PRODUCT REVIEW: THE ORDINARY NIACINAMIDE 5% FACE & BODY EMULSION - Can I use Niacinamide everyday? What does Niacinamide do in body lotion? Can The Ordinary Niacinamide be used on the body?
THE ORDINARY SACCHAROMYCES FERMENT 30% MILKY TONER
Niacinamide is literally my favorite skincare ingredient. Whenever anyone asks for my secret skincare tips for keeping my complexion glowing and youthful looking, I always offer two products: a daily facial sunscreen and a Niacinamide serum.
My sunscreen product recommendations vary depending on the season. But my recos for a Niacinamide serum remain the same.
If you want the best anti-aging serum on Earth, then you need the Paula’s Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster. But at $49, it can be pricey if you use it twice a day like I do.
That’s why I stock up on it when it’s on sale! In fact, as I write this, it’s 20% on the Paula's Choice website – which is often the case. The 10% Niacinamide Booster is the perfect anti-aging serum. It’s packed with actives and has a watery texture that makes it easy to layer into an existing skincare routine.
For those looking to spend less for a Niacinamide serum, my other recommendation is The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%. At just $6 you can’t go wrong. You can catch reviews of both of these in my picks of the best Niacinamide serums and treatments here.
The Ordinary has been on a roll over the past year with probably two dozen new product innovations. And one of the most exciting is The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion. Introduced just three weeks ago, I’ve been obsessed with it since the day I got my hands on it. Catch my detailed review just below.
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The Ordinary Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion is a curious product. It’s the perfect facial moisturizer – super lightweight and it melts right in. But I’m not a big fan of body lotions and never have been. Pretty much the only skincare product I use on my body is a daily sunscreen on my exposed arms and legs each morning before my morning bike ride.
And whenever I get a new tattoo, I tend to take really good care of it for a few weeks. But it’s not long before I stop applying moisturizer regularly.
But Niacinamide seems to have changed the equation. I’m such a believer in its broad range of skin benefits that it’s a no-brainer to apply it head to toe. If you’re unfamiliar with everything Niacinamide does for your skin – and why it’s the ideal anti-aging active – there’s an insightful article on the Paula’s Choice website here simply titled, Niacinamide for Skin.
In addition to brightening your complexion and helping to protect your skin against environmental damage, Niacinamide helps to strengthen your skin barrier, moderate surface oil and reduce the appearance of pores by helping to keep them clear.
If it’s not part of your skincare routine yet, The Ordinary is making it really easy to do so…
BEST BODY INNOVATION IN AGES. SEE IT IN ACTION ON MY TIKTOK!
Before I get into my detailed The Ordinary Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion product review just below, I wanted to explore some of the most frequently asked questions about Niacinamide and the unique technology behind The Ordinary’s new brightening face and body lotion.
1. Can I use niacinamide everyday?
Yes, you can use Niacinamide everyday. And, you should! Niacinamide should be thought of as one of the best anti-aging ingredients – and one of the most beneficial to your skin health. Even sensitive skins can use Niacinamide daily as one of its benefits is to calm irritation.
The range of benefits that the form of Vitamin B3 offers to skin is lengthy. Among the most important:
Strengthens the skin barrier. Niacinamide helps to thicken the skin barrier by reinforcing skin lipids, which help skin hold moisture and prevent trans-epidermal water loss.
Minimizes irritation. Niacinamide helps to reduce inflammation and redness due to acne, eczema and other forms skin conditions.
Minimizes pore size. Nothing can technically shrink your pores, but actives like Niacinamide and Salicylic Acid help to keep them clear, reducing how prominent they appear.
Regulates surface oil. Niacinimide can also help regulate the amount of oil that is produced and secreted by your sebaceous glands, reducing surface oiliness and shine.
Protects against environmental damage. As a powerful antioxidant, Niacinamide helps to defend skin from free radical attacks and oxidation – a leading cause of skin aging.
Minimizes hyperpigmentation. At higher concentrations and with regular use, Niacinamide can be very effective at minimizing and even eliminating dark spots in the complexion, helping to unify skin tone.
Explore my picks of the best products from The Ordinary on the blog here.
Sources: Paula’s Choice: Niacinamide for Skin; Healthline: Everything You Should Know About Niacinamide
2. What does niacinamide do in body lotion?
What Niacinamide does in a body lotion depends on the concentration of the active ingredient that is used. When used at active concentrations of 5% or more, a body lotion with Niacinamide should deliver similar benefits to a face serum with Niacinamide: brightening dull skin and evening out an uneven skin tone.
Regrettably, body care has not received the same attention to formula quality that facial skincare has. More often than not, the marketing around products like exfoliating body lotions and ant-aging body creams with Retinol is little more than marketing spin.
If you expect a body lotion to do more than moisturize your dry skin, the concentrations of the key actives matters.
