How Much Niacinamide Should You Be Using?

Borrow Everything I Know As Someone Who Makes Skincare

Hello, I’m Adeline. I write Ginseng & Tonic to deliver a straight shot of skincare & cultural analysis to your inbox most Sundays. Subscribe for deep dives into the intersections of skincare and culture from someone fed up enough with the industry that she start formulating her own products.

Niacinamide is everywhere — hailed by your favorite Tiktok skinfluencers as the ultimate fix for acne, inflammation, hyperpigmentation, and even signs of aging. It’s in drugstore brands. It’s in luxury serums. You can’t scroll Instagram without being shown a slow motion reel of niacinamide serums glistening down an influencer’s face to the soothing tune of ASMR.

The next step for most curious folks: a quick Google search on niacinamide, followed by scanning product labels, and ultimately, coming to me — a skincare formulator — and asking: “How much niacinamide should I actually be using?”

But here’s what everyone misses: niacinamide has a sweet spot.

As someone who created a skincare line known for high concentrations of quality ingredients, I’m all about using ingredients at maximum concentration. But there’s a delicate balance to niacinamide. Use too little and you’ll barely see any of its impressive effects. Use too much and you risk stinging and skin irritation.

And here’s why this matters right now — there are brands on the market racing to outdo each other by packing increasingly high percentages of niacinamide into their formulas. Understanding the research behind this ingredient can mean the difference in getting the skin results you want or unnecessarily disrupting your skin barrier.

So let’s break it all down. Below is the peer reviewed research on the ideal niacinamide concentration for different skin concerns. I’ve included footnotes linking to the exact sources used. ⬇️

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How Much Niacinamide to Use to Treat Various Conditions:

• For anti-aging effects (fine lines/wrinkles, texture, age spots, red blotchiness, skin sallowness, elasticity): 4%-5%¹

• To control inflammation & acne: 5%²

• To regulate sebum production: 2%-5%³

• To reduce hyperpigmentation/age spots/dark spots/melasma: 4%⁴

Excessive concentrations of niacinamide can irritate skin. To minimize skin irritation, clinical tests found:

• No stinging with up to 10%

• No irritation to up to 5%

• No adverse effects in a 21 day study at 5%⁵

This is why if you have sensitive skin, I would caution against formulas with more than 10% niacinamide.

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Here’s How I Apply This Research:

I’ve formulated with niacinamide for a decade, long before it became a viral social media star. Its widespread popularity predates Tiktok’s existence. If you’re interested in its strange and disturbing origins (‘filth parties’ are involved), I’ve written about that here.

One of my brand premises at Sabbatical Beauty is that I formulate using high quality ingredients at maximum concentrations for effectiveness. But for effectiveness is key here: for some ingredients, it is possible to use too much. I’ve combed through peer-reviewed research in dermatology to land on the ideal concentration of niacinamide.

How I use Niacinamide To Treat Skin Issues:

✅ I use niacinamide at 5% as this is the sweet spot for effectiveness with minimal irritation

✅ I pair it with n-acetyl glucosamine at 3%, a proven powerhouse ingredient that works synergistically with niacinamide to fade hyperpigmentation,⁶

✅ I always combine niacinamide with other actives to boost the targeted effects of each product.

Here’s how I apply this philosophy to two of my most popular niacinamide-containing products:

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How I Use Niacinamide in Calm Cream to Repair Your Skin Barrier

Sabbatical Beauty’s Calm Cream

Why I Created Calm Cream

I originally formulated Calm Cream for my friend Carly, whose skin was both acne-prone and severely dehydrated— a tricky but common combination. My goal was to heal her skin barrier with this formulation. Your skin barrier is your outermost layer of skin that acts as the first line of defense between your internal body and the environment. Acne is a type of chronic inflammation that indicates a compromised barrier.

Carly also lived in Chicago, where brutal winters can exacerbate skin dryness and further damage a fragile skin barrier. She needed a deeply moisturizing, barrier-repairing cream that would also calm inflammation and prevent breakouts.

How I Formulated Calm Cream

✅ Niacinamide (5%) → Controls acne and regulates sebum production

✅ Chamomile Hydrosol (19%) → Soothes irritation and reduces redness

✅ Colloidal Oat Extract (10%)→ Repairs an irritated moisture barrier

✅ Camellia Japonica Oil (10%) → Deep hydration which improves skin barrier

✅ Panthenol (5%) → Improves skin barrier and calms inflammation

✅ N-Acetyl Glucosamine (3%) → Works with niacinamide to fade discoloration

✅ Licorice Root Extract (5%) → Brightens skin and reduces hyperpigmentation from acne scarring

Does it Work?

Users say yes. If you look at reviews on the Sabbatical Beauty website, you’ll see honest, unfiltered reviews from people who have used Calm Cream to heal their compromised skin barriers, reduce redness and deeply hydrate their skin.

