Niacinamide: Why you need this all-star skincare ingredient in your daily routine

Niacinamide: Why you need this all-star skincare ingredient in your daily routine

Meet the quiet ingredient that’s part of many skincare serums, creams and sunscreens in stores now. It’s not much of a celebrity, definitely without the glorified haloes that surround the original legends – A-listers retinol and vitamin C, there in the corner. But it seems, niacinamide is a star performer like no other. We’re talking hydration, strengthening and growing your skin barrier and anti-acne, antioxidant, anti-ageing and anti-hyperpigmentation action for smoother, radiant skin. But how exactly does it work, and should you add it to your routine? We speak to UAE-based dermatologists to find out. “Niacinamide, also called nicotinamide, is the physiologically active form of vitamin B3 (niacin), an essential nutrient that supports many cellular processes,” explains Dr Shaymaa Metwaly Refaey Metwaly Ibrahim, specialist dermatologist at Saudi German hospital, Dubai. The water-soluble vitamin has a host of important functions – including keeping skin healthy. It can be taken as a supplement but you can meet your body’s needs for it through diet in sources like green leafy vegetables, wheat, oat, meat, liver, palm kernel oil, mushrooms, yeast, legumes, nuts, milk, fish, tea and coffee, adds Dr Ibrahim. So, where does topical application of the vitamin come in? “Clinical trials show