After three years of covering this category for readers who keep asking the same question, I can tell you Drunk Elephant A-Passioni is the retinol most often handed back to me with a quiet ‘was this worth it?’ My answer, on the record, is: sometimes, for a specific kind of buyer, at a specific point in a routine. It is not the strongest retinol you can buy at Sephora, it is not the gentlest, and it is not the cheapest. What it is – and this is the part the brand doesn’t lead with – is a fairly low-percentage retinol parked inside a heavy moisturizer base, which makes it forgiving for first-timers and underwhelming for anyone who has already worked up to a tolerance.
For the reader who needs the context: I am NC45 with neutral-warm undertones, my skin reads as combination most months and oily in the Atlanta summer, and I have used retinoids on and off since I was twenty-three. The benchmark I hold this product against is what it is competing with on the shelf at $74, not whether it ‘works,’ because most retinols technically work given enough time. The question is whether this one earns the spend.
Quick verdict
Rating: 3.5 out of 5. A 1.0% encapsulated retinol in a cushioning moisturizer base, designed for retinol beginners and for anyone whose previous attempts at retinol ended in a face full of flaking. It does what it says, slowly. Best for: first-time retinol users, sensitive or dehydrated skin, and shoppers who want a one-bottle simple step. Skip if: you have built up a tolerance to 0.5% or higher and want visible texture change in under twelve weeks, or if you respond better to a serum-style retinoid you can layer your own moisturizer over. Where to buy: A-Passioni at Sephora , around $74 for 1 oz.
What it is and where the brand context matters
A-Passioni is Drunk Elephant’s flagship retinol, launched in 2019 as a 1.0% vegan retinol in a cream base built around what the brand calls ‘biocompatible’ ingredients. The formula combines retinol with peptides, vitamin F (essentially a blend of fatty acids), passion fruit oil, kale, winter cherry, and triglyceride-rich plant butters. The texture is closer to a moisturizer than a serum. You apply it as your last skincare step at night, and the cushioning base is supposed to buffer the irritation people typically associate with retinol.
Drunk Elephant sits in the prestige-clean tier at Sephora, alongside Tatcha and Sunday Riley. A-Passioni, as far as I can tell from the ingredient deck on the current tube, is the same formula it was in 2020. What has changed is the competitive landscape – several brands have launched retinals and encapsulated retinols at lower prices in the last three years, which puts pressure on the $74 price tag in a way that did not exist when this product launched.
My experience over two eight-week stretches
I have used A-Passioni in two separate eight-week runs. The first was in 2023, when a publicist sent me a tube. The second was earlier this year, when I bought one with my own money to retest it against a CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum I had been using since the summer. Both runs followed the same protocol: cleanse with a gentle gel cleanser, pat dry, apply a hydrating toner, wait two minutes, pea-sized pump of A-Passioni on the cheeks and forehead, gently pressed in. No additional moisturizer on top. Mornings, I paired with a La Roche-Posay Anthelios mineral SPF, because mineral sits better under my MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC45 than chemical filters do.
The first two weeks of each run, my skin did exactly what it should on a 1.0% retinol in a cushioning base: very little. No redness, no flaking, a faint tightness on the second and third nights that resolved by the fourth. Week three to four, the skin on my cheeks started looking smoother in side-lighting, which is the test I trust. My pores around the nose looked slightly tighter, and my hyperpigmentation along the jawline started to look one shade lighter.
Where it got interesting was the comparison week. Six weeks into my 2026 run, I went back to the CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum for two weeks just to test, and my skin texture continued to improve at roughly the same rate, on a product that costs $20. That is the data point I cannot get away from. If a $20 product is producing comparable results on my specific skin, the $74 product needs to be doing something dramatic for the difference. It was not.
Caveat: my skin tolerates retinol well at this point. For someone whose skin is reactive, dehydrated, or freshly arriving at retinol, the cushioning base in A-Passioni does something the bare CeraVe does not. It buffers. It softens the introduction. That is real, and worth paying for if that is where you are starting.
