What are the benefits of Niacinamide?Updated a year ago
So what does niacinamide do to the skin? Asking what it doesn’t do might be easier to answer.
Niacinamide is beneficial to just about all skin types, and it helps with every single one of the most common skin concerns we see, from anti-aging and brightening to breakouts.
Here’s a summary of its research-backed benefits.
Barrier repairing
The skin barrier is a hot topic right now. The term refers to how well your skin is able to keep the bad stuff out (i.e. bacteria, mites, and sources of free-radical damage) and the good stuff inside (i.e. water). A healthy skin barrier depends on having a solid balance of lipids among the skin cells, especially ceramides.
Ceramides have become a popular and genuinely wonderful ingredient in skincare, but they need to be used in a precise ratio with cholesterol and fatty acids to be truly beneficial. We discuss this in detail in our post about TEWL.
However, we can get the skin to produce more of them all on its own… With the help of niacinamide. An in vitro study showed that niacinamide can increase the skin’s ability to produce ceramides and free-fatty acids that play a crucial role in skin barrier defense.
This is likely what’s behind its moisturizing effects on the skin, with several studies showing that regular use improves skin hydration and boosts skin barrier function.
That’s why we’ve made it a key ingredient in all of our moisturizing formulas.
Anti-wrinkle
Niacinamide also exhibits anti-aging effects, both for prevention AND reversal. If you’re already experiencing wrinkles, it’s a worthwhile addition to your skincare routine that will help fill in fine lines slowly and gently.
In one study, a 5% concentration showed the ability to reduce facial wrinkles and improve skin elasticity in just 12 weeks. How it does this is multi-faceted, connecting to its potent impact on so many enzymatic processes that relate to how our body produces new cells, as well as its antioxidant ability.
Other anti-aging studies that combine niacinamide with other antioxidants and anti-aging molecules show even better results!
Antioxidant
Now let’s talk about niacinamide as a preventer of skin aging. In other words, its antioxidant effects.
Over time, exposure to forces of destruction like the sun and pollution causes a chain reaction of skin cells to break down that leads to more wrinkles, dryness, splotchiness, and hyperpigmentation over time.
Antioxidants neutralize these harmful processes on a molecular level. We explain this in more detail in our guide to vitamin C, the ultimate antioxidant in skincare.
But niacinamide has very respectable antioxidant effects, as well, especially when it comes to exposure to pollution. With modern formulations, it plays nicely with vitamin C. This means that no matter how old you are, it’s worth adding to your routine.
Brightening
Niacinamide is also beneficial if you’re prone to dark spots. It inhibits the delivery of melanin from the melanocytes to your surface skin cells, thereby preventing hyperpigmentation. Clinical studies show that, in practice, it effectively fades dark spots in the skin.
It’s sometimes advertised as a skin-lightening treatment, but this mechanism of action is slow-acting compared to actives like vitamin C, so it’s more effective for support and prevention.
It’s also worth noting that niacinamide will not actually lighten your skin. It can correct discoloration slowly over time, but it cannot change your skin tone. Be wary of products that make “skin whitening” claims, since they may include unsafe and highly irritating ingredients.
Soothing
At this point, niacinamide has been studied on a fairly broad range of sensitive skin conditions, including rosacea and atopic dermatitis. While these studies focus on its barrier-repairing effect when used at a 2% concentration, it was also found to reduce facial redness and flakiness.
That means that if you have sensitive skin, you may notice some significant improvement in dryness, blotchiness, and irritation by making it a part of your routine.
That said, many users find that high concentrations of niacinamide (sometimes paired with zinc) have the opposite effect, triggering inflammation and irritation.
Regulates oil production and pore size
This is where things get really wild.
We already explained that niacinamide helps fortify the skin barrier by improving the production of ceramides, which are a type of lipid. But niacinamide is inherently balancing, and when applied to oily skin, it actually reduces sebum lipids on the surface of the skin.
In other words, you get an increase in protective lipids that are produced by epidermal cells to maintain skin hydration, and you get a reduction in “bad” lipids that can lead to clogged pores and acne.
In another study, it was also found to reduce pore size, which is another common issue of concern for those with oily skin.
Breakouts and acne
If you suffer from breakouts, the hybrid of niacinamide’s skin-soothing and oil-controlling properties can help with your skin clarity. In a head-to-head comparison between 4% niacinamide and the topical antibiotic clindamycin, niacinamide showed particular promise when it came to fading the look of more red and inflamed papules. If your skin is acne-prone but also sensitized, it’s a fantastic ingredient.