B3 or Niacinamide is a water soluble, stable, active Vitamin B ingredient for your skin. Unless you have been living under a rock, you may have noticed that the need for NIACINAMIDE has exploded and it’s going out the door as if we’d lost the recipe for it!
I’ve been getting loads of questions from my divine customers wanting me to explain what all the hype is about, so here I am listing what I see as some of its unique and magical qualities.
What is Niacinamide (B3)?
Niacinamide is actually a form of vitamin B3 which is converted to an absolutely essential compound called Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). NAD is part of our energy metabolism cycle, the Krebs cycle, but our body’s ability to make it declines with age. There has been LOADS of important research done on this over the past ten years that shows how important this molecule is in preventing or ‘de-enabling’ a certain DNA-based aging mechanism. In other words, niacinamide helps our bodies make energy and stay younger for longer.
Specifically, niacinamide is shown to:
Niacinamide reduces hyperpigmentation
Hyperpigmentation is the discolouration of skin tone - variations in the colour of your skin’s pigmentation essentially. Hyperpigmentation is known to be one of the most difficult skin conditions to treat. Clinical trials have shown the effect of niacinamide can be seen after four weeks of use – which is amazing!
Be an amazing wing man!
You may have noticed there are a lot of skin care ingredients used to treat hyperpigmentation and this is because it’s extremely common. Ingredients like Vitamin C, and Retinol for example. But the reason I have flagged niacinamide as a great wingman is because it works in a different location in the anti-tyrosinase war.
WHAT IS TYROSINASE, you ask? Tyrosinase is the enzyme that produces melanin – which is what causes pigmentation (dark areas of skin).
So, what I’m saying here is that you can use it alongside Vitamin C and Retinol as they will not be competing to do the same job.
Psst – although you might Google and find a bunch of other ingredients that are known to fight hyperpigmentation like Azelaic Acid, Arbutin and Hydroquinone. It’s worth knowing that these ingredients are banned in several countries around the world and have even been banned in Australia.
Antioxidant
Antioxidants help the skin repair itself.
They also protect the skin from these nasty things called FREE RADICALS who run around damaging skin cells. Niacinamide captures these nasties and removes them. This is why antioxidants are known as the best ‘anti-aging’ tool in the shed. It’s worth knowing the number one cause of free radicals entering the skin is via UV rays– AKA ‘The Sun’.
Soothing and calming
Niacinamide is the perfect for red, irritated skin due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Niacinamide has the ability to inhibit inflammatory cytokines. WHAT IS A CYTOKINES?? They are small proteins found in the body that are related to the immune system that can cause inflammation.
Moisturising and Niacinamide skin barrier protection (IMPORTANT INFO)
Before I explain this I need to explain – WHAT ARE LIPOSOMES??
LIPOSOMES are tiny bubbles of goodness wrapped in a material the same as our cell’s membrane. If your Niacinamide serum is top quality, the niacinamide ingredient will be in the liposome and this means it will be able to travel through the skin's outer layer and INTO the epidermis where it needs to be to do its magic.
Not only the magic I’ve described above, but the magic of improving the moisture content of your skin.
Niacinamide that is not liposomal is a waste of time. How do you know? If it’s not described in the literature that the skin care comes with, you can’t be 100%. Skin care brands are not required to explain if the niacinamide is liposomal or not.
….and NIACINAMIDE OIL CONTROL Clinical studies have shown that Niacinamide can improve overactive sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands are the glands in our pores that produce oil.
Too much oil can often be the cause of pimples and blackheads.
WHY Homepeel chose 5% to be the Niacinamide concentration?
Niacinamide has been proven to work in concentrations of as low as 2%.
Homepeel’s Brightening Vitamin B3 Serum has a 5% Niacinamide percentage because we are a cosmeceutical grade skincare range. You may find other brands that do it at higher percentages but that is risky as niacinamide can cause redness and irritation if it’s too high.
Homepeel’s Brightening Vitamin B3 Serum is perfectly balanced with other brightening ingredients like B5, White Willow Bark and Licorice to complete the brightening picture.
Of course, we should not underestimate the enormous difference ALL Homepeel serums are to most other brands due to them not containing ‘known’ irritating chemicals. Many know these chemicals to be toxic and wonder why they are even allowed to be in skin care in the first place.
HOMEPEEL products are Australian made, Cosmeceutical Grade NATURAL Skin Care - a game changer for your skin.
