Niacinamide may sound complicated, but it’s one of the few skin ingredients that’s easy to incorporate into your skincare routine. It’s packed with antioxidants and moisturizing properties, so you’ll find that niacinamide can really help with any skin concern.
The question is how to use niacinamide on your face and whether it’s really that easy to incorporate into your daily skincare routine. Let’s explore to find out more!
What is Niacinamide?
Before we dive into that, let’s quickly summarize what niacinamide is and the various benefits it can offer your skin.
Niacinamide is a form of vitamin B3 that helps draw moisture to the skin’s surface, creating a protective barrier against damage caused by free radicals and other environmental irritants you’re exposed to on a daily basis. Thanks to niacinamide’s antioxidant properties, you’ll also find that the following skin concerns are alleviated as well:
- Hyperpigmentation, uneven skin tone, and dark spots
- Breakouts, blemishes, and acne
- Dull, lackluster complexion
- Breakouts and redness
- Signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles
- Uneven skin texture
- Large and noticeable pores
How do you use niacinamide in your skincare routine?
Niacinamide is praised for its incredible versatility and can be mixed with almost any skincare ingredient. Due to its hydrating properties, niacinamide is often used in water-based skincare products such as serums and moisturizers. This is great for both your daily routine and your skin, as both products stay on your skin the longest compared to rinse-off cleansers, meaning your skin benefits from this clever hydration powerhouse.
By keeping your skin barrier fully functioning and containing the right amount of water and oil, you’ll find that the other steps in your daily routine are absorbed quickly, with some users even seeing faster results.
Niacinamide is often said to have similar effects to the very popular hyaluronic acid. While it’s true that both are effective in increasing the skin’s overall hydration, the main difference is that niacinamide has the unique ability to regulate the natural oils on the surface of the skin. Not only does this keep your skin healthy, but it’s also an added bonus for those with oily skin, acne and pimples.
Can I use niacinamide daily?
In fact, you can, and it’s highly recommended that you use niacinamide twice a day, but only if you’re sure your skin can tolerate it. Despite the effectiveness and versatility of niacinamide, it’s still important to patch test any new product or ingredient 24 hours before applying it all over your skin to avoid unnecessary breakouts or irritation. Using niacinamide twice a day, especially during the cold winter months, can protect your skin from harmful free radicals such as central heating and harsh climates. They essentially form a protective layer over your skin to help it through the day and regenerate and repair the skin at night.
Do you put niacinamide all over your face?
You can apply niacinamide all over your face, but avoid applying it too close to the under-eye area, as the skin there is thinner, more sensitive, and easily irritated.
When using niacinamide, it is important to use the right amount, as you can have too much of a good thing. What I mean by this is that niacinamide is very powerful in its moisturizing properties, and too much can cause moisture to be drawn away from the lower layers of the skin, which can cause irritation and severe dryness.
Using niacinamide all over your face can fight signs of dehydration and help boost the ceramides in your skin. This will hydrate and restore balance to the skin, while enhancing the effectiveness of any other products you use in your daily skincare routine.
Can you use a moisturizer after using niacinamide?
Absolutely! However, this depends a lot on the product the niacinamide is formulated in. For example, if it is a serum, it is best used before any form of moisturizer. This is due to general “skin rules” when using different products in your daily routine. To give you a better understanding, here are the three most important rules you should follow to ensure you get the most out of your treatment.
- Apply formulas from thinnest to thickest
It may sound simple, and maybe even a little silly, but applying your skincare products in order of thickness allows each product and its effective formula to absorb properly into the skin.
- Apply water-based products first, then oil-based products
As you know, oil and water don’t usually mix, which can create a huge mess and render your skincare products useless. Applying water-based products first, then oil-based products, allows the water-based products to better penetrate the correct areas of the skin before applying the thicker, heavier oil-based products.
- Pay attention to pH levels
This part may be a little confusing, but it’s common for people to experience irritation when using skincare without knowing why. For example, products with a high percentage of acidic active ingredients usually have a pH of 3.0 to 4.0 and should be applied to the skin before neutral products with a pH of 5.0 to 0.7. If you keep these tips in mind when applying your skincare, you’ll avoid unnecessary skin irritation and benefit from an effective routine.
Hopefully, this gives you a better understanding of why using your skincare products in a specific order allows you to get the most out of the active ingredients contained in each product. Once you get the hang of it, you can use these products at different times of the day to get the best results for your skin.
How long does it take for Niacinamide to work?
You will notice a noticeable difference as soon as you apply Niacinamide to your skin. For longer-lasting results, allow approximately 8-12 weeks for noticeable improvements to your skin, especially when the formula contains a 5% Niacinamide concentrate. Not only will this visibly improve the overall appearance of your complexion, but you won’t have to worry about irritation.