What works
The buffering effect is real and is the single best argument for paying full price. Encapsulated retinol means the active is wrapped in a delivery vehicle that releases more gradually, which lowers the peak irritation window. Add the cushioning oil-and-butter base, and the product becomes one of the more comfortable retinol experiences at this strength. I have recommended this to two friends who had previously written off retinol after a bad week of flaking on something cheaper, and both of them stuck with A-Passioni past the four-week mark.
The texture is one of the better ones in this category. It absorbs without the tacky film a lot of cream retinols leave behind, and it does not pill under SPF the next morning when I layer mineral filters on top. For anyone who wears foundation most days, the lack of pilling is not a small thing. Pilling forces a re-cleanse on a Tuesday morning when you do not have time for either.
The ingredient deck is what Drunk Elephant fans pay for. No essential oils, no fragrance, no silicones, no SLS. If you are someone who has reacted to fragrance in skincare in the past, A-Passioni is a low-risk place to land. The packaging is opaque aluminum with a pump dispenser, which protects the retinol from light degradation. Retinol is famously unstable in clear glass, so opaque packaging is the bare minimum at this price tier and the brand gets it right.
What does not work, honestly
The price is the loudest objection and it is a fair one. $74 for 1 oz of 1.0% retinol is a premium spend in a category where credible alternatives exist between $14 and $30. The brand’s argument is that the cushioning base and the encapsulation justify the markup. That argument holds for retinol beginners. It does not hold for anyone whose skin has already adjusted to retinoids, because at that point you are paying for buffering you no longer need.
The cushioning base, useful as it is, also limits how aggressive the product can feel. I noticed this in my second run particularly. After about six weeks, I wanted my retinol to do more than maintain – I wanted active texture change. A-Passioni at 1.0% in a cream base did not deliver that next level. To get there, I would either need to step up to a higher percentage or move to a serum-style delivery I could layer my own targeted moisturizer over. The product is, by design, a starting and maintenance retinol, not a heavy lifter.
The shade-aware reader question: Drunk Elephant does not market this product with deeper skin tones in mind. The influencer panel they use leans fair-to-medium and the ‘before and after’ shots they circulate are not skewed toward NC40-and-deeper complexions. The product itself works on deeper skin, and I did not see any of the post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation flares retinol can cause when introduced too aggressively, but the brand’s marketing leaves a gap. If you need to see your skin tone reflected in the product imagery to feel confident about a $74 spend, A-Passioni does not give you that.
How it compares to the alternatives I actually use
Three retinol comparisons I get asked about constantly, and the honest read on each.
The Ordinary Retinol 0.5% in Squalane – around $9 for 1 oz at most retailers. A non-encapsulated retinol in a simple squalane base, sold at a strength close to A-Passioni’s. The Ordinary’s version is slightly more potent in feel because it is not encapsulated, which means more active is hitting the skin at once. That also means more irritation potential for first-timers. For an experienced retinol user, this is a credible $9 alternative to the $74 spend. For a beginner, it is too aggressive and will probably get returned in week two. Pick this if you have used retinoids before and want a no-frills option. The squalane base is nice. The price-to-result ratio is the strongest in the category. Find it at The Ordinary Retinol 0.5% in Squalane at Ulta .
CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum – around $20 for 1 oz. The closest thing to A-Passioni at a quarter of the price. It is encapsulated, uses ceramides and licorice root extract to support the barrier, and is specifically marketed for post-acne marks. I have used it for months. My honest take: for my hyperpigmentation along the jawline, it performs comparably to A-Passioni at the eight-week mark. The texture is thinner, which I prefer, but it can pill under sunscreen if you do not let it absorb fully. If your retinol goal is gentle, encapsulated, and effective on post-acne marks, this is the better value. Pick it up at CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum on Amazon .
