Everything you need to know about Niacinamide

Niacinamide is a unique skin care ingredient and a powerful weapon against all kinds of skin problems. It is an ingredient that is adored as much as retinol, hyaluronic acid and salicylic acid. When it comes to skin care, niacinamide is a miracle ingredient and a true multitasker in creams, masks and serums. It helps with everything - literally everything. Read along here.

What is niacinamide?

Niacinamide is a fancy word for vitamin B3. Niacinamide (B3) is an active ingredient and an important nutrient that, alongside seven other B vitamins, plays a central role in all our biological processes in the body. Vitamin B3 is found in protein-rich foods, including fish, poultry, meat, legumes, nuts and seeds. However, the niacinamide in your skin care is made synthetically in the laboratory.

Niacinamide improves skin health

Your body and skin need a certain amount of vitamin B3. If you eat a varied diet, you will most likely cover your need for vitamin B3. But if you want to give more focus to specific skin problems, research has shown that niacinamide should also be applied directly to the skin. This is exactly why niacinamide has become a very popular skin care ingredient in everything from face creams, face masks and serums to make-up.

How does niacinamide work?

But how does niacinamide actually work? If we zoom in on the effect of niacinamide, it ensures that our DNA is stable and does not "break". In the skin care universe, niacinamide is also essential for the overall health of the skin.

Overall, Niacinamide can help build proteins in the skin and lock in moisture to prevent environmental damage. Niacinamide works by protecting and strengthening the outer skin barrier, soothing the skin and reducing redness and irritation. The skin's elasticity is increased, while the skin's texture is brightened and fine lines and wrinkles are reduced. In addition, niacinamide has the effect of balancing oil production in the skin so that your sebaceous glands do not overproduce. In general, when using niacinamide, you can expect smoother, more even and more hydrated skin.

The amount of niacinamide matters

It is not true that if an ingredient is good, twice as much is better. When it comes to niacinamide in skin care, 2-10% is more than enough to do the job. There should be at least 2% niacinamide in a skin care product before it works. If you want to tackle hyperpigmentation and sun-damaged skin, the concentration should be 5%.

Suitable for…

• Anti-aging
• Pigment changes
• Redness / rosacea
• Sensitive skin
• Impure skin

Application

You can use niacinamide both morning and night in more than one product, as this ingredient is very well tolerated by the skin. If you prefer to let your skin do the work for you, you can use niacinamide serum or niacinamide cream in the evening before bed.

Make your niacinamide serum or cream perform even better by combining it with other active ingredients in your skin care routine, such as Vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, retinol and salicylic acid.

How long does it take to see results?

8-12 weeks.

Use of niacinamide in skin care

Niacinamide is an all-round care, and combined with other active ingredients, niacinamide delivers effective results. For example, a niacinamide product with hyaluronic acid might be an extra sidekick that performs better on dry skin, while niacinamide and salicylic acid work well for oily skin.

When using niacinamide in your skin care routine, choose a concentration that suits your skin type. For the best results with niacinamide in skin care, the ingredient should be combined with other beneficial ingredients. Niacinamide in skin care works a bit like an outer protective defense. At the same time niacinamide in skin care continuously maintains skin cells and the skin.

Niacinamide serum

You have probably heard that you can get niacinamide serum. A serum is often a relatively concentrated product, which therefore also has an effective effect. Since niacinamide is a water-soluble vitamin, it is most effectively absorbed into the skin as niacinamide serum. So this is where you can really get the benefit of the versatile ingredient, as it gets the opportunity to work in the deeper layers of the skin.

Niacinamide in cream

Niacinamide works with the skin's natural moisture. Niacinamide cream reduces large pores, evens out the skin tone, tightens the skin, softens fine lines and wrinkles, strengthens the skin's surface and combats dull, sad and gray skin.

The above benefits alone should be enough to make you look for a niacinamide cream to care for your skin. If you suffer from dry and dull skin on your body, you can benefit from using a niacinamide body lotion. Look for a niacinamide lotion that also contains hyaluronic acid - the perfect match in a body lotion to keep the skin hydrated and protected.