The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% On your shelf ✓
Our read, 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.
Skip it if you already own something similar: it's a solid, honest basic rather than a must-have upgrade.
The formula, drawn
Every ingredient in label order, coloured by the job it 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
- No fragrance anywhere on the label
What it delivers
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)
What's in it that matters
Multitasking vitamin that improves barrier, reduces redness, regulates oil, helps with pores and pigmentation with strong clinical support.
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.
How to use it
Morning and/or night, after your thinner water-based steps and before heavier creams.
Where it acts
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.
Against 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.
The full ingredients list, decoded
Every ingredient on the label, in the order it appears (highest amount first). We link the 9 our library knows, name what each one does, and flag anything that can irritate or clog. The rest we leave plain, nothing is hidden.
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
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.
Compare it with…
All 23 comparisons
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 (Original Formulation)
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 (with Ceramides)
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary Retinol 0.5% in Squalane
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary Azelaic Acid Suspension 10%
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Suractivated Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Eucerin Anti-Pigment Dual Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG Eye Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 5% in Squalane
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Geek & Gorgeous A-Game 10
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Celimax The Vita A Retinal Shot Tightening Booster
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Medicube PDRN Pink Peptide Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Medik8 Liquid Peptides
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Torriden DIVE-IN Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Beauty of Joseon Glow Deep Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs iUNIK Beta Glucan Power Moisture Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Anua Niacinamide 10% + TXA 4% Serum
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs The Ordinary GF 15% Solution
- Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% vs Vichy Minéral 89 Hyaluronic Acid Booster
Common questions
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.
