The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% On your shelf ✓
€0.04 an application · about 150 usesOur review, in one look
Niacinamide is the reason to consider this serum, with Zinc PCA behind it.
The case for it
- Niacinamide, strong evidence for the barrier
- Zinc PCA, moderate evidence for oil and breakouts
- No fragrance, alcohol, silicones or parabens
Mind this
- Morning or evening, whichever suits your routine
- Add it on its own for a week or two, so you know what your skin is answering to
Maya's readThe Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% is a serum built around Niacinamide, Zinc PCA and Pentylene Glycol. It leans strongest on barrier repair, brightening / tone, oil-control & blemishes. Best suited to oily, combo and dry skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
Cost per use: what a day of it costs
€0.04 an applicationabout 150 uses from 30 ml
a usual amount, not a measured dose: 3-5 drops, about 0.2 ml; from €6 as read in September 2026 and a 30 ml pack.
how this is counted
About €0.04 an application, about 150 uses from 30 ml.
- a convention: no trial has measured a serum dose
- Measured or assumed: the rule, and the dose table
Skip it if you already own something similar: it's a solid, honest basic rather than a must-have upgrade.
Fragrance, texture and film: what the label says of its feel
- fragrance-free by the label: no parfum, none of the 26
- a serum in a dropper bottle
- no film-former or occlusive named on the label
- no silicone on the label
- no plant or mineral oil on the label
Facts off the label and the pack only. How it feels on a face is not something this page will say without having used it.
The formula, in order
every ingredient at its place on the label
Coloured by the job each one does here.
6 of the 11 sit above the 1% line. The other 5, hatched, are each under 1%. Widths show the ORDER on the label and nothing else: the label never discloses amounts, so we never draw them.
- Actives & signals
- Texture & base
- Preservation
- Not in our library yet
- did not feed it
- No fragrance anywhere on the label
Fungal acne: what on this label feeds the yeast (Malassezia)
the yeast: Malassezia furfur, globosa, restricta
Nothing on this label was measured to feed Malassezia.
Each result is a pure ingredient on a lab dish, never this product on skin.
What does it do? What its ingredients deliver
How it feels A light, fast-absorbing texture that layers cleanly under the rest of your routine, with no greasy film. (estimated from the formula)
Key ingredients: what in it does the work
Multitasking vitamin that improves barrier, reduces redness, regulates oil, helps with pores and pigmentation with strong clinical support.
Niacinamide: Give it two to four weeks: that is when the change first became measurable.
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
Zinc salt of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid that reduces sebum and provides antimicrobial and anti inflammatory support with good tolerability.
Short chain diol that works as a light humectant, co solvent and preservative booster. It keeps a formula less sticky and microbially stable while hydrating the outer layers.
What only this label says
≈ €0.20/ml, below the median serum in our catalogue (€0.57/ml).
why
~€6 for 30 ml, checked September 2026; the median of the 47 serums in the catalogue with a known size.
Niacinamide is the 2nd of 11 ingredients: above the 1% line.
why
Position 2 of 11 on the label as printed; compared with the 111 other labels in the catalogue that carry a vitamin.
Niacinamide is declared at 10%: above the 2% the trials used.
why
Every vehicle-controlled reading sits at 2 to 5%. Declared on the name.
why
Actives our base knows on both labels: Niacinamide and Pentylene Glycol.
1 of the 3 actives carries strong evidence in our base (Niacinamide); Zinc PCA and Pentylene Glycol are moderate.
why
evidence_level in our base, per row, as printed on each glossary page.
Water, then niacinamide: a water-led base.
why
The first two ingredients on the label, in the order printed; the second's role is read from its name (a row in our base).
Fragrance allergens: the ones this label names
This label names none of the 26 EU fragrance allergens. What the 26 are →
How to use it, and when
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
Where in your skin it works
1 of its 2 placed actives acts below the dead surface layer, 1 on or in it: the same cross-section as our 500 dalton page, with this formula's actives on the layer each one works on. Depth is the anatomy's, never an ingredient's.
Skin surface
The stratum corneum
- Pentylene Glycolderived from what it is
The living epidermis
- Niacinamideestablished, sourced
2 of this product's actives have a layer we can defend. 1 did not, so it is not on the diagram: no source and no honest derivation means no dot.
