Niacinamide for your skin. When? Why? And how to DIY!
Yes! Niacinamide is great! And you can make your own niacinamide skin care easily: just add it to Skin Actives base spray and serum. It’s very soluble in water, one of those few actives that it’s easy to use on your own.
Niacinamide is a frequent ingredient in skincare, and for good reasons: it’s a vitamin, so it will be useful even at very low concentrations. It has many more benefits for the skin, so read on!
Figure. Chemical structure of niacinamide (nicotinamide)
Why a vitamin?
No niacinamide, no NAD+, no respiration! Niacinamide is one of the components of NADPH (reduced niacinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) the coenzyme that provides the reducing power required to build new molecules in the human body. Niacinamide is also part of NAD (like NADP but without the extra phosphate), the molecule that is wherever carbohydrates and other foodstuffs are oxidized (respired) to make energy.Niacinamide and niacin are not synthesized in the human body and, therefore, must be supplied externally (this is why we call niacin a vitamin), either through the diet or through topical application (or, better, both).
How many skin benefits?
Even when following a normal healthy diet, topical application of niacinamide will increase the synthesis of collagen, keratin, involucrin, and filaggrin.
Niacinamide may be beneficial in treating psoriasis. It’s also been used to treat acne, rosacea, autoimmune blistering disorders, aging skin, and atopic dermatitis
Niacinamide (vitamin B3) benefits skin color and decreases melanin synthesis (important for hyperpigmentation); decreases inflammation, itching (pruritus), and UV-induced skin cancers; and prevents immunosuppression by UV irradiation. In the right conditions, by increasing NADPH, the donor of reducing power in cell biosynthesis, niacinamide, will increase collagen synthesis, involucrin, filaggrin, and keratin.
Topical application of niacinamide will decrease pruritus and inflammation, help acne-affected skin, decrease oiliness, alleviate atopic dermatitis, decrease UV-induced skin cancers and help decrease facial pigmentation. These are just a few of the beneficial effects of topical application of niacinamide to the skin, and it would be suspicious that there are so many were it not for the crucial role of this chemical in human metabolism.
Niacinamide (vitamin B3) and active soy extract are part of the group of ingredients that works by inhibiting melanosome transfer:
Skin Actives products that contain niacinamide include
…and many more
Do It Yourself niacinamide
You can get niacinamide (pure) at Skin Actives
Add it to Base Toner spray
Add it to Base serum
Have fun and enjoy your healthier skin!
Hannah
References
Bissett, Donald L.; Oblong, John E.; Berge, Cynthia A. (2005) Niacinamide: a B vitamin that improves aging facial skin appearance. Dermatologic Surgery, 31: 860-865. DOI: 10.1111/j.1524-4725.2005.31732
Draelos ZD, Ertel K, Berge C. (2005) Niacinamide-containing facial moisturizer improves skin barrier and benefits subjects with rosacea. Cutis 76: 135–41.
Hakozaki T, Minwalla L, Zhuang J et al. (2002) The effect of niacinamide on reducing cutaneous pigmentation and suppression of melanosome transfer. Br. J. Dermatol. 2002; 147: 20–31.
Kawada A, Konishi N, Oiso N et al. (2008) Evaluation of anti-wrinkle effects of a novel cosmetic containing niacinamide. J. Dermatol.; 35: 637–42.
Kimball, A. B., Kaczvinsky, J. R., Li, J., Robinson, L. R., Matts, P. J.Berge, C. A.Miyamoto, K.)Bissett, D. L. (2010) Reduction in the appearance of facial hyperpigmentation after use of moisturizers with a combination of topical niacinamide and N-acetyl glucosamine: results of a randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled trial. British J Dermatology 162: 435-441
Namazi MR (2003). “Nicotinamide: a potential addition to the anti-psoriatic weaponry”. FASEB Journal. 17: 1377–9.
Namazi, Mohammad R. (2007) Nicotinamide in dermatology: a capsule summary.International Journal of Dermatology, 46:1229-1231. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2007.03519.x
Niren NM. (2006) Pharmacologic doses of nicotinamide in the treatment of inflammatory skin conditions: a review. Cutis 2006; 77: 11–6
Shalita AR, Smith JG, Parish LC et al. (1995) Topical nicotinamide compared with clindamycin gel in the treatment of inflammatory acne vulgaris. Int. J. Dermatol. 34: 434–7
Soma Y, Kashima M, Imaizumi A et al. (2005) Moisturizing effects of topical nicotinamide on atopic dry skin. Int. J. Dermatol; 44: 197–202.
Tanno O, Ota Y, Kitamura N et al. (2000) Nicotinamide increases biosynthesis of ceramides as well as other stratum corneum lipids to improve the epidermal permeability barrier. Br. J. Dermatol.; 143: 524–31.
Ungerstedt JS, Blomback M, Soderstrom T. (2003) Nicotinamide is a potent inhibitor of proinflammatory cytokines. Clin. Exp. Immunol. 2003; 131: 48–52.
DISCLAIMER: These claims have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease.