Back

The best niacinamide serums for the face and body

Vitamin B3 deserves the praise it gets, people

By Briar Clark

BEAUTYcrew Beauty Editor / February 01 2021

Niacinamide, or vitamin B3 to those in the know, is one of those over-performing skin care hero ingredients that can take your complexion to glowy, even-toned perfection with regular use.

In case you didn’t know niacinamide is a real multi-tasker, largely in part because it’s a water-soluble vitamin, meaning it’s easy for the body to absorb so you can see all of the ingredient’s noteworthy benefits. The list of which is extensive. We’re talking minimised pores, even skin tone, softened fine lines and wrinkles, and the minimised appearance of dull, tired-looking skin.

Plus, on top of all that, niacinamide provides antioxidant protection against environmental damage caused by exposure to pollutants, strengthening skin from the inside out and reinforcing the skin’s natural barrier.

In fact, we love the potent antioxidant so much we rounded up our favourite face and body serums that feature the champion ingredient...

SkinCeuticals Metacell Renewal B3 Emulsion

The big guns of niacinamide, this potent emulsion from SkinCeuticals features vitamin B3 as the star ingredient, as well as a cocktail of active ingredients that address early symptoms of photoaging, including dullness, discolouration, wrinkles, and loss of elasticity. She’s a winner baby.

Olay Luminous Niacinamide Super Serum

Olay's new kid on the block is formulated with 99 per cent pure grade niacinamide. If dark spots are your nemesis, consider this your hero as it works to banish them and brighten the skin, while xylitol increases skin hydration and boosts skin translucency.

THE INKEY LIST Niacinamide Face Serum

The cool new kid on the block, as with every other offering from The Inkey List, you can expect a potent formulation from this niacinamide serum. It helps to control excess oil and blemishes on the skin, as well as reduce the appearance of redness, and also features 1% hyaluronic acid to further soothe and hydrate potentially inflamed, acne-prone skin.

THE ORDINARY Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%

The budget-friendly offering of the bunch, The Ordinary niacinamide formulation reduces the appearance of skin blemishes and congestion, while the addition of zinc helps to balance excess sebum production in the skin. Meaning you can stress less about potential unwanted visitors making an appearance on your face.

Drunk Elephant B-Hydra™ Intensive Hydration Serum

Undoubtedly a cult fave, Drunk Elephant really nailed it with this hydrating serum. This crowd favourite features a cocktail of skin-loving ingredients like pro-vitamin B5 and pineapple ceramides; to impart radiance and refine skin texture and tone, and sodium hyaluronate; for plumping fine lines and wrinkles, and improving overall skin hydration.

VASELINE Radiant Glow Skin Serum

The body saviour, Vaseline’s affordable glow serum brings all of the benefits of niacinamide to limbs in (desperate) need of attention. Vitamin B3 is the star of the show of course but cranberry extracts lend themselves to the formulation, delivering moisturised and glowing skin with regular use. Plus, at $8.99 a bottle don’t be afraid to get liberal with application. Every little bit helps.

Main image credit: @fozzisbozz

Another active we can’t stop raving about is retinol. These new retinol products are the best thing to come out of 2020.

Briar Clark

Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).