Sources for the sourced ones: Boo 2021: mechanistic basis for topical nicotinamide; Ebanks et al. 2009: mechanisms regulating skin pigmentation.
How it compares with the average serum
It scores higher than the median serum on oil control.
It gives up ground on hydration.
A median, not an average: one unusual formula should not move the middle. The numbers are the same 0 to 10 reads the comparison pages use.
Full ingredients list, decoded
9 of these 11 ingredients are in our library, linked and named for what each one does, with anything that can irritate or clog flagged; the 2 we cannot place are left plain, nothing is hidden. Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first).
All 11 ingredients, decoded
- Aqua (Water)Solvent (base)
- NiacinamideVitaminmild irritant
- Pentylene GlycolHumectant
- Zinc PCAZinc salt
- Dimethyl IsosorbideSolvent
- Tamarindus Indica Seed GumPlant oil / butter (emollient)
- roughly the 1% lineThe rules only require descending order above 1%. From Xanthan Gum down, these 5 can be listed in any order the brand likes, so position stops telling you anything.
- Xanthan GumThickener
- Isoceteth-20Emulsifier
- EthoxydiglycolSolvent
- PhenoxyethanolPreservativemild irritant
- ChlorphenesinPreservative
Copy the raw INCI list
Aqua (Water), Niacinamide, Pentylene Glycol, Zinc PCA, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Tamarindus Indica Seed Gum, Xanthan Gum, Isoceteth-20, Ethoxydiglycol, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin
Worried about clogged pores specifically? The pore-clogging checker reads this same list against the published comedogenic ratings.
Add it to your shelf and the app puts it in the right step and checks it against what you already use.
Read enough? Find it on amazon.com →
We don't make or sell skincare of our own. So there's nothing here we're trying to push, just an honest read of whether this formula suits your skin.
Against your shelf
Read from your own shelf, in your browser. We never see it.
Dupes? The closest formulas we have
The one product of the same kind sharing the most of its 3 actives. A count, not a likeness: the rest of each label, its base and its preservation, is what the count leaves out.
shares 2 of its 3 actives
Compare it with…
28 duels are built for this serum, The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 (Original Formulation) and Geek & Gorgeous A-Game 10 among them: type a name, or pick one below.
Common questions
Is The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% expensive per ml?
≈ €0.20/ml, below the median serum in our catalogue (€0.57/ml). A price per millilitre says nothing about what the formula does; it only tells you how the bottle compares with the others of its kind we have priced.
How high up the list is the niacinamide in The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%?
Niacinamide is the 2nd of 11 ingredients: above the 1% line. Position is the only amount the law makes a brand declare, so 2nd of 11 is the one number on this label a reader can check.
Is 10% niacinamide more than you need?
Niacinamide is declared at 10%: above the 2% the trials used. The trials are the only measure of enough there is; a number on the front of a bottle is the maker's choice.
What is the base of The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%?
Water, then niacinamide: a water-led base. The first ingredients are the bulk of a formula; the actives come after them.
Is The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% good for oily skin?
By our read of the formula, it suits oily, combo, dry skin. The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% is a serum built around Niacinamide, Zinc PCA and Pentylene Glycol. It leans strongest on barrier repair, brightening / tone, oil-control & blemishes. Best suited to oily, combo and dry skin. Nothing in it we'd flag for most people.
How do you use The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%?
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
What are the key ingredients in The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%?
The actives that do the work are Niacinamide, Zinc PCA, Pentylene Glycol. The rest of the list is texture, preservatives and emulsifiers that hold the formula together.
Does The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% contain fragrance?
No. By our reading of the ingredient list it is fragrance-free, which is a plus for sensitive or reactive skin.
What the 3D scene shows
The scene shows The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% beside a cross-section of skin, with 2 of its ingredients drawn at the layer each one acts on and at one shared molecular scale: Pentylene Glycol in the stratum corneum, the dead outer layer where most skincare works; Niacinamide in the living epidermis, among the cells that are still dividing. Depths come from the same sourced layer data as the rest of this site, and any ingredient whose layer is not established is left out rather than guessed.
The Ordinary prints: 10% niacinamide, 1% zinc PCA. Read on the brand's own product page, 2026-08-10.