How I Use Niacinamide in Moar Honey Serum to Treat Acne & Skin Irritation

Sabbatical Beauty’s Moar Honey Serum

Why I Created Moar Honey

This serum was born out of a deep research rabbithole on the skin benefits of honey. I developed Moar Honey to harness the anti-acne, anti-inflammatory powers of royal jelly and propolis, two supercharged bee-derived skincare ingredients.

• Propolis Extract (20%) → A resin-like substance that is anti-bacterial, reduces inflammation and accelerates skin recovery

• Royal Jelly Extract (20%)→ Rich in peptides and flavonoids that regenerate skin, boost collagen and speeds wound healing

How I Formulated Moar Honey

✅ Niacinamide (5%) → Controls acne and fades scars

✅ Burdock Extract (10%) → Reduces redness and swelling

✅ Arnica Extract (10%) → Soothes irritation & helps heal injured skin

✅ Gingko Biloba Extract (10%) → Improves skin barrier function

✅ Panthenol (5%) → Repairs and strengthens skin barrier

✅ N-Acetyl Glucosamine → Works with niacinamide to fade hyperpigmentation

Does it Work?

Users have reported that Moar Honey has helped clear up dermatitis, psoriasis, acne and even scratches and wounds. Take a look at the reviews on the Sabbatical Beauty website — we don’t pay for reviews or delete negative ones.

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Final Thoughts: What You Need to Know About Niacinamide

✅ More isn’t always better. Niacinamide works best at 5%, formulations that use over 10% can cause skin irritation.

✅ Don’t settle for a simple ‘niacinamide’ serum where that’s the only active ingredient. Get more bang for your buck by looking for a product that boosts it with the right active ingredients to boost your skin effects.

✅ Baby your skin barrier. If you have sensitive skin, stick to formulas that have no more than 5% niacinamide to avoid undude irritation.

If you’re looking for thoughtfully formulated skincare that uses niacinamide in its optimal range, check out the Sabbatical Beauty Calm Cream & Moar Honey Serum — both crafted for maximum effectiveness to heal and strengthen your skin barrier.

Unlike mass market brands, Sabbatical Beauty is an indie skincare company that has stayed small on purpose, so we can prioritize quality and high concentrations of effective ingredients over profit. And while we remain proudly independent, our products have caught the attention in major beauty outlets, earning features in New Beauty, Buzzfeed, Forbes, Elle and more.

Take a look and see why our small but intensely loyal community swears by Sabbatical Beauty. Your skin will thank you.

Enjoyed this Substack? I post most Sundays.

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Niacinamide: From ‘Filth Parties’ to Skincare Holy Grail

1. See: Boo, Y.C. Mechanistic basis and clinical evidence for the applications of nicotinamide (niacinamide) to control skin aging and pigmentation. Antioxidants 2021, 10, 1315. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]

2. See: Otsuka, A.; Hanafusa, T.; Miyagawa, J.-I.; Kono, N.; Tarui, S. Nicotinamide and 3-aminobenzamide reduce interferon-γ -induced class II MHC (HLA-DR and -DP) molecule expression on cultured human endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Immunopharmacol. Immunotoxicol. 1991, 13, 263–280. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]; Coppé, J.-P.; Desprez, P.-Y.; Krtolica, A.; Campisi, J. The senescence-associated secretory phenotype: The dark side of tumor suppression. Ann. Rev. Pathol. Mech. Dis. 2010, 5, 99–118. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]; Bierman, J.C.; Laughlin, T.; Tamura, M.; Hulette, B.C.; Mack, C.E.; Sherrill, J.D.; Tan, C.Y.R.; Morenc, M.; Bellanger, S.; Oblong, J.E. Niacinamide mitigates SASP-related inflammation induced by environmental stressors in human epidermal keratinocytes and skin. Int. J. Cosmet. Sci. 2020, 42, 501–511. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

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4. See: Castanedo-Cazares, J.P.; Lárraga-Piñones, G.; Ehnis-Pérez, A.; Fuentes-Ahumada, C.; Oros-Ovalle, C.; Smoller, B.R.; Torres-Álvarez, B. Topical niacinamide 4% and desonide 0.05% for treatment of axillary hyperpigmentation: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Clin. Cosmet. Investig. Dermatol. 2013, 6, 29–36. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]

5. See: Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel. Final report of the safety assessment of niacinamide and niacin. Int. J. Toxicol. 2005, 24, 1–31. [Google Scholar]

6. N-Acetyl glucosamine has been clinically trialed to work synergistically with niacinamide to reduce hyperpigmentation. See: Kimball et al. Reduction in the appearance of facial hyperpigmentation after use of moisturizers with a combination of topical niacinamide and N-acetyl glucosamine: results of a randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled trial. British Journal of Dermatology. 2010. 162:2, 435-41. [Pubmed]