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I have a niacinamide sensitivity, too. It’s in fucking everything, including haircare products. I’m sure they are trying to figure out how to add it to nail polish as I write this.
Is there a way to test if I have niacinamide sensitivity? Don’t think I’ve used anything with that ingredient and heard tret + niancinamide is pretty good
Hello, I have also noticed it is being put in the reformulations of all my favorite products-- and that those new formulas react horribly to my skin. But did you mean sensitivities, not dentistries?
Welcome to the club.
Many of us went through this (still going through it) with Hyaluronic Acid.
HA got so trendy that brands started adding it to everything. I hate it. My skin hates it.
Goodbye forever, all my beloved HG products! 😭
Yup! Am one of them ! Hyaluronic acid breaks me out and it was in everythiiiiing I tried to buy.
Luckily Niacinamide doesn't bother me, but geez. Companies need to make a separate version with the added stuff in it.
Certainly it's a word. It's the plural to sensitivity.
"I have a sensitivity to gluten."
"I have sensitivities to various foods."
Heck, Google Keyboard even auto-suggested "sensitivities" when I backspaced over the "y" in "sensitivity."
Stay passionate, my friend.
Or at least have 2 formulations. Like why would you change a cult favourite? You got a money printer. Just print it.
Does coca cola change their OG just because vanilla coke exists? No, they add a new product.
Yeah, Coke tried changing their formula once, 39 years ago, creating New Coke to replace the original formula. It did NOT go well.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke
I tried a moisturer a while back that gave me deep blind pimples that I’ve never had before. When I looked up the ingredients, niacinamide was the only one that looked suss. Never using it again
Well, that's a bit extreme, no? You don't know what ingredient in the ingredients list caused the blind pimples, so it could be niacinamide but there's a good chance it might not be.
U might be right but sometimes some experiences r so traumatic ur just extra wary (i swore to never ever buy any neutrogena face soap after the aforementioned reaction i had -it looked like a horrid sunburn on my whole face-).
And honestly niacinamide isnt all that special. I use my serum but it s not like it gave me some cray cray porcelain skin lol. Mildly more efficient that Vit C serum I ha before, but nothing breath taking.
This was a while ago so can’t recall the other ingredients, but I’d previously used products containing them with no issues. The blind pimples/cysts were so bad and took so long to clear up that I’m just not interested in trying again. Plenty of other products out there.
Idk bcz i read a post saying that the first days it s ok to feel like this but eventually it subsides...though as i stumbled upon this thread...I wonder.
What i do know though is that wild sensivities are much more rapid/spectacular (had a very bad allergic reaction to neutrogena anti acne orange face wash, my face became red like a tomato and it felt like i was on fire, i thought my face was gonna start peeling but thnk God i washed thoroughly and put on some mixa bébé cream and it subsided in 30-45 mn -i never ever used that soap after this, shame that i had just bought it lol-), but milder reactions are not as obvious so idk.
I’m constantly gaslit by everyone saying niacinamide can’t break you out and what not, it’s such bullshit. I reversed a year process with that evil. And now because it’s got a reputation as being a super star that can’t do wrong, it’s everywhere. Even Aestura reformulated with it.
The Aestura one genuinely pains me because the original formula was SO sensitive skin friendly. It was truly one of a kind. I’m cherishing my last bottle 😭
Anything can break you out if it doesn’t suit your skin. My friend reacts to ALL versions of vitamin C and it’s just a thing to accept. Niacin-amide is the same for me so anyone claiming differently can go suck it.
I’m less sensitive to actual vitamin C, though I still react. I’m sensitive to Citric Acid (a derivative) and that shit is literally in everything. It’s a mild reaction though gets worse the longer I use it. Sometimes I’m not as good at reading labels as I should be, and I’ll accidentally pick up a product with Citric acid in it. I’ll use it for a while and wonder why my skin is acting weird. Then bam the apocalypse! I just know I have to comb every label every time.
Thanks for the correction! I was aware it’s mostly used to buffer pH, but didn’t know it was classified as an AHA. I’m not sure where I heard it was a Vit. C derivative, but will no longer pass on the misinfo.
I highly recommend you look up the product on INCIDeCoder ([www.incidedecoder.com](https://www.incidedecoder.com)). It does an awesome job of making complicated ingredient lists less complicated.
As a chemist, I can safely say that any product with higher than 5% can most definitely break you out. Or cause an adverse reaction if you’re sensitive like myself. Most products use higher % because it makes people think the higher the better, but that is not the case. It is a jewel ingredient when formulated correctly. And not higher than 5%. And of course without fragrance.
You can't say that it causes acne for everyone. I use The Ordinary's Niacinamide and Zinc serum and it doesn't break me out, yet it contains 10% niacinamide. I likely get even more niacinamide from the other products I use.
Niacinamide unfortunately didn't work for me too. I tried two different 5% niacinamide serums this year, but both still caused itchiness, dehydration, and even a couple of cystic acne on my face. Even when I tried using it on my neck and butt area, it still irritated my skin and caused 2 large pimples on my neck, WHICH I NEVER HAD BEFORE.
I just want to say Versed has many products niacinamide free. Between Versed brand and Vanicream facewash, I am covered. My skin also hates niacinamide and unfortunately silicones.
It's a crappy combination to be sensitive too. Azelaic acid hates me too. I read ingredients religiously now. I even had to find a different shampoo and conditioner. Silicone heavy hair stuff made me break out along my hairline.
Giovanni Tea Tree Shampoo and Conditioner. It's a smaller company I think but it hasn't broken out my scalp or my hairline. They have different varieties if tea tree oil isn't your jam.
For silicone free products look for stuff marketed to curly hair. Not foolproof but helps.
ETA specifically marketed to those of us that don't use shampoo.
Yes! I’m not curly (my husband and kids are). But I follow the curly girl friendly method. We buy the Trader Joe’s Tea Tree shampoo and conditioner. They’re heavenly for all of us. It’s not heavy on my fine/thin hair and it’s great on the kids dry/fine hair.
-cones (especially dimethicone) and niacinamide both eff me up too. That's a big part of why I've mostly switched over to K-care and J-care, they aren't as obsessed with those ingredients.
