Recently, I wrote about Vitamin C in skincare and how great it is for brightening our skin. But there is another vitamin that a lot of people swear by that does the same thing. It is vitamin B3 or niacinamide. Despite being often overlooked by vitamin C, it is a powerhouse ingredient with many benefits for the skin.
What is niacinamide
Niacinamide is also known as nicotinamide or vitamin B3. It’s an essential nutrient that’s water-soluble. We can usually find it in food like whole grains and some greens. In skin care, we usually use synthetic forms of vitamin B3. Niacinamide has many benefits for the skin, some of which are locking in moisture and helping build protein in the skin.
As it is water-soluble, you will usually find niacinamide in essences, toners, water-based serums or gels. That makes it perfect for people whose skin doesn’t like oils because it’s not in a product full of oils.
To point out, niacinamide is also very mild and gentle – it won’t cause any irritation to sensitive skin.
Benefits of niacinamide
Overall, niacinamide can help keep skin looking healthy, bright and glowing. Although it is known that it has similar benefits as vitamin C, it doesn’t have the irritating effect vitamin C sometimes brings.
Some of the benefits of niacinamide include:
- visibly reduce enlarged pores
- improve uneven skin tone
- soften fine lines and wrinkles
- diminish sallowness
- reduce redness
- anti-inflammatory
- reduces the impact of environmental damage
- strengthens the skin barrier
Reduce enlarged pores
As niacinamide reduces oil production in the skin, it reduces the amount of sebum in our pores. Because pores look larger when they are filled with sebum and dirt, reducing the amount of sebum will result in the appearance of smaller pores.
Improve uneven skin tone
As a result of reduced pores, our skin will have a smoother, softer and more even skin tone.
Soften fine lines and wrinkles
Dermatology times states: ‘Topical niacinamide reduces fine lines and wrinkles after prolonged use. A 12-week clinical study of a topical 5% niacinamide emulsion demonstrated a 21% improvement in fine lines along with a 14% skin tone clarity and 15% radiance improvement.’
Diminish sallowness
Sallow skin usually has a yellow or brown tone and has lost its natural complexion. That happens because of oxidative stress, and unfortunately, that only increases as we age. Because niacinamide acts as an antioxidant, it helps combat that damage and diminish sallowness.
Anti-inflammatory
Niacinamide is a very effective yet mild anti-inflammatory agent. A study from 2013. shows that 4% niacinamide has comparable results to 1% clindamycin (topical antibiotic). And that is without possible risks of inducing bacterial resistance.
Reduce redness
Redness is usually a result of some inflammation that can be connected to acne or rosacea. As well as having anti-inflammatory properties, niacinamide reduces redness caused by inflammation. That is particularly useful with patients with mild to moderate rosacea.
Reduces the impact of environmental damage
One of the environmental factors that cause damage to the skin is UV radiation (sun). Important to understand is that ultraviolet radiation is one of the main risk factors for skin cancer. According to DermnetNZ, ‘Nicotinamide has been shown to enhance the repair of direct and oxidative DNA damage in human keratinocytes and human skin. It has the potential to prevent UV-induced immune suppression, as shown in a study of volunteers.’
Also, in the same article, DermnetNZ states that ‘In a randomised controlled clinical trial in 50 patients, 1% nicotinamide gel applied twice daily to the head, forearms and hands for six months reduced the mean number of precancerous actinic keratoses by 28%.’
Strengthens the skin barrier
When we use and mix many different topical treatments, we might damage our skin’s barrier. As a result, our skin can be red, sensitive and intolerant. PubMed says: ‘Topical application of niacinamide has a stabilizing effect on epidermal barrier function, seen as a reduction in transepidermal water loss and an improvement in the moisture content of the horny layer.’
Side effects
To continue listing the benefits of niacinamide – here is another one: it virtually has no side effects. At least not on normal skins. Semantic Scholar published a paper that states: ‘ Niacinamide can be used at high doses topically (at least up to 5%, the dose used in several commercial cosmetic products) and is generally well-tolerated.’
But there are always those with very sensitive skin. So there still needs to be carefulness when introducing a new product/ingredient to those skins. Also, always start with a lower dose and increase it over time.
Also, it is worth noting that there is another form of vitamin B3, nicotinic acid. Especially this form can be problematic for topical use as it can cause dilation of the blood vessels that can lead to redness of the skin.
Who is it for
Another key point is that anyone can use niacinamide. In other words, any skin type and people of any age can use it. As I said above, it is very well tolerated by everyone (except for extremely sensitive skin).
As shown above, it covers a wide range of skin concerns, and every one of them will benefit from a different aspect of niacinamide’s power. For oily skin, it will help with the oil balancing. Acne-prone skin will benefit from anti-inflammatory properties. And damaged and sensitive skin will be improved with a repaired barrier.
Products with niacinamide
Here are some of the best products containing niacinamide:
For sensitive and acne-prone skin:
For oily skin:
For discolouration:
Best for anti-ageing:
Any skin type:
Budget-friendly option:
Conclusion
All things considered, niacinamide is one of the top ingredients available in the skincare world. Not only it has a massive list of benefits for the skin, but it is also extremely safe for most skin types.
Also, it is generally well-priced, and you don’t need to break the bank to have an amazing product that will transform your skincare game, provided that you give it enough time to work.
