In the world of skincare, you can easily come across products with certain key ingredients that target specific skincare concerns. The most common skin concerns differ among different skin types—oily skin suffers from too much sebum, acne-prone skin suffers from acne scars, and sensitive skin types suffer from irritation.
Some people suffer from multiple skin concerns and need multiple skincare products to treat their problems. But here’s the good news—if you want an answer to your skin problems, there are two key ingredients that can help you.
And that is Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid.
Strolling along the skincare aisles, you may have come across products that contain niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. You would be surprised by how many products have them: how good and effective they are in treating the skin!
Both of these ingredients are some of the best ingredients you can put on your skin. If you find a product that contains one of these, the chances are that they will be super effective for your skin. These two are also suitable for all skin types, so you will have no worries about making your skin worse.
If you are confused or want to know more about these two, don’t worry, because we’ll be discussing both to see what the difference is between the two of them.
What is Niacinamide?
Let us start with Niacinamide. What is it exactly? What makes it a good ingredient in skincare?
Niacinamide is a type of vitamin B3, which our body needs to function normally. It is also sometimes referred to as nicotinamide. This is not to be confused with niacin—they are not the same, but they are two types of vitamin B3. Niacin is naturally occurring in our body, and when there is too much niacin in the body, the excess amount is converted into niacinamide.
Usage & Benefits
The benefits of niacinamide to the body include building proteins in the skin and lock in the moisture, and form a barrier to protect the skin from external stressors. It has also been used as a topical medicine for acne and eczema.
This vitamin works effectively to minimize the appearance of pores, even out your complexion, and fight visible signs of aging. No wonder it’s a popular ingredient for skincare products! It has the power to strengthen the skin’s barrier so it can fight off all sorts of environmental stressors such as dust, dirt, and harsh sunlight.
Niacinamide is very easy to add to your skincare regimen because it is compatible with other skincare ingredients. You can even have an entire routine with all-niacinamide products. This is because it is non-sensitizing, and there is no risk involved when using multiple niacinamide formulas. Because of this, all skin types can freely use it with no problems. Skin that is prone to irritation and rosacea are also safe to use this vitamin.
Basically, what this vitamin does is strengthen our skin to fight against stressors and keep the skin healthy by helping it lock moisture into the skin and keep it from escaping. By keeping our skin healthy, niacinamide has a brightening effect that shows the skin’s healthy condition. If you notice that your skin is more glowing than usual, you have niacinamide to thank for that!
A healthy skin is a beautiful, radiant skin.
Drawbacks?
It seems as if there are no negatives to niacinamide, right?
Yes, it is safe to use, but it’s recommended that you use it in low concentrations. The suggested amount is 1% to 2% because higher concentrations can lead to irritation. So, take note of how much niacinamide content there is in your skincare products. Always make sure that your skin is safe from high concentrations of the vitamin.
Overall, niacinamide is a great ingredient to have in your skincare products. Naturally, products usually only contain a small amount of niacinamide for it to be effective, so there is no need to stress about its concentration. It is also usually mixed with other ingredients such as retinol, vitamin C, AHAs, and all sorts of antioxidants to help make it more effective in solving skin problems.
Looking at the effects of niacinamide, it can be gathered that it benefits acne-prone skin the most because of its strong healing abilities. Acne-prone skin usually deals with a lot of acne scars and inflamed pimples, so niacinamide can easily take care of that and help lessen their appearance.
Here are some products that contain Niacinamide:
The Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops
This serum is amazing at brightening your skin and keeping it hydrated. True to the brand name, it really makes your skin glow naturally without any shimmer or white cast. The Niacinamide in the formula does its job very well and effectively takes care of any hyperpigmentation in the skin.
MEDI-PEEL Niacinamide W3 Toning Spot Cream
This is a spot treatment for acne scars, dark spots, and other impurities. Niacinamide is, of course, very well known to be effective at wound healing, and it shows the power in this spot cream. Just a dab of this on your skin will instantly fade away impurities and make your skin brighter and clearer.
You can also read our list on:
What is Hyaluronic Acid?
Here is one of the most popular ingredients in skincare—the trusty Hyaluronic Acid!
Now, what do we know about it? Most people probably only know that it’s good and nothing else. So, let us talk about what actually makes Hyaluronic Acid a good ingredient to put into skincare products.
Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance in our body, just like collagen. It is found throughout our body’s connective tissues. It is basically sugar that gives our skin structure and helps keeps it plump and hydrated.
Skincare products designed specifically to hydrate and moisturize the skin typically have hyaluronic acid in their formulas. But wait, if it is naturally found in our body, why do we have to keep putting it on our skin?
Good question. The answer is: as we age, the amount of hyaluronic acid produced in our body will lessen, and by using products with this ingredient, we keep our skin hydrated, healthy, and younger-looking.
Usage & Benefits
Hyaluronic acid will make your skin appear dewier and younger because it improves skin elasticity.
When the skin’s elasticity is maintained, this will prevent signs of aging from appearing, such as wrinkles and fine lines. A plump skin is free of these impurities, and it’s all thanks to hyaluronic acid!
This ingredient is popular amongst moisturizing products because of its powerful moisturizing abilities. There are hundreds of products out there that have hyaluronic acid as its key ingredient, and they all work to keep the skin’s hydration intact. And because it is already powerful by itself, you really don’t need to layer it with another hyaluronic product because one is already enough.
People with dry skin can really benefit from products with hyaluronic acid because of its powerful moisturizing effects. It maintains the skin’s elasticity so your skin will stay hydrated and look young and plump.
Here are a couple of great products that contain Hyaluronic Acid:
COSRX Hyaluronic Acid Intensive Cream
This cream has a large amount of hyaluronic acid and is amazing at moisturizing the skin deeply and putting up a moisture barrier to keep it from escaping. It prevents the loss of hydration and repairs dry skin. Its intensive care makes it a great moisturizer to plump up and maintain your skin’s moisture.
This serum is a good addition to your skincare routine because of its powerful moisturizing effects. Its infusion of 90% hyaluronic acid boosts the skin’s hydration and keeps the wrinkles and fines lines at bay. This is the perfect product to use at the end of your skincare routine. You can be sure that it will leave you with perfectly hydrated and plump skin.
Conclusion
Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid are two ingredients that cater to different skin types.
- Niacinamide is best suited for those with acne-prone skin who suffer from scars, dark spots, and other impurities.
- Hyaluronic Acid is better suited for dry skin or for people who have flaky skin and dry patches.
They are completely different ingredients, but their effectiveness is something they have in common. Although they have different abilities, they are proven to help specific skincare concerns properly and solve them almost instantly. The fact that you can mix them with other skincare ingredients is great because you can have the best of all worlds.
So, to end this, if you are looking for a skin brightening and healing product, go for a niacinamide serum, if you want to take a look, here’s our list of the best Korean niacinamide serum.
And if you are looking to solve your skin dryness, look for a hyaluronic moisturizer.
Both are great ingredients, and everyone can benefit from adding them to their skincare regimen.
And that’s it! It’s up to you now which ingredient your skin will like the most.
Take care and have a happy skin day!