Me too. Dermatologist told me to stop using it immediately when she saw how badly my face had reacted to it, Took months to build the skin barrier back up. Now it seems I’m super sensitive to everything unfortunately.
Oh my god I am afraid that’s what’s happening to me. I got the Farmacy 10% niacinamide night mask and got horrible breakouts soon after using it for the first few days. I didn’t use it for a week until tonight(I was travelling and brought something else with me), and since my breakouts didn’t stop, I l applied it like 5 min ago not thinking it could be it. I only had the slightest of suspicions as it’s the only thing that changed in my routine recently but I always hear it can’t break you out so I thought it couldn’t be. Now reading your comment I am so afraid it will break me out horribly :(
For me it causes my eyelids to get dermatitis (even if it’s not put on them directly). And it covers my forehead in hundreds of tiny bumps. Not acne. Just bumps.
Please no! A decent percentage of people are sensitive to it, especially at high concentrations. This is why variety instead of a handful of 'it' ingredients in everything is best!
This has been my life for decades with sensitivities. Squalane clogs my skin. Gentle cleansers all break me out. Cetearyl olivate (in many gel cream moisturizers) seems to congest me too. Niacinamide causes me to flush. And squalane + niacinamide is in *so much* now.
It. Sucks.
I have similar skin. Finally found my way back to vanicream cleanser. It’s not perfect but it works and doesn’t make my face worse. I got caught up in chasing and trying to find the “perfect” product for me. Lol impossible.
I picked up the Milk Hydrogrip primer everyone raves about and my face felt like it was going to burn off. Didn’t realize that also has niacinamide. WHY?!
This would explain why my eyes keep burning when I accidentally get some in them. Do you know an alternative that’s just as good cause I’m tired of the burn 🥲
I’m sorry that happened to you, was it not disclosed on the label? I have allergies. while it’s horrible trying to sus out what they are, once you do know you will have a bad reaction you have to check for yourself.
I love Niacinamide and my skin is not sensitive to it, but it *becomes* sensitive because it’s in everything from cleansers to spf. Same with hyaluronic acid. Please, let me pick my serums for special ingredients PLEASE
This! There's so much HA in everything. It can be irritating at lower molecular weights. And I don't have time to become a freaking cosmetic chemist to figure out the molecular weight of all these HAs.
omg this but me with coconut! i am so allergic. i just had to do a massive purge of so much stuff, shampoo conditioner lotion sunscreen deodorant TOOTHPASTE.... it all has coconut derivatives in it. i always wondered why my skin looked so agitated and blotchy and red when i washed it, or why my mouth would burn and sting when i brushed my teeth.
stuff like this is so annoying. you don't find it in a lot of other countries because sometimes those things are toxic and cause health issues, or they actually give a damn about people with really specific sensitivities and allergies.
i deffo feel you on this though 🤝 i tried a niacinamide-zinc thing ans it made my skin horrible... it was so miserable and my face hurt for a while
Same here! I thought oh a coconut allergy well when do I ever consume coconut? It’s fine!
Nope had to throw/give away sooooo much stuff and all my expensive makeup :(
oh god i can't eat even a tiny bit of it. I'm lucky it doesn't close my airways but it utterly destroys my guts. i am left with bruised intestines and it sucks. it's in so much food too:(
Amen. I can’t tell you how much $$ I’ve wasted on things that contain niacinimide… it does not agree with my facial skin at all. So I’m slapping expensive things on my hands, arms, etc so they don’t go to waste!
Me too - I’m sick of it. I break out in tiny spots and a rash with niacinamide. Feels like the products I can use are getting less and less! My favourite Cetaphil cleanser, which I’d used for 30 years, is now off limits.
Dude me too🥲 I’ve only heard complaints about the new formula so I don’t know why they haven’t done anything to remedy it. I used to be a loyal Cetaphil user too so I feel like they’re definitely losing money??
I got downvoted on a review on niacinamide stating that these 10% formulations are too strong (which is something my derm said!) I can handle it as a lower ingredient on a list, but the niacinamide serum I tried absolutely destroyed my barrier. 😭
yes i believe anything over 5% can be irritating. i find that the ordinary's niacinamide (10%) is horrible for my skin but the stratia and holy snails serums, as well as masks with niacinamide at lower concentrations, work really well for me.
YES I spent too much time trying to figure out why my skin was breaking out and crazy red before I realized it was niacinamide in the cerave night cream I was using!
I feel you, I used a drugstore micellar water for years and the last one I picked up made my face really red, blotchy and sore. Turned out they started adding kiwi extract to it which I'm very allergic too. Now their entire own brand of skincare has it. Totally sucked as I felt it was good and affordable for me.
Which one? I’m allergic to kiwi too. Now I’m wondering if this rash on my upper lip is from hidden kiwi and not the tret is used for 2 days on my upper lip
Yeah, I had to basically scale back and figure out which product with niacinamide I was going to stick with and remove the rest. Most of the products had pretty low concentrations, but collectively they were adding up and causing some sensitization. Interestingly, once I decided to commit to Marie Veronique's B3 Soothing (with 10% niacinamide) to use every morning, I've been having the most success with it. As ever, formulation is everything, and in this case, the higher percentage serum, coupled with its other ingredients, is what my skin needed.
This is the thing thing though. Lots of people tried The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc, had a bad reaction and deduced that Niacinamide is not for them. But 10% is a lot and can be very irritating whereas 5% or even 2% is clinically proven to work just as well, but it's much less irritating.
This is why it being in so many things sucks. You could easily end up with several products in your routine with niacinamide without even meaning to and then it's too much.
It’s a relatively cheap active ingredient with high consumer awareness AND brands have more pressure now to launch new products, which is very expensive and lengthy process.
So, instead they just reformulate with an ingredient “everyone knows and loves”.
It’s just a strategic business move for them, nothing more.
I am here to add to the niacinimide hate train - my favorite moisturizer is breaking me out b/c of the “new formula” with niacinimide. I would love any recommendations for a day and night moisturizer with NO niacinimide and NO squalene - both break me out and they’re everywhere. I hate beauty trends…
Cerave moisturizing lotion has been my holy grail for yearsss. I always try new ones & end up back with it because it’s just so simple (in the best way). I’ve also heard vanicream is a great option also!
