Good evidence
Niacinamide
INCI: Niacinamide · also vitamin B3, nicotinamide
Vitamin B3 in its amide form. Water soluble, stable, cheap, unglamorous, and backed by more human trial data than most ingredients three times its price.
Why it is here
The most dependable supporting actor in skincare. It does several unexciting things, tone, texture, barrier function, with the kind of human data most trendy actives can only dream about.
Niacinamide is a precursor to NAD and NADP, the cofactors epidermal cells run their energy and repair chemistry on. Downstream it is associated with increased production of stratum corneum lipids and keratin, and with reduced transfer of melanosomes from melanocytes to keratinocytes. Those two mechanisms line up with what the clinical work measures: better barrier, more even tone.
The receipt
Twice-daily 5 percent niacinamide for 12 weeks produced significant reductions in fine lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmented spots, red blotchiness and sallowness versus the vehicle on the other half of the same face, plus improved elasticity by cutometry.
Niacinamide: a B vitamin that improves aging facial skin appearance. Dermatologic Surgery, 2005. split-face, n = 50 women with clinical signs of facial photoaging. PMID 16029679
What the study actually did
- Study
- Bissett DL, Oblong JE, Berge CA. Niacinamide: a B vitamin that improves aging facial skin appearance. 2005.
- Journal
- Dermatologic Surgery 31:860-866
- Design
- Double-blind, randomized, split-face, vehicle-controlled
- Subjects
- 50 women with signs of photoaging
- Concentration
- 5% niacinamide
- Duration
- 12 weeks, twice daily
- Outcome
- Significant improvement in fine lines, spots, blotchiness, and sallowness
In practice
- Typical use
- 2 to 5 percent. 5 percent is the level in the Bissett split-face trial and the level Mixed Signals uses. Above roughly 5 percent the added benefit is not documented and flushing complaints go up.
- Pairs with
- Copper Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Ceramides, Retinal
- Keep apart from
- Nothing at cosmetic levels. Niacinamide is one of the least fussy actives in the category, which is part of why it is in almost everything.
- Cautions
- A minority of people flush or tingle, more often at higher percentages. Trace nicotinic acid contamination in low-grade raw material is a known cause, so grade matters. Otherwise none notable, including in pregnancy.
Questions people ask
Can I use niacinamide with vitamin C?
Yes. The warning traces to old chemistry where the two were heated together in solution and formed nicotinic acid, which flushes skin. Cosmetic products at room temperature do not reproduce that. The real reason we separate them is pH: vitamin C needs an acidic base and niacinamide is happier near neutral, so they formulate better apart.
Is 10 percent niacinamide better than 5 percent?
The human trial everyone cites used 5 percent, and that is where the documented results come from. There is no published evidence that doubling it doubles anything, and higher levels correlate with more people reporting flushing and irritation. Five percent is the studied level, so five percent is the number we are willing to defend.
What does niacinamide actually do?
In one 12-week split-face trial in 50 women, it significantly improved fine lines, hyperpigmented spots, red blotchiness, sallowness and elasticity against the same base without it. Mechanistically it supports NAD-dependent cell energy, stratum corneum lipid production and reduced melanosome transfer. It is a slow, broad, dependable ingredient rather than a dramatic one.
Why do some niacinamide serums make my face flush?
Usually nicotinic acid, an impurity left over from manufacturing that dilates blood vessels. Grades differ by how much of it they carry. Mixed Signals uses the low-nicotinic-acid grade, 20 parts per million, the gentlest specification made, so the flush is not part of the experience.