Ingredient glossary
Niacinamide
On your shelf ✓What Niacinamide does for your skin, who it suits, and what to watch for.
INCI: Niacinamide · Also: Vitamin B3, Nicotinamide
In short: Niacinamide delivers brightening and barrier support, suits most skin types, and the evidence behind it is strong. One thing to know: introduce it gently.
- What it does
- Brightening, barrier support
- Best for
- Dry, Combination, Oily, Sensitive skin
- Watch out
- Introduce it gently
- Evidence
- Strong
- How long
- 2–4 weeks
how it was measured
Measured on facial hyperpigmentation and skin lightness versus vehicle, computer image analysis and visual grading of high-resolution facial images; the first visit at which the change was measurable.PMID 12100180PMID 16029679
The molecule
The Glow take
One of the ingredients I trust most.
When your goal is repairing a stressed moisture barrier, Niacinamide delivers, and the research properly backs it up. Introduce it gently, and pair it with something soothing if your skin runs sensitive.
— Maya
What it does
- brightening
- barrier support
- anti acne
- anti aging
strong evidenceStrong evidence from multiple clinical studies for improving barrier function, reducing sebum, redness, pores and hyperpigmentation.
Why we say this
On a label: works best above 2%.
The vitamin family, at a glance
7 vitamin entries in the base, Niacinamide among them. 5 of the 7 are a supporting active.
How much do you need?
2%+
The vehicle-controlled trials worked from 2%; no published dose comparison sets a ceiling.
The trials, and what they used
- Every vehicle-controlled reading sits at 2 to 5%.
- 2% niacinamide moisturiser lowered sebum against placebo in 100 Japanese subjects at weeks 2 and 4 and casual sebum in 30 Caucasians at 6 weeks (Draelos 2006).
- 4% lotion beat its base on eye-area wrinkle grade and replica roughness in 30 women at 8 weeks (Kawada 2008) and matched 1% clindamycin on acne in 76 patients (Shalita 1995).
- 5% beat vehicle on pigmentation in 18 women at 4 weeks (Hakozaki 2002) and on wrinkles, spots and sallowness in 50 women over 12 weeks (Bissett 2004, 2005).
- No dose comparison found: nothing published tests 10% against 5%, so the 10% serums rest on the same trials as the 5% creams and the irritation reports at 10% are anecdotal.
- Read again on 2026-09-21: The results of the Japanese study demonstrated that the SER of the two groups was not significantly different at baseline, but the 2% niacinamide treated group demonstrated significantly lowered SER after 2 and 4 weeks of application.
- (PMID 16766489)
The pH it needs
No window to draw. One study (Sjoberg 2026) compared two products and nothing else. Not its own ionisation: pH 7.4 loosened stratum corneum lipids and about doubled permeation vs pH 5.0; acid hydrolysis not measured here.
Only what was measured is drawn; between the marks nothing was. Your skin's surface: about 4.7 at rest, 5.1 on a normal day.PMID 18489300
Who it's for, and who should skip it
Tends to suit
- oily
- combo
- dry
- sensitive
Approach with care
- very sensitive in high
- Clogs poresLow
- Irritation riskModerate
How it fits each skin type
- DrySuits
- CombinationSuits
- OilySuits
- SensitiveSuits
Take extra care if any of these apply to you: very sensitive (in high amounts).
Where it fits in your routine
Give it two to four weeks — that is when the change first became measurable.
What was measured, and in whom
- Measured on: facial hyperpigmentation and skin lightness versus vehicle, computer image analysis and visual grading of high-resolution facial images.
- The vehicle-controlled clinical arms are in Hakozaki et al. 2002: 18 Japanese women with facial hyperpigmentation using 5% niacinamide moisturiser against its vehicle in a paired split-face design, plus 120 women in a facial-tanning study on vehicle, sunscreen, or 2% niacinamide with sunscreen.
- The paper reports that niacinamide significantly decreased hyperpigmentation and increased skin lightness compared with vehicle after 4 weeks of use, so 4 weeks is the earliest measured separation and the end of the wait, not the start of it.
- Improvement continues past that point: the 12-week 5% split-face study in 50 women takes facial images at 4-week intervals and adds fine lines, red blotchiness, sallowness and elasticity to the list, so ageing endpoints are a longer wait than pigment.
- Caveats are about confidence, not timing - the pigment panel was 18 people and single-ethnicity, both trials are Procter & Gamble work, and image-analysed spot area is not clinical melasma grading.
- Consumer products at 4-5% match the trial concentration, which is unusual.
Hakozaki et al., Br J Dermatol 2002;147(1):20-31, 'The effect of niacinamide on reducing cutaneous pigmentation and suppression of melanosome transfer', PMID:12100180 - abstract read: significance versus vehicle 'after 4 weeks of use'. Bissett et al., Dermatol Surg 2005;31(7 Pt 2):860-5, PMID:16029679 (5% niacinamide versus vehicle, split-face, 12 weeks, images at 4-week intervals) for the endpoints that keep improving after week 4.
Plays well with
Niacinamide, answered
Is Niacinamide safe during pregnancy?
Yes. Niacinamide is considered safe to use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. As with anything, if you are unsure it is worth a quick word with your doctor or midwife.
Who should avoid Niacinamide?
Approach Niacinamide with care if any of these apply to you: very sensitive (in high amounts). Its irritation risk is moderate, so introduce it slowly and patch test first.
What concentration of Niacinamide actually works?
Research tends to show Niacinamide starts pulling its weight above 2%. If a brand prints the percentage, that is the number to look for.
Commonly confused with
- Pro-vitamin B5Different vitamins. Niacinamide is B3, a multitasker for tone and oil; panthenol is pro-B5, a soother and hydrator.
Just started Niacinamide?
On the map
See Niacinamide on the clash map →Compare Niacinamide with
51 comparisons built, the 5 most looked-up above.
Can you mix Niacinamide with
67 pairings built, the 5 most looked-up above.
This, for every label you own
One ingredient is easy. A full label is where it gets confusing. The Ingredient Decoder reads any product and tells you the honest truth, ingredient by ingredient.
Sources & how we reviewed this
- PMID 16596767abstract read, not the full text
What changed on this page
- : redness support score, redness basis, redness source
- : the pH it needs
- : the effective dose from trials, the highest dose tested