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Last reviewed August 22, 2026

Retinol

The retinol in a skincare serum or a vitamin A capsule almost never comes from an animal any more, it is built in a lab from petrochemical starting materials, though the soft capsule holding it sometimes still is.

Where it hides

  • Anti-ageing serums and creams labelled "retinol" or "retinoid"
  • Vitamin A and multivitamin supplements
  • Cod-liver oil capsules, an older animal-sourced route
  • Soft-gel capsules, which may use gelatin even when the retinol itself is synthetic

What it is

Retinol is one form of vitamin A, and the body can also make it by converting plant pigments called carotenoids, most famously beta-carotene from carrots and leafy greens. But the retinol sold as a purified ingredient, in a serum or a supplement, is a manufactured chemical, not something extracted whole from a plant or an animal.

How commercial retinol is actually made

Since the 1970s the standard industrial route has used a chemical reaction to build the retinol molecule up from a smaller starting compound called beta-ionone, itself typically made from petrochemical feedstocks. A 2022 review of vitamin A production methods confirms this is still the dominant commercial process.

Primary source 01 / 01

Retinoids, including retinal, retinol, and retinoic acid, are produced via chemical synthesis or enzymatic conversion. Chemical synthesis-based commercial production of retinal is performed by acidification/hydrolysis of retinal isomeric mixtures to produce retinol.

Shin, Seo, Kim and Yeom biochemistry researchers, Antioxidants (peer-reviewed review) Molecular Properties of β-Carotene Oxygenases and Their Potential in Industrial Production of Vitamin A and Its Derivatives, 2022

None of the raw materials in that process come from an animal. Two major European chemical manufacturers supply most of the world's synthetic vitamin A this way, which is why the retinol in a mainstream skincare serum or supplement is overwhelmingly likely to be synthetic rather than animal-derived.

The older, animal-sourced route

Before industrial synthesis existed, and still occasionally today, retinol was extracted directly from an animal source rich in it, above all fish-liver oil, which is why cod-liver oil is such a concentrated dose of vitamin A. A product built specifically around fish-liver oil, rather than purified retinol, is the clearest sign of an animal source; a plain "retinol" or "retinyl palmitate" on an ingredients list, with nothing else to go on, is almost always the synthetic version.

The capsule is a separate question

Even fully synthetic retinol can end up in a soft-gel capsule made from gelatin, an animal product in its own right, or in a hard capsule that could be either gelatin or a plant-based shell such as HPMC. Checking the capsule material is a separate step from checking the retinol itself, and a supplement label usually states it somewhere on the pack.

  • Vitamin A (retinol and carotene) Vitamin A comes in two forms with two different back-stories. One can be pulled from fish liver, the other is pure plant pigment, and the label decides which you are getting.
  • Cod liver oil Cod liver oil is exactly what its name says, oil extracted from the liver of a cod, which makes it an animal product regardless of the vitamins it happens to be rich in.
  • Vitamin A on a vegan diet The Evidence · Vegans get vitamin A the long way round: plants supply beta-carotene, and the body turns it into the active vitamin. The conversion is real but not identical in everyone, which is why the orange and dark-green vegetables earn their place.

Frequently asked

Is retinol in skincare vegan?

Usually. Retinol used in serums and creams is almost always chemically synthesised rather than extracted from an animal, so it is generally accepted as vegan, though it is worth checking a brand's own ingredient sourcing if a product doesn't say so directly.

Is cod-liver oil the same as retinol?

No, but it is one of the few remaining animal sources of it. Cod-liver oil is a whole oil naturally rich in retinol and vitamin D, while purified retinol sold on its own is now made synthetically rather than extracted from fish.

Are retinol supplement capsules vegan?

The retinol inside is usually synthetic, but the capsule itself may not be. Soft-gel capsules are commonly gelatin, an animal product, so the capsule shell needs checking separately from the retinol it contains.

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