronellol², Linalool², Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Geranyl Acetate²
¹ Organic farming · ² From natural essential oils
Complimentary shipping above €99. Standard shipping €5.90. Delivered in 2–4 business days within the EU, 4–7 within the UK.
14-day return policy on unopened items in original condition.
What ETHER is
ETHER is not a Bakuchiol serum. It is a formulation built around Bakuchiol — the plant compound studied alongside retinol for two decades — held within The Sixth Seal, our six-oil architecture of cold-pressed botanicals. The renewing register long associated with retinol, paced for nightly use.
Refines tone and texture.
Rosa Canina Fruit Oil and a complex of cold-pressed botanical oils work to smooth, soften, and even the skin across repeated use. Fine lines appear softened. Skin feels denser, more resilient.
Illuminates the complexion.
Essential fatty acids restore the skin's natural luminosity. A radiance that builds slowly, visibly, night after night.
On ETHER
Renewal, paced for the skin.
The sixth and final step of the evening. The seal that lets the night's work hold.
Built around Bakuchiol — the plant-derived molecule studied since 2007 for renewal markers comparable to retinol. It does not bind to retinoid receptors, which is why its tolerability profile reads differently.
Around it, six cold-pressed seed oils do the holding work. Rosehip for the carotenoid register. Jojoba for lipid match. Evening primrose for GLA. Strawberry, raspberry, blueberry seed for antioxidant weight. Every oil organic-farmed. Sixty-one percent of the formula, by weight, is organic.
Applied as the final step of the evening, ETHER settles overnight. The skin has its own twenty-eight-day cycle; ETHER is built for that cadence — not for the seventy-two-hour dramatic-claim window.
The Architecture
The Sixth Seal.
Six cold-pressed organic oils. One plant-derived active. Zero fillers.
Hero ingredient
Bakuchiol
Psoralea corylifolia · 1.5% · within The Sixth Seal
Bakuchiol is the plant-derived molecule that has been studied alongside retinol for over a decade — comparable renewal markers, a different sensitivity profile, no retinoid-receptor binding. The 1.5% concentration is calibrated for nightly use. Suited to a wide range of adult skin routines. Traditionally used in sensitive phases of life — pregnancy and breastfeeding decisions are personal; consult your midwife before introducing any new product. Stable in oil.
Dhaliwal et al. 2019, British Journal of Dermatology · Chaudhuri & Bojanowski 2014, International Journal of Cosmetic Science.
Rosehip
Rosa Canina Fruit Oil (organic)
Cold-pressed. Vitamin A, vitamin C, essential fatty acids in the natural plant matrix.
Jojoba
Simmondsia Chinensis (organic)
Closest plant match to the skin's lipid signature. Absorbs without residue.
Evening Primrose
Oenothera Biennis (organic)
One of the richest sources of GLA. Strengthens the barrier, calms reactivity.
Raspberry Seed
Rubus Idaeus (organic)
Exceptional in vitamin E and omega-3.
Blueberry Seed
Vaccinium Myrtillus (organic)
Concentrated antioxidants. Supports long-term resilience.
Strawberry Seed
Fragaria Ananassa (organic)
Rich in ellagic acid. Supports a more even tone with a lightweight finish.
Renewal is not a negotiation.
On Bakuchiol
Bakuchiol is a plant compound extracted from the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia — a small shrub native to India and Southern China, where traditional Ayurvedic medicine has used the seed for centuries to calm, to heal, and to return the skin to itself. It was catalogued in the Charaka Samhita long before dermatology had a word for retinoid activity.
In 2014, the International Journal of Cosmetic Science published the first rigorous work on why: Chaudhuri and Bojanowski demonstrated that bakuchiol was the first non-retinoid compound shown to trigger retinol-analogous gene expression. It was the mechanism, proven in vitro, that the plant had been quietly carrying for a thousand years.
In 2019, the British Journal of Dermatology published Dhaliwal and colleagues’ double-blind, twelve-week study — bakuchiol against retinol — on fine lines and hyperpigmentation. The two active molecules produced comparable results in the renewal markers measured. The difference sat on the tolerability profile: significantly less reported irritation, significantly less reported dryness.
ETHER uses bakuchiol at 1.5% — the concentration calibrated for nightly use. Not the concentration that forces the fastest visible result; the one that holds up across months of repeated application. Held within The Sixth Seal — six cold-pressed organic oils built to carry the active through the barrier without destabilising it.
Renewal, at a pace the skin can keep.
The Ritual
How ETHER closes the evening.
In the evening ritual
ETHER is evening step 6.
THE EVENING RITUAL
Continue the architecture.
What ETHER supports at night, the morning ritual helps maintain.
Explore the Morning Ritual
What it replaces
Retinol formulas that extract a price from the skin to justify their results. Oil serums built on marketing rather than composition. Anything that treats renewal as a trauma instead of a practice.
Considerations
What you might ask.
No. ETHER contains no retinol, no retinoids, and no retinyl derivatives. It is a botanical alternative — built around Bakuchiol, a plant compound studied alongside retinol for renewal markers, with a different sensitivity profile.
Retinol remains effective but requires careful introduction, cycling, and sun protection. Bakuchiol has been studied for comparable renewal markers with a different tolerability profile — designed as a gentler-feeling alternative to classical retinoid routines, suited to nightly use.
The sixth and final step. After DUSK, PURE, FORM (or REVEAL on weekly nights), VEIL, and NOCTURNE.
We recommend not layering bakuchiol with prescription retinoids on the same evening. ETHER is the gentler alternative, not the addition.
With consistent nightly use, the skin can appear smoother, more even, and more luminous over the first cycles of weeks. The deeper register settles over the eight-to-twelve-week window.
Bakuchiol is considered gentle through sensitive life phases. Consult your midwife or doctor before introducing any new product during pregnancy.
Yes. ETHER is calibrated for nightly use.
Begin with three nights per week for the first two weeks, then increase to nightly. The carrier oils are calming by design.
The dropper preserves stability — pumps introduce air on every actuation, pipettes do not. Two seconds per evening in exchange for a more stable oil.
Upright, away from direct sunlight, between 15 and 22°C. Use within twelve months of opening. Amber glass shields the bakuchiol.
From the founder
ETHER is the formula I would not let the brand launch without. The last silence.
— Merlin Dragutinovic · Founder
Add to your ritual
ETHER
The final evening elixir. The last silence. The gateway to the Evening Ritual.
€155,00 · 30ml
Your place is held.
Confirmed. The doors open the thirtieth of May.
A note from Merlin
I have your address. There will be two letters between now and the launch — a few days before First Circle private access opens, then on the morning the doors do. No urgency in between.
Your only task is to forget about us.
30 May 2026 the doors open.
19 June 2026 the public follows.
While you wait
The journal is open. Three pieces, written before the products were ready.
Merlin Dragutinovic
Founder · Austria