And the winner for “Most Versatile Skincare Ingredient Is….. Niacinamide!”
“Thank you, thank you,” Niacinamide says as it receives the award, “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Olay, which believed in me from the start and gave me my first gig.
“I’d also like to thank Paula’s Choice, The Ordinary and all the other brands that have given me a place of honour in their formulations. It’s a pleasure to work with you and help your customers reduce their wrinkles, fade their dark spots and soothe their irritations.
“Let’s keep up the good work! Thank you, everyone.”
Awww, it’s so sweet to see Niacinamide get the recognition it deserves. But, what is it and what does it do for your skin?
- What Does Niacinamide Do For The Skin?
- Best For Oily Skin: The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% (£5.00)
- Best For Multitasking: Paula’s Choice Resist 10% Niacinamide Booster ($42.00)
- Best For Brightening: Olay Tone Perfection Serum B3 + Vitamin C ($39.99)
- Best For Dry Skin: The Inkey List Niacinamide ($6.99)
- Best For The Eye Area: CeraVe Eye Repair Cream ($15.99)
What Does Niacinamide Do For The Skin?
Plenty of things:
- It hydrates skin: It’s more effective than petrolatum at preventing water loss
- It soothes skin: It alleviates the symptoms of rosacea and irritations
- It lightens skin: It reduces dark spots, blotchiness (redness) and sallowness (yellowing)
- It helps treat wrinkles: Preliminary research shows it can boost the production of skin-firming collagen
- It treats acne: Its effects are similar to those of 1% clindamycin gel
Awesome, isn’t it? So, where do you get your niacinamide fix? Take a look below for the best skincare products with niacinamide:
Related: Spotlight On Niacinamide
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Best For Oily Skin: The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% (£5.00)
Let’s be clear: niacinamide isn’t a miracle cure for oily skin or acne. But, it can soothe the redness, help pimples heal faster and fade away those little dark spots they sometimes leave behind as an unwanted parting gift. All things your skin badly needs. Plus, The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% pairs it with Zinc, another anti-inflammatory that helps reduce the signs of acne, too.
Available at: Beauty Bay, Cult Beauty, Feel Unique, and Ulta
Related: The Complete Guide To The Ordinary Anti-Acne Skincare Products
Best For Multitasking: Paula’s Choice Resist 10% Niacinamide Booster ($42.00)
Don’t know where niacinamide fits into your routine? With Paula’s Choice Resist 10% Niacinamide Booster, it can fit anywhere! Just pour 3 or 4 drops into your fave serum or moisturizer to supercharge it and you’re good to go. Plus, in true Paula Choice’s style, the booster is full of antioxidants to help you keep those pesky premature wrinkles at bay, too. In case you’re wondering, yes, vitamin C is here too – and you can totally use them together. It’s a myth you can’t – and I’ve debunked it here.
Available at: Dermstore, Nordstrom and Paula’s Choice
Best For Brightening: Olay Tone Perfection Serum B3 + Vitamin C ($39.99)
Can you guess how Olay Tone Perfection Serum B3 + Vitamin C brightens your skin tone? Yep, it uses both niacinamide and vitamin C (again, they CAN be used together). This combo isn’t enough to fade away stubborn dark spots, but it can fade away dark marks left behind by pimples and give your complexion a radiant glow. Plus, panthenol and glycerin give your skin a hydrating boost that plumps skin and makes it look healthy. If you’ve got dull skin, give it a try.
Available at: Target, Ulta, and Walmart
Related: Battle Of The Skin-Lighteners: Which Is The Best Alternative To Hydroquinone?
Best For Dry Skin: The Inkey List Niacinamide ($6.99)
If you’ve got dry skin that needs more help in the moisture department, look no further than The Inkey List Niacinamide. Sure, the huge dollop of niacinamide helps fight wrinkles, treat acne, and brighten the skin tone. But where this serum truly excels is moisturization. On top of hydrating niacinamide, it also has hyaluronic acid to add moisture back into the skin and Squalane to strengthen its protective barrier, preventing water from evaporating out again. I’ve used this all winter long and it helped to keep my skin soft, supple, and healthy.