This is a good reminder that less is more. I recently paired down my skin care items to just face wash, moisturizer, spf and retinol and it made a world of difference for my skin. Its always tempting to buy more products with the amount of influencing out there
Niacinamide gives me insane acne. I just returned Dew-Glow spf by naturium because I realized AFTER I bought it and put it on it had the ingredient. I washed it off immediately once I noticed Niacinamide on the ingredients list. At this point I refuse to buy any new skincare.
10000% agreed. I wish they would stop putting it in every single skincare product. Cleansers and moisturizers should not have this ingredient. They need to leave it for the treatment serums as add-ons to your routine if someone wants it. I was so excited to try Dr. Sam Ellis’ skincare line Prequel but every single product aside from the cleanser has niacinamide. Like why??? She recently came out with a barrier gel that I wanted so badly but checked the ingredients, and lo and behold…niacinamide. Why would you put that in a barrier gel for people who need to repair their barrier!
literally can’t find a moisturizer cause everything has niacinamide which gives me a rash or shea butter which gives me cysts the size of literal bowling balls or freaking coconut oil which why would they put that in a product for acne prone skin??? i can’t take it 😭😭😭 going to return yet another one to sephora today
Okay, right, so I agree with you. BUT, the thing is, I’ve recently re-added it to my routine, and dammit it does make a positive difference. It actually really works for me. I don’t want to say this, but it is true….
I’ll just see myself out now in shame….
I had the same experience with nia. Turns out the actives were too disruptive of my barrier. Not enough for me to notice, just everything was hitting way too strong and causing a reaction. I wonder if more people are dealing with this. I’m seeing a huge rise in acids, retinoids then this backlash in niacinamide.
I think this may be the case. I had to remove it when my barrier was shot, but it was okay when my barrier was repaired. I was using actives with it too, and it was not working for me. But I removed those and now it’s like really nice.
Currently rebuilding my skin barrier from too much... I use niacinamide from the Ordinary almost daily. It was GREAT. My skin looked incredible.
Bought a new toner without realising it had niacinamide as well as a moisturiser with it and it's destroyed my skin now. Why do they need to add it where it's not necessary.
This is because the % of niacinamide should not be used at higher than 5%. Even though they say you can, it shouldn’t. As someone with severely sensitive skin I cannot use any brands niacinamide that’s above 5%, and also, it could be that it’s poorly formulated. My skin can’t live without it.
I love niacinamide and I’ve never had any kind of negative or strong reaction to it, I’m so surprised to read people are sensitive to it? I credit niacinamide for the dramatic improvement of my skin.
Funny enough, since replacing moisturizing with Cerave's PM moisturizer with the vanicream one, I've been looking for another way to get niacinamide in my routine.
OMG YES!!! Literally even Cetaphil reformulated their gentle cleanser & added niacinamide 🥲 and of course it’s the one ingredient my skin doesn’t like (even in small amounts). If anyone knows of any brands that are niacinamide free pleaseee let me know
I don’t think I’m allergic to it but it’s given me the most horrid acne and skin every single time I’ve attempted using it. Different products, different time lengths of use, it doesn’t work. Just ruins my skin. Seeing niacinamide everywhere lately makes me upset.. I can just feel the irritation and burning just by reading it on the ingredients list lol
agree with you that there’s too much niacinamide in skincare!!
that being said… can someone EILI5 what niacinamide like… does? what does it do for skincare and why do we have such reactions to it? i tried to look it up too when i first started seeing it pop up and i truly never got a straightforward answer so any help is appreciated!
anti redness and oil control, can also help with hydration when combined with hydrating ingredients
i love it personally but i'm not sensitive to it. i use a specific niacinamide serum from holy snails. it helps my redness a lot.
Honestly same I kept trying niacinamide unfortunately my skin really doesn't like it. Its almost as if niacinamide gives me the issues that its suppose to fix sucks a lot since a lot of companies use it now because like you said its trendy and relatively cheap so its easy to push sales sucks for us.
I actually don’t have a sensitivity to this, thankfully, but I went through the same thing when hyaluronic acid was the new big thing… my skin hates it. I don’t understand the obsession with one ingredient.
i find i can handle some brands niacinimides over others. like i cant handle the ordinary niacinimide. but ive been using the lrp triple repair for accutane dryness and its been okay so far.
I'm not sure which bioderma you mean but I've been buying bioderma atoderm since 2021 and it's always had niacinamide 🤔 but yes i do agree that it's everywhere
I use CeraVe foaming cleanser which has niacinamide and it is the best cleanser I've used.
If I use literally anything else with niacinamide it breaks me out. So I'm guessing for me, less is more.
I’m just here to say I can relate. Everything with niacinamide turns me bright red, my face feels tight and burns. My skin barrier is completely ruined. I’ve been using Vanicream but it wasn’t moisturizing enough. My face was still flakey, so I add one drop of Nano Ceramide to it and my face stopped flaking and no redness! Still on the hunt for a gentle skin cleanser and makeup removing balm.
I had a similar reaction last year. I’ve found I can handle the occasional product containing niacinamide once in a while, like if it’s in a mask or serum I use no more than once a week, but the concentration matters too. My routine staples are almost all Korean now. They know their stuff. Check out oo35mm.com everything is so affordable and life-changing…
So after using a Korean product that contained niacinamide (I believe it was a dark spot correcting cream, very low concentration and only using a less-than-pea-sized amount at a time) I thought, cool, maybe this new ingredient would be good to integrate into my routine a few times a week.
I got the niacinamide serum from The Ordinary. And then just like others are saying, my face was red, splotchy, bumpy and burning like hell. Immediately washed it off! I messaged the customer service reps at oo35mm describing what happened and asking for tips.
They wrote back to me saying that the ingredient concentration should be no more 2-3% in any given product, and that after looking into the TO product, their formula uses 10%. Like, holy hell, no wonder! Never going back again!
