Niacinamide is the active form of vitamin B3 and has a long history of use, once used to treat a skin condition called pellagra (a consequence of long-term malnutrition), but in recent years, thanks to multiple clinical studies, niacinamide has proven to be a useful and essential ingredient for skin health. If you’re in doubt about whether to include it in your daily beauty rituals, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s Everything You Should Know About Niacinamide.
Applications
Niacinamide is not just a cosmetic question, although most people learn about it from beauty product labels and articles about beauty and healthy living. Vitamin B3 is found as a niacinamide in foods such as meat, poultry, fish, and grains. For external use as an active beauty ingredient, it is used in creams, gels, serums, etc.
Any dermatologist will confirm that niacinamide has many useful properties. In addition, it has almost no side effects and contraindications. And this component is equally useful for very different types of skin: dry, lean, oily, prone to irritation, teenagers and age.
Key properties
Niacinamide is a powerful antioxidant that blocks the damaging effects of free radicals, while the main effect of this beauty ingredient is its anti-age action, which is achieved by increasing collagen synthesis and lengthening the life span of the cells responsible for youthful skin. If 5% niacinamide is used, skin micro-relief becomes visible after one to two months of regular application.
A second, equally important function of niacinamide is to improve micro circulation and to reinforce the skin’s barrier. By increasing the lipid and protein content of the skin, niacinamide increases the moisture content of the dermis, prevents moisture loss and reduces skin reactivity.
If your goal is to firm the skin barrier, fight dryness and dehydration, rosacea and atopic dermatitis, you should consider using products with 2-3% niacinamide. This concentration is also recommended after traumatic peels, resurfacing and during retinol addiction.
The benefits don’t stop there; niacinamide is the number one beauty ingredient for oily and acne prone skin. By reducing sebum production, it reduces inflammation, shrinks pores, and smoothes skin. Another bonus of using products with niacinamide is that it lightens post-acne spots and redness. It also plays an important role in such a complex issue as the fight against hyperpigmentation.
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