Available at: Asos, Cult Beauty, and Feel Unique
Related: My Full Review Of The Inkey List Niacinamide
Best For The Eye Area: CeraVe Eye Repair Cream ($15.99)
I don’t believe in using a separate cream for the eye area but I know a lot of you do. If you’re looking for one, Cerave Eye Repair Cream is a great option to consider. It contains ceramides to strengthen your skin’s protective barrier, hyaluronic acid to add moisture and a few antioxidants to prevent wrinkles. The texture’s on the thick side but that’s the norm with most eye creams.
Available at: Dermstore, Feel Unique, Ulta and Walmart
Related: CeraVe Eye Repair Full Review
What do you think are the best Niacinamide products? Share your picks in the comments below.
Thanks!!!! This was an article I´ve been waiting for. In fact I tried to do a thorough research on what niacinamide is good for a few weeks ago. There are just so many multipurpose ingredients out there!
Barbara, you’re welcome. Niacinamide is one of my fave ingredients, it’s good for everything. I can’t recommend it enough.
Hi Gio,
I just bought the ordinary’s niacinamide and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate yesterday. I planned to use them individually, am and pm. But in the ordinary’s website they have this regimen guide, and there it says the example regimen for pigmentation issues:
AM: Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA, Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate Solution 10%; PM: Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA, Azelaic Acid Suspension 10% or Advanced Retinoid 2%
Which confused me since weren’t we supposed not to mix niacinamide with any vit C? What do you think? Should I stick with using them individually, or can I really use the magnesium ascorbyl after niacinamide, since its format is emulsion anyway?
Thank you 🙂
Inka, the traditional advice was to use them separately because vitamin C can deactivate niacinamide. But recent research has shown that this reaction happens so slowly it really isn’t a problem. You can wait 20 minutes in between application if it makes you feel more at ease but I personally don’t think it’s necessary.
Thanks for your article! But I am wondering if it is ok for me to use the ordinary niacinamide 10% + zinc 1% right after I used my BHA exfoliant and follow up with the rest of my skincare without waiting? Or do I have to wait for 20 minutes both after using BHA and niacinamide?
Jenny, just wait for the first product to absorb into the skin and you should be fine.
Gio, which one do you recommend for PIH and normal , slightly dehydrated skin? and doesn’t need a moisturizer after
Skinceuticals Metacell Renewal or Nia24 Skin Strengthening Complex?
Mlan, if you don’t want to use a moisturiser afterwards, I’d go with NIa24. It’s the most moisturising of the two.
Thanks for the article Gio! I was wondering if there are other ingredients I need to look out for in a product that complement niacinamide. My derm recommended skinceuticals b3 (which is an arm and a leg) but it boasts a delivery method (different and better) than others. I was wondering if that’s a real thing, or if I could go with a cheaper product maybe from the Ordinary and get the same benefits. Also I saw different % of this ingridient out there, is higher better?
Olivia, niacinamide is quite gentle so you can use a higher concentration without problems. You can definitely get similar results with any of the products on this list. But because of zinc, The Ordinary Niacinamide product is suitable only for oily skin. Paula’s Choice is a good alternatives for all skin types or, if you’re on a budget, check out the Olay line. Most of their products have niacinamide.
Hi Gio, I would like to find a product that has Niacinamide, B3, Linoleic acid and oil like safflower and sunflower oil in it. I would like to use this on my arms too. My skin is getting very frail and wrinkly because of weight I lost and possible meds that I take. I don’t mind paying for a product that will work, so tried of false claims.
Charolette, have you thought of getting a niacinamide booster, like Paula’s Choice 10% niacinamide booster, and mixing it with these oils?
would that help my crepe paper like skin on my arms and make the skin resilient and diminish the wrinkles? I have not used any of these products I have seen where these products are helpful so I thought you might know a product that has all .
Charlotte, unfortunately no product has it all. But layering a retinol serum under a niacinamide moisturiser will help reduce wrinkles and strengthen your skin’s protective barrier.
hi gio ! it is OK to layer:
AM
SALICYLIC ACID-AZELAIC ACID-SUPEROXIDE- NIACINAMIDE ?
PM
glycolic acid -SUPEROXIDE – NIACINAMIDE?
&
PM (ALTERNATE WITH THE OTHER PM)
EUK 134 – CAIS – RETINOL – SUPEROXIDE – NIACINAMIDE
Camila, yes t’s ok to layer them. But use either salicylic acid or glycolic acid, not both!