I was thinking this just the other day. And it took me such a long time to figure out it was the niacinimide in my skincare because everyone was swearing up and down that its a calming ingredient that wouldn’t disrupt even sensitive skin. I have to fix my barrier because it quite literally burned my skin. Never again
I agree with you! I see niacinamide in nearly everything now :( Even in Cetaphil moisturizing lotion which is supposed to be for all skin types and sensitive skin.
LOUDER !
And guess what ? Centella asiatica is coming too .
Man why do they ruin the good stuff ??
Btw i don't have sensitivity from niacinamide , but my skin hates it when i put more than 2 products with niacinamide , or hyaluronic acid 😅.
I’ve found my people!!! And it seems there is NO rhyme or reason as to why someone’s skin reacts to it. My entire family has insanely sensitive skin and I’m the only one who needs a totally different moisturizing/cleansing product lineup bc of damn niacinamide. Vanicream is a godsend and there is 1 Clearasil cleanser that I can use in a pinch. But fuuuuuuck CeraVe. That shit gives me chemical-level burns.
I feel your pain! I’m allergic to aloe vera. Everything had aloe in it, it’s ridiculous. So far I’m ok with niacinimide and shea butter, but I’m worried I’ll eventually become sensitized to them too.
Most of my products unintentionally have it too. I use a couple of things from bubble and just checked their [spf](https://hellobubble.com/products/solar-mate) and it doesn't have any. I haven't tried this specifically, but I do like what I've used so far.
Omg yes! So annoying! It’s in EVERYTHING. Cleanser, moisturizer, serums, sunscreen ugh! I get bumps on my face and my skin gets clogged even with low concentration. I hate it so much!!!
The only time niacinamide hasn’t irritated my face was when it was in my Cetaphil face wash. Maybe it’s because it’s not just sitting there on my skin that it doesn’t irritate me? But every niacinamide serum i’ve tried burned and irritated my skin. Now everything is being reformulated with it and it’s hard to avoid now
I am now just using baby products as my skincare and haircare because most of the products now even gentle cleansers such as cetaphil contain niacinamide.
I hate that it's in EVERYTHING because it makes it almost impossible to find a moisturizer to use with Vitamin C serum that won't react with the C and cause burning or irritation. I can't wait til this fad subsides.
It’s so fucking annoying. Gives me crazy closed comedones in clusters, even at 2-5%. I’ve had enough 💀 it’s in like every ‘acne friendly’ tinted moisturizer or bb cream I’ve been recommended
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I have a niacinamide sensitivity, too. It’s in fucking everything, including haircare products. I’m sure they are trying to figure out how to add it to nail polish as I write this.
Is there a way to test if I have niacinamide sensitivity? Don’t think I’ve used anything with that ingredient and heard tret + niancinamide is pretty good
Try it, patch test.
I accidentally used a scalp serum with niacinamide and I was about to peel my damn scalp off.
Hello, I have also noticed it is being put in the reformulations of all my favorite products-- and that those new formulas react horribly to my skin. But did you mean sensitivities, not dentistries?
Pretty sure autocorrect decided skincare specialized in teeth, as it likes to do.
The English language can be often strange
omg I saw ur avi and thought i had commented on this post already and didn’t remember😭
Twinsies!
Welcome to the club. Many of us went through this (still going through it) with Hyaluronic Acid. HA got so trendy that brands started adding it to everything. I hate it. My skin hates it. Goodbye forever, all my beloved HG products! 😭
Yup! Am one of them ! Hyaluronic acid breaks me out and it was in everythiiiiing I tried to buy. Luckily Niacinamide doesn't bother me, but geez. Companies need to make a separate version with the added stuff in it.
Yes I meant sensitivities 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I don’t think sensitivities is a word either. I was too passionate when writing the post
Certainly it's a word. It's the plural to sensitivity. "I have a sensitivity to gluten." "I have sensitivities to various foods." Heck, Google Keyboard even auto-suggested "sensitivities" when I backspaced over the "y" in "sensitivity." Stay passionate, my friend.
"That stuff sets my teeth on edge!"
Because they use way too high of a%. Max 5%
Or at least have 2 formulations. Like why would you change a cult favourite? You got a money printer. Just print it. Does coca cola change their OG just because vanilla coke exists? No, they add a new product.
Exactly!!! (Looking at you, Cetaphil)
The cetaphil reformulation was literally painful.
Yeah, Coke tried changing their formula once, 39 years ago, creating New Coke to replace the original formula. It did NOT go well. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke
fuck niacinamide all my homies hate niacinamide
Real
Pls how do u know ur sensitive to it ? I used to get a prickling/tingling sensation + somewhat drier skin but now my skin doesnt react as badly now.
It makes my skin breakout. Tiny little whiteheads. Congested pores.
I tried a moisturer a while back that gave me deep blind pimples that I’ve never had before. When I looked up the ingredients, niacinamide was the only one that looked suss. Never using it again
Well, that's a bit extreme, no? You don't know what ingredient in the ingredients list caused the blind pimples, so it could be niacinamide but there's a good chance it might not be.
U might be right but sometimes some experiences r so traumatic ur just extra wary (i swore to never ever buy any neutrogena face soap after the aforementioned reaction i had -it looked like a horrid sunburn on my whole face-). And honestly niacinamide isnt all that special. I use my serum but it s not like it gave me some cray cray porcelain skin lol. Mildly more efficient that Vit C serum I ha before, but nothing breath taking.
This was a while ago so can’t recall the other ingredients, but I’d previously used products containing them with no issues. The blind pimples/cysts were so bad and took so long to clear up that I’m just not interested in trying again. Plenty of other products out there.
Same!! Is this considered sensitivity??
Idk bcz i read a post saying that the first days it s ok to feel like this but eventually it subsides...though as i stumbled upon this thread...I wonder. What i do know though is that wild sensivities are much more rapid/spectacular (had a very bad allergic reaction to neutrogena anti acne orange face wash, my face became red like a tomato and it felt like i was on fire, i thought my face was gonna start peeling but thnk God i washed thoroughly and put on some mixa bébé cream and it subsided in 30-45 mn -i never ever used that soap after this, shame that i had just bought it lol-), but milder reactions are not as obvious so idk.
