When it comes to skincare ingredients, niacinamide is a true Jill of all trades. What does niacinamide do for your face? This multi-tasking ingredient can help with a multitude of skin issues, from dark spots to acne to a compromised skin barrier. Keep reading to learn exactly how this hard-working ingredient will help your skin…and find out how to include it in your skincare routine.
Benefits of niacinamide for skin
Also known as vitamin B3, niacinamide is widely used in skincare products because of its ability to address so many different skin issues:
- Supports your skin barrier: Niacinamide boosts the production of ceramides, which are an essential part of a strong and healthy moisture barrier.
- Controls oil: Niacinamide helps normalize overactive sebaceous glands and regulate oil production.
- Brightens skin: Niacinamide helps even out skin tone and reduces the look of discoloration.
- Improves fine lines and wrinkles: Niacinamide helps support collagen production, which improves your skin’s firmness and elasticity, and smooths out the look of wrinkles.
- Boosts hydration: By strengthening your skin’s moisture barrier, niacinamide prevents what’s known as Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL). Translation? It helps your skin retain much needed moisture.
- Minimizes pores: Enlarged pores have many causes—including excess oil production, a damaged skin barrier and collagen loss. Niacinamide helps with all of these issues.
- Soothes your skin: Niacinamide has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which helps protect your skin from daily stressors.
Niacinamide for acne and dark spots
Using niacinamide for acne and dark spots is a smart skincare strategy that won’t irritate your skin the way that harsher ingredients can. For anyone who’s struggling with acne, niacinamide helps address the underlying causes of breakouts. Because niacinamide put the brakes on excess oil production, it minimizes the risk of your pores becoming clogged with a mixture of oil and dead skin cells. And as we’ve talked about before, acne happens when this sticky mixture comes in contact with c. acnes bacteria. (Find out more about how removing dead skin cells also helps prevent the appearance of acne here.)
Now, switching gears to dark spots. Dark patches and discoloration can be caused by sun damage, heat damage or leftover scarring from past acne (known as “post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation”). Niacinamide can help fade the look of dark spots because it helps to prevent your skin’s pigment-producing cells from depositing too much melanin in your skin’s upper layers, and because niacinamide is anti-inflammatory, it also helps reduce the look of PIH.
How to Use Niacinamide in Your Skincare Routine
Serums are an ideal way to incorporate niacinamide into your skincare routine, because they deliver an optimal concentration of this beneficial ingredient and they’re easy to layer. Start by cleansing and toning, apply your niacinamide serum, and follow with moisturizer if needed. In the morning, add your SPF and your makeup. At night, you can layer on facial oil or balm if you need to lock-in hydration.
Can You Use Niacinamide Every Day?
Yes, you can apply niacinamide serum every day. Dermatologists generally recommend using niacinamide serum twice a day, in the morning and evening. It’s usually very well tolerated for all skin types, including sensitive skin.
What percentage of niacinamide should I use?
This is a great question and one that many skincare junkies ask, for good reason. These days, you’ll see some niacinamide serums with as much as 20% niacinamide, but dermatologists say this high percentage isn’t necessary and may even cause irritation in very sensitive skin types. "It's safest to look for concentrations from 2-5%, or even up to 10% if your skin tolerates it,” board-certified dermatologist Jessie Cheung, MD, tells Byrdie.
What is the best niacinamide serum?
Truth? The best niacinamide serum is the one you’ll use regularly. Choosing one with a lightweight texture will allow you to layer it under makeup and SPF seamlessly. It’s also a good idea to pick one with additional skin-improving ingredients. Niacinamide is a very stable ingredient and is ideal for pairing with skin-smoothing ingredients like peptides. Our HYDRAFLASH Active Cocooning Serum is formulated with 3% niacinamide (ideal for new users and those who’ve used niacinamide before), as well as targeted peptides.
There you have it…niacinamide is a safe, well-studied ingredient that can help with a host of skincare issues. Try this skincare Jill of all trades for yourself and let us know what you think!