Paula’s Choice 1% Retinol Treatment – around $58 for 1 oz. A 1.0% retinol in a slightly lighter cream base than A-Passioni’s, with added peptides and vitamin C. It sits in the same prestige-affordable tier and is arguably the closest direct competitor. I have used both back-to-back. Paula’s Choice feels slightly more clinical, less plush, and the results at eight weeks were similar. For $16 less, it does the same job with a marginally less cushioning base. If you like Drunk Elephant’s brand experience and want the pump dispenser and the heavier butter feel, A-Passioni wins. If you care about the result and the deck, Paula’s Choice is the smart pick. Shop it at Paula’s Choice 1% Retinol Treatment at Sephora .
Who should buy it and who should not
Buy A-Passioni if you are new to retinol and your skin has been reactive to actives in the past. The cushioning base genuinely lowers the barrier to entry. Buy it if you have sensitive or dehydrated skin and do not want to spend the first three weeks managing flaking. Buy it if you prefer a one-step product and do not want to layer a separate moisturizer on top. Buy it if the Drunk Elephant brand experience, the packaging, and the suspicious-6-free deck are part of what you are paying for, and you have decided that is worth $74 to you.
Skip if you have already tolerated 0.5% retinol or higher and you want a product that pushes your routine forward, not one that maintains. Skip if you are price-sensitive and the CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum at $20 will get you 85% of the benefit. Skip if you want to layer your own moisturizer on top of a serum-style retinol, because A-Passioni’s cushion was not designed for that workflow. Skip if you want a product with a strong track record of imagery and marketing aimed at deeper skin tones, because that is not what Drunk Elephant is currently doing.
Where to buy and current pricing
A-Passioni is $74 for 1 oz across major beauty retailers. It is most widely stocked at Sephora , which is the safest first-purchase retailer because of the 60-day return policy for Beauty Insider members. Ulta carries it during Drunk Elephant brand stock periods and occasionally bundles it in seasonal kits. Amazon stocks it via Drunk Elephant’s own storefront, but read seller details carefully because retinol bought from unauthorized sellers can be old, heat-exposed, or counterfeit. The brand’s site has the freshest stock if you want to verify batch.
Frequently asked questions
Will Drunk Elephant retinol cause hyperpigmentation on deeper skin tones?
Not when introduced correctly. The risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation on deeper complexions comes from over-using retinol too soon, not from retinol itself. A-Passioni’s encapsulated 1.0% formula is on the gentle end of the spectrum, which makes it a lower-risk starting point. Begin two nights a week, build to four, and pair with a barrier-supportive moisturizer if your skin signals stress. Always wear SPF 30 or higher in the morning.
How long until I see results?
Texture and pore appearance changes around week three to four with consistent use. Hyperpigmentation fading is slower – eight to twelve weeks for visible change on most skin, longer for deep-set acne marks. Anything claiming dramatic week-one results in this category is overselling.
Can I use it with vitamin C or AHA exfoliants?
Vitamin C in the morning, A-Passioni at night is the standard split and it works. AHA exfoliants like glycolic or lactic acid are harder to layer with retinol on the same night and can over-strip the barrier. If you use both, alternate nights – retinol Monday and Wednesday, AHA Tuesday and Thursday, with hydration on the rest.
Is the Drunk Elephant brand worth the price tier in general?
The brand has some standouts (Protini Polypeptide Cream is genuinely one of my favorites at the price point) and some products that are coasting on brand equity. A-Passioni falls in the middle. The formula is good. The price is high for what it delivers on already-acclimated skin. If you are buying into the brand for the first time, this is not the product I would lead with – Protini or the C-Tango eye cream are better introductions.
Final verdict
Worth the spend for retinol beginners and sensitive-skin shoppers who want a buffered, one-step retinol they can stick with past week four. Not worth the spend for experienced retinol users who would get more out of a serum-style delivery at a higher percentage, or for budget-conscious shoppers who can get 85% of the benefit from the CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum at $20. If you fall in the first camp and the brand experience matters to you, pick up A-Passioni at Sephora and give it eight weeks on a slow ramp-up. If you fall in the second camp, save your money on A-Passioni and spend it on a real moisturizer to layer under a cheaper retinol. The retinol itself is mostly a percentage and a delivery system. The base around it is where the spend either earns out or does not.
