Niacinamide: The Ingredient Stealing The Show in Skincare This Year
Niacinamide is becoming a hot topic once again in the world of skincare for its multitude of incredible benefits and tolerance of almost all skin types. As we enter into an era of skinimalism and prioritizing targeted, high-quality skincare ingredients that allow our regimes to simplify without sacrificing results, niacinamide is an ingredient that should not be overlooked in your routine. Whether your skin focus is treating acne, calming rosacea, minimizing texture and pore appearance, or anti-aging, niacinamide can help you get there. Let’s talk about why this ingredient is exploding in the world of skincare right now and what products you can find it in.
What is Niacinamide?
Niacinamide is a B vitamin (vitamin B3) known for its protective and hydrating benefits for the skin barrier (haven’t you heard? 2025 is the year of the skin barrier!) Niacinamide is a skincare ingredient known to help calm the skin, reduce redness and inflammation, minimize pore appearance, address environmental damage, and balance oil production. Niacinamide is well tolerated by most skin types, even particularly sensitive skin can benefit from niacinamide. One of our favourite uses of niacinamide is for soothing inflamed acne and calming associated redness, as well as greatly improving PIE (post-inflammatory erythema) from acne scarring and minimizing the appearance of pores that may appear stretched due to trapped bacteria.
Skin Types That Can Benefit From Niacinamide
To put it simply, pretty much all skin types can benefit from this powerhouse ingredient. Oily skin types can reap the benefits of oil control that niacinamide provides, dry skin types can soak in the hydration and soothing benefits of niacinamide, sensitive skin types can benefit from the redness reduction and skin barrier repair that niacinamide is known for, and acne skin types… well I think we have made our case there already. Niacinamide keeps the skin well-hydrated, and plump, and promotes a smooth complexion making it equally effective for mature skin types wanting to minimize signs of aging.
How Often Can You Use Niacinamide On Your Skin?
Niacinamide is not typically an ingredient that needs to be slowly integrated or used with caution. We advise clients to use their niacinamide products once or twice daily (depending on the formulation and provided there is no known sensitivity or allergy to the ingredient) to reap all its benefits!
Niacinamide Vs Hyaluronic Acid
While both have plumping and hydrating benefits, they are not a “pick one or the other” situation, but rather they work in harmony together. Hyaluronic acid’s primary job is to draw moisture into the skin for hydration, while niacinamide works to retain moisture along with its other incredible benefits. Both niacinamide and hyaluronic acid are commonly found in facial serums which means you can layer them to ramp up your hydration levels, especially in these dry winter months when the skin’s natural moisture barrier can weaken. As we age it also becomes difficult to keep up a plump, youthful appearance. Without adequate hydration, our skin barrier becomes susceptible to showing signs of aging like fine lines, laxity, and dullness, and has a harder time keeping out bacteria and healing from skin treatments such as laser peels and microneedling. In short, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid work as a duo and some ultra-nourishing serums like AlumierMD’s Ultimate Boost Serum contain both ingredients in one product!
Niacinamide and Other Powerful Ingredients
Niacinamide can be used with several other powerhouses like vitamin C, peptides, and even retinol.
Niacinamide and Retinol: Retinol, while we are a huge fan and are consistently impressed with the results, can irritate the skin and cause sensitivity, especially in new users. Sandwiching your retinol in between a soothing niacinamide serum and moisturizer is a great way to reduce irritation while still reaping the benefits. Niacinamide and retinol share some of the same skin benefits: bumping up hydration, plumping and promoting a youthful appearance, controlling oil production and improving texture making them a dynamic duo.
Niacinamide and Vitamin C: If anti-aging / preventative aging is your biggest priority this year, this is going to be the serum duo for you! Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that works to brighten the complexion and protect the skin barrier from environmental and free radical damage (think UV rays and pollution, especially in large cities). Vitamin C acts as a shield against unwanted pigmentation and signs of aging. Combine this with niacinamide’s ability to also address environmental damage while plumping and smoothing the skin, and you are on your way to a healthier, younger-looking complexion!
Discover one of our top selling Vitamin C Serums by AlumierMD. An award-winning, potent blend of 15% Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and MATRIXYL SYNTHE’6 (a powerful peptide).
What Type of Formulations Contain Niacinamide?
Niacinamide is found in a variety of formulations including toners, serums, moisturizers, SPF, and even face masks. Depending on your skin regime and type, the right formulation to incorporate niacinamide will vary. Here are some of our favourite top-sellers that contain niacinamide and are results-driven:
AlumierMD Bright & Clear Solution - Step aside traditional toners, this invigorating solution does everything a toner is supposed to and more!
AlumierMD Ultimate Boost Serum – Remember when we said 2025 is the year of the skin barrier? This ultra-silky hydrating serum restores hydration, vibrancy, and youthfulness to even the driest of skin barriers.
AlumierMD HydraDew Moisturizer – The perfect medium-weight moisturizer for dry winter months. Enriched with peptides, HydraDew not only moisturizers but targets fine lines and wrinkles for preventative aging.
The world of beauty and skincare is trending towards minimalism this year; minimal makeup (or a “no-makeup” look) and ditching unnecessary skincare, bringing us back to the basics with our skincare regimes that achieve maximum results with fewer steps. Skincare experts are taking a second look at ingredients that do more with less and have particularly positive benefits for the skin barrier to achieve the coveted glow and skin confidence we are all searching for. Niacinamide won’t be buried in ingredient lists any longer as its incredible versatility is gaining the right kind of attention this year.
References
Cleveland Clinic. December 19, 2022. Top 6 Benefits of Niacinamide.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/niacinamide
Paula’s Choice. (Stordahl, D., May 29, 2024). Niacinamide For Skin.
Everyday Health. (Migala, J., June 29, 2024). Niacinamide 101: Potential Benefits, Known Risks, and More.
https://www.everydayhealth.com/skin-beauty/niacinamide/
Paula’s Choice. (Santaella-Lam, M., July 25, 2024). Can You Use Retinol and Niacinamide Together?
AlumierMD.
https://ca.alumiermd.com/products/everactive-c-e-peptide-single
https://ca.alumiermd.com/products/bright-and-clear-solution?_pos=1&_sid=31871d83c&_ss=r
https://ca.alumiermd.com/products/hydradew?_pos=1&_sid=3d3e61619&_ss=r