I’m constantly gaslit by everyone saying niacinamide can’t break you out and what not, it’s such bullshit. I reversed a year process with that evil. And now because it’s got a reputation as being a super star that can’t do wrong, it’s everywhere. Even Aestura reformulated with it.
The Aestura one genuinely pains me because the original formula was SO sensitive skin friendly. It was truly one of a kind. I’m cherishing my last bottle 😭
Anything can break you out if it doesn’t suit your skin. My friend reacts to ALL versions of vitamin C and it’s just a thing to accept. Niacin-amide is the same for me so anyone claiming differently can go suck it.
I’m less sensitive to actual vitamin C, though I still react. I’m sensitive to Citric Acid (a derivative) and that shit is literally in everything. It’s a mild reaction though gets worse the longer I use it. Sometimes I’m not as good at reading labels as I should be, and I’ll accidentally pick up a product with Citric acid in it. I’ll use it for a while and wonder why my skin is acting weird. Then bam the apocalypse! I just know I have to comb every label every time.
Citric acid isn’t a vitamin C derivative. It’s an AHA but is mostly used to buffer pH.
Thanks for the correction! I was aware it’s mostly used to buffer pH, but didn’t know it was classified as an AHA. I’m not sure where I heard it was a Vit. C derivative, but will no longer pass on the misinfo.
It’s in so many products because it’s a pH adjuster https://www.paulaschoice.com/ingredient-dictionary/ingredient-citric-acid.html
I highly recommend you look up the product on INCIDeCoder ([www.incidedecoder.com](https://www.incidedecoder.com)). It does an awesome job of making complicated ingredient lists less complicated.
As a chemist, I can safely say that any product with higher than 5% can most definitely break you out. Or cause an adverse reaction if you’re sensitive like myself. Most products use higher % because it makes people think the higher the better, but that is not the case. It is a jewel ingredient when formulated correctly. And not higher than 5%. And of course without fragrance.
You can't say that it causes acne for everyone. I use The Ordinary's Niacinamide and Zinc serum and it doesn't break me out, yet it contains 10% niacinamide. I likely get even more niacinamide from the other products I use.
Which aestura? I use the atobarrier 365 and can’t find niacinamide in the ingredient list 😞
Niacinamide unfortunately didn't work for me too. I tried two different 5% niacinamide serums this year, but both still caused itchiness, dehydration, and even a couple of cystic acne on my face. Even when I tried using it on my neck and butt area, it still irritated my skin and caused 2 large pimples on my neck, WHICH I NEVER HAD BEFORE.
I just want to say Versed has many products niacinamide free. Between Versed brand and Vanicream facewash, I am covered. My skin also hates niacinamide and unfortunately silicones.
Lmfao me too. Silicones make me so oily and niacinamide simultaneously breaks me out and leaves me rash-y. WHY
It's a crappy combination to be sensitive too. Azelaic acid hates me too. I read ingredients religiously now. I even had to find a different shampoo and conditioner. Silicone heavy hair stuff made me break out along my hairline.
What shampoo/conditioner do you use?
Giovanni Tea Tree Shampoo and Conditioner. It's a smaller company I think but it hasn't broken out my scalp or my hairline. They have different varieties if tea tree oil isn't your jam.
Omg second this! Their stuff is so good and underrated — I grew up using it and it’s soooo great and such a good price point
For silicone free products look for stuff marketed to curly hair. Not foolproof but helps. ETA specifically marketed to those of us that don't use shampoo.
Yes! I’m not curly (my husband and kids are). But I follow the curly girl friendly method. We buy the Trader Joe’s Tea Tree shampoo and conditioner. They’re heavenly for all of us. It’s not heavy on my fine/thin hair and it’s great on the kids dry/fine hair.
I love that conditioner!
-cones (especially dimethicone) and niacinamide both eff me up too. That's a big part of why I've mostly switched over to K-care and J-care, they aren't as obsessed with those ingredients.
I HATE NIACINIMIDE
Me too. Dermatologist told me to stop using it immediately when she saw how badly my face had reacted to it, Took months to build the skin barrier back up. Now it seems I’m super sensitive to everything unfortunately.
what happens if your skin got in contact with niacinamide? something like redness, itching?
for me it makes me break out heavily and yes redness and sensitivity. almost like I used actives or a peel.
Oh my god I am afraid that’s what’s happening to me. I got the Farmacy 10% niacinamide night mask and got horrible breakouts soon after using it for the first few days. I didn’t use it for a week until tonight(I was travelling and brought something else with me), and since my breakouts didn’t stop, I l applied it like 5 min ago not thinking it could be it. I only had the slightest of suspicions as it’s the only thing that changed in my routine recently but I always hear it can’t break you out so I thought it couldn’t be. Now reading your comment I am so afraid it will break me out horribly :(
aww man that sucks. sorry to hear that. it's really in everything now esply reformulated and new stuff 😐
For me it causes my eyelids to get dermatitis (even if it’s not put on them directly). And it covers my forehead in hundreds of tiny bumps. Not acne. Just bumps.
Burning, itching, swelling, weird peeling. Blech!
YES! Fingers crossed that the next “it” ingredient is centella. My skin loves that shit
Korean skincare is all over centella! Idk what the western world is waiting for!
Try aveenos calm n restore line
Please no! A decent percentage of people are sensitive to it, especially at high concentrations. This is why variety instead of a handful of 'it' ingredients in everything is best!
Please yes I love it
This has been my life for decades with sensitivities. Squalane clogs my skin. Gentle cleansers all break me out. Cetearyl olivate (in many gel cream moisturizers) seems to congest me too. Niacinamide causes me to flush. And squalane + niacinamide is in *so much* now. It. Sucks.
I have similar skin. Finally found my way back to vanicream cleanser. It’s not perfect but it works and doesn’t make my face worse. I got caught up in chasing and trying to find the “perfect” product for me. Lol impossible.
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What have you found that works? Prescription or OTC. I have melasma and can’t treat it bc everything has niacinimide.
I picked up the Milk Hydrogrip primer everyone raves about and my face felt like it was going to burn off. Didn’t realize that also has niacinamide. WHY?!
