Little did I know, I had actually been using niacinamide for far longer, I just wasn't aware of it because it wasn't "trendy" a few years ago. I had actually been using La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo Plus which has the triple whammy of salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide and niacinamide. This tackles acne from all angles - unclogging the pore, reducing inflammation and improving the health of the skin and its ability to heal, as well as improving any pigmentation caused by the acne.
Why I love it
1) It is amazing for acne - it helps to regulate the oil flow in the skin, thus, allowing your protective barrier to remain in tact (the barrier can be damaged by harsher products like salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide), but also reducing the risk of pore clogging leading to comedones and spots. I particularly like The Ordinary's formulation as it is combined with zinc, another great anti inflammatory product which is an amazing gentle help for acne
Which leads onto point 2...
2) Niacinamide boots the production of ceramides ( a natural fatty component of skin which almost acts like scaffolding to hold the skin cells together). If you imagine your skin as a sieve, throughout the day and night your skin wants to leak all the lovely things that keep your face looking plump and hydrated. This leads to dryness, dullness, and loss of plumpness. Thus, we need to do as much as we can to close the holes in the sieve in order to keep all the good stuff in. Niacinamide is awesome at that.
Because of this, it is also great as a buffering agent underneath any product that may cause irritation, such as peels, retinols etc. It is also compatible with pretty much every other skin care active (ignore the historic belief that vitamin C and niacinamide should never meet), making it great for layering.
3) Pigmentation buster.
Pigmentation can be tackled at 3 points.
- Prevention of production of melanin by the production cells - known as melanocytes. The melanocytes are stimulated by UV rays and in some cases, even by heat and visible light, mainly delivered to the skin via infra red rays
- This can be done by:
- Blocking the UV rays from stimulating the melanocytes (i.e. sunscreen - see my favourites here) and blocking free radicals which cause DNA damage via antioxidants such as vitamin c (best as Ascorbic acid)
- Via agents such as hydroquinone (or natural derivatives such as arbutin), kojic acid, and azelaic acid which block the action of tyrosinase (the enzyme responsible for kick starting the melanin production process)
- Prevention of transfer of the melanin to the surface of the skin (the keratinocytes)
- Removal (exfoliation) of the pigmented area from the surface of the skin using AHA's and retinol to boost the turnover of the skin
Niaciamide acts on the second aspect. Whilst it has no activity on the melanocytes themselves, it can stop the transfer of the melanin to the surface of the skin, thus blocking pigmentation. In fact a study in the British Journal of Dermatology found that niacinamide at only a 2-5% concentration gave a 35-68% inhibition of melanin transfer, leading to decreased hyperpigmentation and increased skin lightness in only 4 weeks.
4) Decrease of lines and wrinkles - Niacinamide boosts collagen (plumpness) and elastin (firmness) so you tackle this from both angles. As mentioned above, it also allows your skin to tolerate stronger active ingredients, especially higher concentrations of retinols, so this allows a double whammy on anti ageing front
5) Skin dullness fixer - as an antioxidant, this can work in the same way as vitamin C to restore brightness to the skin
Simple.
Mentioned paper
Br J Dermatol. 2002 Jul;147(1):20-31. The effect of niacinamide on reducing cutaneous pigmentation and suppression of melanosome transfer.
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