niacinamide
What is niacinamide?
Niacinamide is not a new ingredient, but it definitely had its spotlight in skincare in 2020 as skincare’s superstar ingredient. Niacinamide is the active form of vitamin B3. It is a water-soluble vitamin that is also involved in various biochemical reactions. For cosmetic and personal care use, it is likely to be synthetic and supplied as a white, crystalline powder.
What does it do?
Niacinamide is a jack of all trades and can provide a number of benefits when applied topically. This is likely why niacinamide has become so loved in skincare. It is also one of those ingredients that has studies to show support, where most studies show efficacy from 2-5%.
increase production of ceramides to strengthen skin barrier
decrease fine lines and wrinkles
have anti-inflammatory properties
balance sebum production
tackle redness
decrease discoloration, hyperpigmentation and fade the look of dark spots
Formulating with niacinamide
Niacinamide is actually a very simple ingredient to work with in formulations. It is water-soluble and can be dissolved at room temperature when formulating within typical use levels. Niacinamide is usually formulated at a pH of 5.0-6.5 to decrease the chance of hydrolysis and forming nicotinic acid. Nicotinic acid can be more irritating in comparison to the loved niacinamide, which is why this is taken into consideration.
Products containing niacinamide:
Conclusion
Finding a product that contains niacinamide should be very easy now. It has become one of those staple ingredients to just include in products, similar to how you will likely see sodium hyaluronate or hyaluronic acid.
Remember that a higher % doesn’t always mean it’s better. If you have a sensitivity to higher % of niacinamide, stick to a product that has it lower in the ingredients list. It likely isn’t being used at extremely high levels, but because there is efficacy at lower levels, it should be fine. And since everyone is adding niacinamide in their products, once you finish your routine, you’ve probably used a good % by then. What ingredient do you think will be the next superstar?