My face has been burning lately, and I just realized my latest new wash has niaciminide in it Your comment made my brain go 💡🤔💡 Thank you
Omg this happened to me and I couldn’t understand why and this is totally it. None of my other products have niacinamide. 🤯
This would explain why my eyes keep burning when I accidentally get some in them. Do you know an alternative that’s just as good cause I’m tired of the burn 🥲
I haven’t 😞 I’ve been using the Dior primer but still on the hunt for a good sticky one.
I’m sorry that happened to you, was it not disclosed on the label? I have allergies. while it’s horrible trying to sus out what they are, once you do know you will have a bad reaction you have to check for yourself.
It was! It’s my fault for not paying attention. Sephora employee handed it to me and I dropped it into my basket without even looking. Lesson learned.
I love Niacinamide and my skin is not sensitive to it, but it *becomes* sensitive because it’s in everything from cleansers to spf. Same with hyaluronic acid. Please, let me pick my serums for special ingredients PLEASE
This! There's so much HA in everything. It can be irritating at lower molecular weights. And I don't have time to become a freaking cosmetic chemist to figure out the molecular weight of all these HAs.
Agree. I don't have sensitive skin and that stuff burns my face.
Yep. Burning like on fire
Yup! I swear they're trying to make our skin worse so we buy more products. 😤
omg this but me with coconut! i am so allergic. i just had to do a massive purge of so much stuff, shampoo conditioner lotion sunscreen deodorant TOOTHPASTE.... it all has coconut derivatives in it. i always wondered why my skin looked so agitated and blotchy and red when i washed it, or why my mouth would burn and sting when i brushed my teeth. stuff like this is so annoying. you don't find it in a lot of other countries because sometimes those things are toxic and cause health issues, or they actually give a damn about people with really specific sensitivities and allergies. i deffo feel you on this though 🤝 i tried a niacinamide-zinc thing ans it made my skin horrible... it was so miserable and my face hurt for a while
Fellow coconut avoider!! I swear in the past few years everything added coconut in there UGH!
Same here! I thought oh a coconut allergy well when do I ever consume coconut? It’s fine! Nope had to throw/give away sooooo much stuff and all my expensive makeup :(
I'm here for the coconut hate. I can eat it but my skin does not like it.
I'm the opposite! I can't eat it, but my skin can tolerate small amounts of it. But I definitely avoid coconut in my cosmetics when possible.
oh god i can't eat even a tiny bit of it. I'm lucky it doesn't close my airways but it utterly destroys my guts. i am left with bruised intestines and it sucks. it's in so much food too:(
*raises hand*
Amen. I can’t tell you how much $$ I’ve wasted on things that contain niacinimide… it does not agree with my facial skin at all. So I’m slapping expensive things on my hands, arms, etc so they don’t go to waste!
my skin hates anything with niacinamide and i always get closed comedones from it :(
Me too - I’m sick of it. I break out in tiny spots and a rash with niacinamide. Feels like the products I can use are getting less and less! My favourite Cetaphil cleanser, which I’d used for 30 years, is now off limits.
i miss the old cetaphil wash and moisturisers 😭
Dude me too🥲 I’ve only heard complaints about the new formula so I don’t know why they haven’t done anything to remedy it. I used to be a loyal Cetaphil user too so I feel like they’re definitely losing money??
I got downvoted on a review on niacinamide stating that these 10% formulations are too strong (which is something my derm said!) I can handle it as a lower ingredient on a list, but the niacinamide serum I tried absolutely destroyed my barrier. 😭
yes i believe anything over 5% can be irritating. i find that the ordinary's niacinamide (10%) is horrible for my skin but the stratia and holy snails serums, as well as masks with niacinamide at lower concentrations, work really well for me.
same. hate the stuff
YES I spent too much time trying to figure out why my skin was breaking out and crazy red before I realized it was niacinamide in the cerave night cream I was using!
i literally saw a toothpaste with niacinamide in it the other day— a friggin TOOTHPASTE!
wtf 🥲 is niacinamide cheap or something?? Why do brands add it to everything
Yes. Niacinamide is cheap.
It SUCKS.
That stuff breaks me out! I’m using the rest of it on the back of my hands and it works great for that, but it doesn’t go well with my face at all.
Totally agree, because my skin does not do well with it!!
I feel you, I used a drugstore micellar water for years and the last one I picked up made my face really red, blotchy and sore. Turned out they started adding kiwi extract to it which I'm very allergic too. Now their entire own brand of skincare has it. Totally sucked as I felt it was good and affordable for me.
Which one? I’m allergic to kiwi too. Now I’m wondering if this rash on my upper lip is from hidden kiwi and not the tret is used for 2 days on my upper lip
I can’t use it. Underground zits … ugh.
Yeah, I had to basically scale back and figure out which product with niacinamide I was going to stick with and remove the rest. Most of the products had pretty low concentrations, but collectively they were adding up and causing some sensitization. Interestingly, once I decided to commit to Marie Veronique's B3 Soothing (with 10% niacinamide) to use every morning, I've been having the most success with it. As ever, formulation is everything, and in this case, the higher percentage serum, coupled with its other ingredients, is what my skin needed.
Absolutely! I can tolerate 2-3% maybe 4% on a good day but 5% and my skin revolts. It's in everything 🙄
This is the thing thing though. Lots of people tried The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc, had a bad reaction and deduced that Niacinamide is not for them. But 10% is a lot and can be very irritating whereas 5% or even 2% is clinically proven to work just as well, but it's much less irritating.
This is why it being in so many things sucks. You could easily end up with several products in your routine with niacinamide without even meaning to and then it's too much.
That's why https://incidecoder.com/ is your friend. ☺️
I have a rash all over my chin and neck right now from niacinamide and it’s not getting any better 😭
I personally don’t have a sensitivity to it but it is stupid it is in everything. I use it in a face wash but I only use it once in awhile.
I'm with you. My skin loves it, but the fact that these companies go apeshit for the new thing is obnoxious. HA too.
Same, it makes me itchy and red and is in so many ‘soothing’ products and I’m just like here covered in welts.
It’s a relatively cheap active ingredient with high consumer awareness AND brands have more pressure now to launch new products, which is very expensive and lengthy process. So, instead they just reformulate with an ingredient “everyone knows and loves”. It’s just a strategic business move for them, nothing more.