Explore my picks of the best products from The Ordinary on the blog here.
Sources: Healthline: Everything You Should Know About Niacinamide; Paula’s Choice: Niacinamide for Skin
3. Can The Ordinary niacinamide be used on the body?
Yes, The Ordinary Niacinamide serum can be used on the body. Because The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% contains a high concentration of the brightening active, it can deliver many of the same benefits that it provides to facial skin.
You can either apply it directly to clean skin or mix a dropper-full of the product into a body lotion and massage into targeted areas. If you do apply it directly to your skin, it’s best to then follow with a body lotion or body cream to seal it in and enhance absorption.
The Ordinary’s 100% Niacinamide Powder is also an effective option for mixing with a body lotion or cream. You can also try the new The Ordinary Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion – which I review just below.
Explore my picks of the best products from The Ordinary on the blog here.
Sources: The Ordinary: 100% Niacinamide Powder; Business Insider: This $6 brightening serum is my secret weapon for keeping redness, dull skin, and wrinkles at bay
4. What percent niacinamide should I use?
The percent of Niacinamide you should use depends on what you need it to do. If you’re only interested in Niacinamide’s antioxidant and brightening benefits, then 2% is the recommended concentration. The Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops contains 2% Niacinamide and is a wonderful brightening face serum.
If you want to benefit from all that Niacinamide has to offer (see #1 above), you’ll need a higher concentration of at least 5%. At 10% concentrations, you can be sure to see visible results, including: a more even skin tone, a brighter complexion, and less surface oil.
Used consistently over time, more potent Niacinamide serums like The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% and the Paula’s Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster can even strengthen your skin barrier to better defend against environmental skin aging.
Explore my picks of the best products from The Ordinary on the blog here.
Sources: NIH, National Library of Medicine: How Much Do We Really Know About Our Favorite Cosmeceutical Ingredients?; The Klog: Niacinamide: A Skin Care Sweetheart to Fall in Love With
5. Product Review
Look, I’m not a big user of body lotions or creams of any kind. I can guarantee you that if The Ordinary were to introduce their new Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion as just for the body, I wouldn’t even have bothered with it.
Product marketing is funny like that. I come across products all the time that are marketed and packaged for one thing, but perfectly fine as a “hack” for some other need.
If a body product is well formulated and not too greasy, there’s no reason why you can’t use it on your face. Of course, you wouldn’t want to use a heavy body cream as a facial moisturizer – unless your skin is very dry or it’s cold as hell outside.
But The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion is not a heavy cream and the brand had the customer in mind when they opted to market it for both the face and the body. Think of it as a very, very light lotion. In fact, “emulsion,” while weird, is spot on. It literally melts into your skin!
Like most of The Ordinary’s products, it’s simple, ingredient focused and well-formulated. TBH there’s nothing more noteworthy in the formula than Niacinamide and a few hydrating humectants. That’s The Ordinary!
Oh and of course, it’s super accessible – just $14.
So many products come across my desk (and my kitchen counter, dining room table, and bathroom sink!) that unless one is truly excellent or fills a specific purpose, I generally try it for a time and either use it up or give it away.
I’ve got lots of lightweight summer moisturizers and sunscreens that I’m obsessed with. But I didn’t have anything like The Ordinary’s Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion.
And even more rarely do I like a new product enough that I immediately restock it. In the past six weeks, I’ve already had to replace the Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion. I intend to grab a few of them during the brand’s annual “Slowvember” sale when everything is 20% off or more.
It’s such a pleasure to use. It soaks right into skin, delivering the kind of ultralight hydration I want on a warm day. It’s perfect as a lightweight moisturizer before bed – or before sunscreen in your AM routine.
Whether you use it on your face or your body, The Ordinary really nailed it with this one. Six weeks and it’s already in my regular rotation.
6. Pros & Cons
What I like about it: The Ordinary Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion is such a pleasure to use. It’s the perfect way to get more Niacinamide into your routine; you can’t have enough! I love the light as air texture that makes it ideal for a warm day. And the ease with which it layers under a facial sunscreen is notable.
What I don’t like about it: I like everything about it.
Who it’s for: All skin types, including oily skin.
SHOP THE BLOG: Want to try it for yourself? Purchase The Ordinary Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion for $14 here.
FIND OUT WHICH SERUM PERFORMED BETTER – AND BY HOW MUCH!
The Ingredient List of The Ordinary Niacinamide 5% Face & Body Emulsion:
Aqua (Water), Ethyl Macadamiate, Niacinamide, Propanediol, Glycerin, Sphingomonas Ferment Extract, Pentylene Glycol, Ethylhexyl Olivate, Polyglyceryl-4 Oleate, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Isoceteth-20, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, Malic Acid, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Tocopherol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin.
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