The Tea on Niacinamide

This post is sponsored by Olay. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Nowadays we’re hearing a lot more about niacinamide, and for some of you it might be your first time hearing about this multi-tasking skincare ingredient. But niacinamide has actually been around for a while and can even provide receipts of its great-for-skin properties. It might already be in some of your favorite skincare products like it’s in one of mine, Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream.

What is niacinamide and what does it do?

Niacinamide aka vitamin B3 helps to improve the skin’s look and health over time. Here are a few things it can do:

• Increase hydration by strengthening the skin’s barrier. A strengthened skin barrier is better able to hold in much needed hydration. Think of it like Spanx but without the restrictive feel…lol.
• Improve the look of fine lines and wrinkles. This ties into the whole strengthening the skin barrier part. The more protected and nurtured your barrier is, the smoother your skin will look and your fine lines and wrinkles will look less apparent.
• Curbs shine. Niacinamide helps to curb the production of sebum which brings us to the next point…
• Improves skin’s texture and pore size. So you know how shiny clothing can tend to show EVERY lump and bump? Shiny skin reflects light in a way that can make texture and pores more noticeable. So by curbing sebum, niacinamide also helps texture and pores less noticeable.

What’s also great about niacinamide is that most people can use it without irritation and it tends to play nicely with the other products in your skincare routine including vitamin C.

Turn the label around and you’ll see that a lot of our favorite skincare products contain niacinamide. I’ve been using Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream for a few years now and in addition to niacinamide, it also contains hyaluronic acid, amino peptides, and other amazing ingredients.

According to Good Housekeeping, Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream hydrates the skin “400%better than creams 18 times the price.” And I certainly agree, before the infamous “red jar” came into my life, I was set on a particular bougie moisturizer with a close to three figure price tag. It worked really well for my skin though, but I’d be a damn fool to keep spending that kind of money on moisturizer when something less than the price of a weekly MetroCard works just as good or even better.

When it comes to niacinamide, Olay is true to this not new to this. The brand’s beauty scientists have been studying niacinamide for 25 years. They’ve perfected the process so that niacinamide goes deep into the skin and work its magic to aid in the skin’s regeneration process. If your niacinamide product isn’t formulated correctly, it can’t get to where it needs to go and your skin gets no benefit. It’s kinda like hating from outside the club when you can’t get in if you think about it.

I typically use Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream at night year-round. I use the Fragrance-Free formula, but it comes in a ton of formulas including ones with SPF and in the lightweight Whips. During the colder months, I add it into my rotation during the day and either apply my fave sunscreen on top or switch over to its multi-tasking cousin Olay Regenerist Whip SPF 40.

So that’s a bit of tea on niacinamide and some more scoop on one of my favorite moisturizers. Have any questions about niacinamide? Leave em below!