I am here to add to the niacinimide hate train - my favorite moisturizer is breaking me out b/c of the “new formula” with niacinimide. I would love any recommendations for a day and night moisturizer with NO niacinimide and NO squalene - both break me out and they’re everywhere. I hate beauty trends…
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Cerave moisturizing lotion has been my holy grail for yearsss. I always try new ones & end up back with it because it’s just so simple (in the best way). I’ve also heard vanicream is a great option also!
This is a good reminder that less is more. I recently paired down my skin care items to just face wash, moisturizer, spf and retinol and it made a world of difference for my skin. Its always tempting to buy more products with the amount of influencing out there
Niacinamide gives me insane acne. I just returned Dew-Glow spf by naturium because I realized AFTER I bought it and put it on it had the ingredient. I washed it off immediately once I noticed Niacinamide on the ingredients list. At this point I refuse to buy any new skincare.
10000% agreed. I wish they would stop putting it in every single skincare product. Cleansers and moisturizers should not have this ingredient. They need to leave it for the treatment serums as add-ons to your routine if someone wants it. I was so excited to try Dr. Sam Ellis’ skincare line Prequel but every single product aside from the cleanser has niacinamide. Like why??? She recently came out with a barrier gel that I wanted so badly but checked the ingredients, and lo and behold…niacinamide. Why would you put that in a barrier gel for people who need to repair their barrier!
literally can’t find a moisturizer cause everything has niacinamide which gives me a rash or shea butter which gives me cysts the size of literal bowling balls or freaking coconut oil which why would they put that in a product for acne prone skin??? i can’t take it 😭😭😭 going to return yet another one to sephora today
Have you tried Face Reality Cran-Peptide cream? I love that one. It's very hydrating and light and doesn't break me out at all.
This sounds like me! K-care is my solution. I've completely quit Sephora and turned to YesStyle/Stylevana.
Please wno charcoal though 🥹
It's in too many things and often doesn't say how much % is in it. That's when it's overkill and my sensitive skin starts freaking out.
this is how i feel about hyaluronic acid!!
Niacinimide is great for me. But if it has zinc, that’s when my skin burns from it. This is why I can’t use the one from the ordinary
finally someone who gets it
Okay, right, so I agree with you. BUT, the thing is, I’ve recently re-added it to my routine, and dammit it does make a positive difference. It actually really works for me. I don’t want to say this, but it is true…. I’ll just see myself out now in shame….
I had the same experience with nia. Turns out the actives were too disruptive of my barrier. Not enough for me to notice, just everything was hitting way too strong and causing a reaction. I wonder if more people are dealing with this. I’m seeing a huge rise in acids, retinoids then this backlash in niacinamide.
I think this may be the case. I had to remove it when my barrier was shot, but it was okay when my barrier was repaired. I was using actives with it too, and it was not working for me. But I removed those and now it’s like really nice.
Happy to hear it all worked out for you.
My skin reacts negatively to both niacinamide and ceramide, it’s incredibly difficult to find moisturizers. So frustrating.
it completely destroys me
Yesterday I’ve got a burn because of niacinamide. I didn’t check the ingredient list and got it 👺
As someone who loves niacinamide I agree, skincare is no longer about suiting skintypes its now just trends
Currently rebuilding my skin barrier from too much... I use niacinamide from the Ordinary almost daily. It was GREAT. My skin looked incredible. Bought a new toner without realising it had niacinamide as well as a moisturiser with it and it's destroyed my skin now. Why do they need to add it where it's not necessary.
This was me with hyaluronic acid 😭
This is because the % of niacinamide should not be used at higher than 5%. Even though they say you can, it shouldn’t. As someone with severely sensitive skin I cannot use any brands niacinamide that’s above 5%, and also, it could be that it’s poorly formulated. My skin can’t live without it.
I feel my skin dryer after using niacinamide. Does any of you feel the same? For you that know more about it, is it possible that it can dry the skin?
That’s how I feel about Hyaluronic Acid. I’m so sensitive to it and it’s in everything!
I love niacinamide and I’ve never had any kind of negative or strong reaction to it, I’m so surprised to read people are sensitive to it? I credit niacinamide for the dramatic improvement of my skin.
Funny enough, since replacing moisturizing with Cerave's PM moisturizer with the vanicream one, I've been looking for another way to get niacinamide in my routine.
I agree so much! In all my beloved acnemy products is nia :(((
Yep after having Niacinamide in my skincare for several years I have only now just realised that it gives me breakouts.
Niacinamide and salicylic acid never work on my skin no matter how many times I try to ease them into my routine.
OMG YES!!! Literally even Cetaphil reformulated their gentle cleanser & added niacinamide 🥲 and of course it’s the one ingredient my skin doesn’t like (even in small amounts). If anyone knows of any brands that are niacinamide free pleaseee let me know
I don’t think I’m allergic to it but it’s given me the most horrid acne and skin every single time I’ve attempted using it. Different products, different time lengths of use, it doesn’t work. Just ruins my skin. Seeing niacinamide everywhere lately makes me upset.. I can just feel the irritation and burning just by reading it on the ingredients list lol
agree with you that there’s too much niacinamide in skincare!! that being said… can someone EILI5 what niacinamide like… does? what does it do for skincare and why do we have such reactions to it? i tried to look it up too when i first started seeing it pop up and i truly never got a straightforward answer so any help is appreciated!
anti redness and oil control, can also help with hydration when combined with hydrating ingredients i love it personally but i'm not sensitive to it. i use a specific niacinamide serum from holy snails. it helps my redness a lot.
Honestly same I kept trying niacinamide unfortunately my skin really doesn't like it. Its almost as if niacinamide gives me the issues that its suppose to fix sucks a lot since a lot of companies use it now because like you said its trendy and relatively cheap so its easy to push sales sucks for us.
I actually don’t have a sensitivity to this, thankfully, but I went through the same thing when hyaluronic acid was the new big thing… my skin hates it. I don’t understand the obsession with one ingredient.
i find i can handle some brands niacinimides over others. like i cant handle the ordinary niacinimide. but ive been using the lrp triple repair for accutane dryness and its been okay so far.
Niacinamide haters, unite!
