Niacinamide vs. Vitamin C: Which One You Should Use
Stubborn dull skin, uneven skin tone, dark spots, and hyperpigmentation are niacinamide and vitamin C patients. Incorporating both niacinamide and vitamin C can give you the optimum result!
What is niacinamide?
Niacinamide, or nicotinamide, is one form of vitamin B3. Vitamin B3 itself is called niacin or nicotinic acid and comes in two types of forms, which are the niacinamide we’re talking about now and inositol hexanicotinate. Those two forms have different effects, hence niacinamide is different from niacin.
Niacinamide is generally well tolerated by every skin type and has a low risk of side effects. If you’re a newbie in niacinamide or have sensitive skin, you can start by using a 5% concentration first. However, some side effects that possibly come are irritation, redness, and itching.
Niacinamide benefits
While being famous for its ability to brighten skin, niacinamide actually can do more for you. So, what does niacinamide do?
- Niacinamide helps to lighten dark spots, hyperpigmentation, and uneven skin tone.
- Reduces signs of aging like wrinkles, fine lines, sallowness, and sun spots.
- Minimizes pore appearance.
- Balancing oil production and unclogging pores.
- Retain moisture in your skin.
What niacinamide works best with
If you are seeking the glowy, plumpy, healthy skin feeling in the morning, you have to try this layering combination: hyaluronic acid and retinol. Hyaluronic acid before niacinamide can result in plump and hydrated skin, whereas niacinamide combined with retinol possibly results in minimized pores and even skin tone.
What is vitamin C?
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps your body to fight free radicals like air pollution. Those toxins can steal electrons from your skin cells and damage your skin. Your body also needs vitamin C to help in building collagen, the vital component of healthy tissues, and also essential for youthful skin. However, the human body doesn’t store water-soluble substances like niacinamide and vitamin C. You need to get it regularly from your diet and topically apply it.
If you have oily skin, you can benefit most from vitamin C. Vitamin C is not recommended if you have dry and sensitive skin or some skin conditions such as eczema, though. But no worries, you can still try the ones with a pH level of 5 to 6, closest to your natural pH level. Also, use the ones with lower concentration first like 10% concentration.
Vitamin C benefits for your skin
While having similar effectiveness on brightening skin as niacinamide, vitamin C still offers other benefits.
- Vitamin C effectively inhibits melanin production which can darken your skin, thus fading hyperpigmentation, dark spots, and uneven skin tones.
- Boosts collagen production and prevents signs of aging, such as fine lines and wrinkles.
- Protects skin from sun damage and free radicals.
- Seals in hydration in your skin.
What vitamin C works best with
Complement your vitamin C with other antioxidants like ferulic acid to fight sun damage more effectively. Vitamin E also works wonders with vitamin C in protecting your skin from sun damage and free radicals. Remember that if you’re going to apply vitamin C in the morning, or basically under the sunlight, you have to always use your SPF.
So which one works better in brightening my skin? Niacinamide or vitamin C?
Both ingredients work great with dark spots and hyperpigmentation. However, vitamin C can be more harsh for sensitive skin. Use the ones with the right amount of concentration percentage to avoid irritation! Anyway, if you want the best of both worlds, just use both of them! If you have acne-prone skin, you can use niacinamide first as it is considered more gentle, and start using vitamin C to fade away post-acne scars.
Using both niacinamide and vitamin C for the best result
Note that they’re not recommended to be used together in layers. “So, how can I use them?” Use niacinamide in your night skincare and vitamin C in your morning skincare routine, or do a skin cycling method. Just don’t use them together.
Using niacinamide with its best combo pairs I’ve mentioned before would surely give you the best feeling in the morning. On the next morning, you can apply vitamin C before moisturizer and SPF. Make sure to always use your sunscreen after vitamin C.
