Can You Use Vitamin A Serum and Niacinamide Together?

There are a few ingredients that become a skin dream team when combined in your skincare routine. Niacinamide and vitamin A, also known as retinol, is one duo that can have a positive impact on the overall health and appearance of the skin. Today we will be investigating further into how to use vitamin A serum and niacinamide together, I’m sure you’ll be impressed with the results!

Let’s have a quick recap about each of the ingredients and how they benefit the skin.

What are the benefits of Vitamin A, also known as retinol?

• Prevents wrinkles and other signs of ageing developing as well as reducing the appearance of existing fine lines and wrinkles.
• Increases the speed of skin cell turnover resulting in the complexion looking vibrant, glowing, and healthy.
• Improves the skin texture sloughing away the build-up of dead skin cells and smoothing out the skin.
• Helps to regulate sebum production and minimise the frequency of breakouts.
• Reduces the appearance of dark spots, sunspots and hyperpigmentation resulting in an even skin tone.

If you wanted to know more about retinol, check out this blog post over on the Beauty Insiders. 

What are the benefits of Niacinamide?

• Acts as a humectant meaning it is able to draw moisture in from the area surrounding the skin and locking it into the skin. This helps keep the skin plumped, hydrated, and healthy.
• Helps to regulate the amount of oil the sebaceous glands produce keeping the skin balanced.
• Provides protection from oxidised stress to the skin caused from exposure to free radicals such as smoke, pollution, harsh climates, and other environmental aggressors.
• Targets dark spots and hyperpigmentation by lighten the darker areas and increasing collagen production.
• Keeps the lipid barrier of the skin at its healthiest state ensuring it can protect itself from environmental stresses.
• Minimises the appearance of pores ensuring the pores remain clear and looking less visible over time.

There are more benefits to niacinamide that you can find out more about in our dedicated blog post.

Ok, so now you’ve brushed up on our skincare knowledge, let’s move on to finding out more about using vitamin A and niacinamide together. 

What serum can I use with niacinamide?

The beauty of niacinamide is the fact it is versatile and compatible with many skincare ingredients. Even actives as potent as retinol, salicylic acid, and glycolic acid will benefit from a joint application with niacinamide. This is because of the humectant traits enable it to lock moisture into the skin surface. This not only helps keep the lipid barrier healthy but can also counteract the drying effects that can often occur when using such potent ingredients as the ones I have previously mentioned.

You find that there is some confusion around using niacinamide and vitamin C together. This is due to a misconception of teaming both ingredients together because of outdated data. The facts found in the data date back several years when some forms of vitamin C were unstable once blended into formulations. It was considered that applying niacinamide on top would result in a counteractive result on the skin limiting both ingredients to work and deliver their optimal results.

Fast forward to more recent years and this is not the case in a most formulas, but if you still have a concern with layering the ingredients, wait for about ten minutes in between applications to avoid any unwanted side effects. 

What can you not mix with niacinamide serum?

As I have already mentioned, niacinamide is an allrounder and effective skincare ingredient. But there is still a little misunderstanding surrounding how to use both niacinamide and vitamin C effectively in your daily routine.

Both ingredients are effective antioxidants and are both found in a great number of skincare products. To get the most out of these actives, there are some dos and don’ts, here are some examples of how many users apply niacinamide and vitamin C.

• Ensure when using both ingredients in the same routine that you leave 10 minutes in between applications. This allows the skin’s pH levels to rebalance and prepare for the next ingredient on the skin without the worry of a flare-up or irritation.
• Try applying vitamin C in the morning and niacinamide in the evening, this will result in you receiving the benefits of both ingredients and their antioxidant properties. The vitamin C will provide protection throughout the day, and niacinamide will repair any damage that had occurred in your evening routine.

Can I use vitamin A and niacinamide?

Yes, you certainly can use the vitamin A and niacinamide together. Layering the two together helps the skin remain balanced and healthy, whilst benefiting from two powerhouse ingredients delivering impressive results.

Whilst the vitamin A works at rejuvenating the skin, ridding it of dead skin cells, dirt, and bacteria build-up, niacinamide helps to hydrate and counteract the drying effects of retinol. You can choose to use each ingredient separately or combined in one formulation. Whichever you decide to choose I would still recommend consulting with a doctor or dermatologist to ensure these ingredients will be suitable for your skin.

Is vitamin A or niacinamide better?

Although they provide similar benefits to the skin, retinol is much stronger than niacinamide. With this, however, comes some side effects of dryness, irritation, and redness to the skin. It is important to introduce vitamin A (retinol) into your skincare routine to avoid too much irritation to the skin. You’ll also find that it should only be applied to the skin in the evening as exposure to sunlight will result in the powerhouse losing its potency. This is another difference between the two as niacinamide can be used twice a day without any worry of UV rays depleting how effective it is on the skin.

As I have already mentioned, combing both ingredients together are considered a potent skin reviving duo and can be done with ease and peace of mind you won’t be overloading or causing an imbalance to the skin’s pH levels.

There you have a little more information about vitamin A and niacinamide, don’t forget if you had any further questions, you can come and find one of our skincare experts on Instagram.