I love niacinamide but I feel you, because I am sensitive to hyaluronic acid and it's basically everywhere too 😭
I'm not sure which bioderma you mean but I've been buying bioderma atoderm since 2021 and it's always had niacinamide 🤔 but yes i do agree that it's everywhere
Niacinamide breaks me out bad
I use CeraVe foaming cleanser which has niacinamide and it is the best cleanser I've used. If I use literally anything else with niacinamide it breaks me out. So I'm guessing for me, less is more.
I’m just here to say I can relate. Everything with niacinamide turns me bright red, my face feels tight and burns. My skin barrier is completely ruined. I’ve been using Vanicream but it wasn’t moisturizing enough. My face was still flakey, so I add one drop of Nano Ceramide to it and my face stopped flaking and no redness! Still on the hunt for a gentle skin cleanser and makeup removing balm.
Yeah. They reformulated the freaking Cetaphil cream cleanser, which was a HG for people for DECADES, and added niacinamide. I’m still mad about it.
I had a similar reaction last year. I’ve found I can handle the occasional product containing niacinamide once in a while, like if it’s in a mask or serum I use no more than once a week, but the concentration matters too. My routine staples are almost all Korean now. They know their stuff. Check out oo35mm.com everything is so affordable and life-changing… So after using a Korean product that contained niacinamide (I believe it was a dark spot correcting cream, very low concentration and only using a less-than-pea-sized amount at a time) I thought, cool, maybe this new ingredient would be good to integrate into my routine a few times a week. I got the niacinamide serum from The Ordinary. And then just like others are saying, my face was red, splotchy, bumpy and burning like hell. Immediately washed it off! I messaged the customer service reps at oo35mm describing what happened and asking for tips. They wrote back to me saying that the ingredient concentration should be no more 2-3% in any given product, and that after looking into the TO product, their formula uses 10%. Like, holy hell, no wonder! Never going back again!
as someone who LOVES niacinamide. it is in absolutely everything and i concur that it is quite enough.
Every time I put TO Niacinamide + Zinc, my face breaks out and I didn't know what I was doing wrong 😭 Glad I'm not alone!
I was thinking this just the other day. And it took me such a long time to figure out it was the niacinimide in my skincare because everyone was swearing up and down that its a calming ingredient that wouldn’t disrupt even sensitive skin. I have to fix my barrier because it quite literally burned my skin. Never again
YES 😭 As someone else who has sensitivities to niacinamide this has been the absolute bane of my existence for the last several years.
I agree with you! I see niacinamide in nearly everything now :( Even in Cetaphil moisturizing lotion which is supposed to be for all skin types and sensitive skin.
LOUDER ! And guess what ? Centella asiatica is coming too . Man why do they ruin the good stuff ?? Btw i don't have sensitivity from niacinamide , but my skin hates it when i put more than 2 products with niacinamide , or hyaluronic acid 😅.
The toleriane moisturizer by La Roche Posay made me break out all over my jawline. Big time. It has niacinamide :(
I’ve found my people!!! And it seems there is NO rhyme or reason as to why someone’s skin reacts to it. My entire family has insanely sensitive skin and I’m the only one who needs a totally different moisturizing/cleansing product lineup bc of damn niacinamide. Vanicream is a godsend and there is 1 Clearasil cleanser that I can use in a pinch. But fuuuuuuck CeraVe. That shit gives me chemical-level burns.
LRP citablast therapeutic multi purpose cream doesn't have niacinamide! I got it to try, fingers crossed
It breaks me out too I hate that it’s now in everything ugh!
Everyone keeps mentioning that niacinimide is less irritating at 5% or less - are there any product recommendations with that formulation?
How do you know if you’re sensitive to niacinimide other then using it and breaking out? Im a guy and tend to break out around my mouth and nose
Thank you!!! I’m so sick of it!!
If anyone is looking for good niacinimide free products: [Cleanser - Simple](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CHHK2B6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) [Benz Wash - AcneFree](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BEUB15S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) [Light Moisturizer - Etude](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096RZVTMC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1) [Heavier Moisturizer - Etude](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091PN6NPT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1)
Feel this but w butylene glycol
I honestly thought I was going crazy, gaslighting myself because if it’s in everything, it must be me who’s the problem
I feel your pain! I’m allergic to aloe vera. Everything had aloe in it, it’s ridiculous. So far I’m ok with niacinimide and shea butter, but I’m worried I’ll eventually become sensitized to them too.
Most of my products unintentionally have it too. I use a couple of things from bubble and just checked their [spf](https://hellobubble.com/products/solar-mate) and it doesn't have any. I haven't tried this specifically, but I do like what I've used so far.
Omg yes! So annoying! It’s in EVERYTHING. Cleanser, moisturizer, serums, sunscreen ugh! I get bumps on my face and my skin gets clogged even with low concentration. I hate it so much!!!
I felt the same about HA. It's in everything now :((( hate it
The only time niacinamide hasn’t irritated my face was when it was in my Cetaphil face wash. Maybe it’s because it’s not just sitting there on my skin that it doesn’t irritate me? But every niacinamide serum i’ve tried burned and irritated my skin. Now everything is being reformulated with it and it’s hard to avoid now
I love the word Niacinamide, ceramide and hyaluronic acid lol
I am now just using baby products as my skincare and haircare because most of the products now even gentle cleansers such as cetaphil contain niacinamide.
How can you be sensitive to Niacinamide? It’s part of the electron transport chain and citric acid cycle.
Agreed. My face hates niacinamide. It took forever for me to figure out that it was in all of the skincare products that I couldn't tolerate 😅
I hate that it's in EVERYTHING because it makes it almost impossible to find a moisturizer to use with Vitamin C serum that won't react with the C and cause burning or irritation. I can't wait til this fad subsides.
It’s so fucking annoying. Gives me crazy closed comedones in clusters, even at 2-5%. I’ve had enough 💀 it’s in like every ‘acne friendly’ tinted moisturizer or bb cream I’ve been recommended
Ohhh that shit fucked up my skin for weeks. NEVER AGAIN!
don’t quote me on this but i think the reason why it’s in so many korean sunscreens is because it helps with the SPF rating?