Niacinamide

What niacinamide is

Niacinamide, also called nicotinamide, CAS 98-92-0, is the amide form of vitamin B3. It is a white crystalline powder that our product record lists as soluble in water, alcohol and glycerin. Over the past decade it has become one of the most popular actives in skin care, valued because it is stable, easy to formulate and fits almost any product type. This page sells the powder by the gram for brands and labs.

Properties

Niacinamide is associated with several cosmetic goals at once: smoother-looking texture, the look of refined pores, a more even-looking tone, less visible shine and a comfortable, well-moisturized feel. It is stable to heat and light, so it can go into the water phase before emulsification. It works best at a pH between roughly 5 and 7; very acidic products can convert a small part of it to nicotinic acid, which may cause a warm, flushing sensation on sensitive skin.

Applications

Serums, toners, gel creams, day and night creams, eye creams, body lotions, hand creams, primers and scalp tonics all use niacinamide. It combines well with almost everything, including Kojic Acid for tone-focused products and NAD+, to which it is chemically related. Explore more vitamins and actives in our cosmetic actives catalog.

How to use it

Dissolve the powder in the water phase at room temperature or during heating; it dissolves easily and tolerates emulsification temperatures. In clear serums it gives a crystal-clear solution. Keep the finished pH between about 5 and 7. Common use levels in leave-on products range from 2 to 5 percent, with some brands going higher; follow the CoA and your own safety assessment.

Product design tips

Niacinamide pairs well with humectants such as glycerin and hyaluronic acid and with barrier lipids such as ceramides, which together create a comfortable daily moisturizer. In lines for oily, blemish-prone-looking skin, it combines with zinc PCA for a shine-control story. In brightening products, it works next to tone actives such as kojic acid or alpha arbutin. Very high levels can feel tingly on some users, so test before launch.

Compatibility

Niacinamide is compatible with most cosmetic ingredients: humectants, emollients, emulsifiers, thickeners, peptides, ceramides, retinol and stable vitamin C derivatives. Avoid very low pH in the same product. It does not require special antioxidant protection, which keeps formulas simple. It also tolerates the heat of emulsification and the shear of homogenizers, so it can be dissolved at the very start of the process together with glycerin and other water-phase solids. This makes it one of the easiest actives for small brands that are just starting to formulate.

Characteristics

Form: white crystalline powder. INCI: Niacinamide. CAS: 98-92-0. Solubility per our record: water, alcohol, glycerin. Recommended finished pH: about 5 to 7.

Original recipe: daily balancing serum, 100 g

Phase A: distilled water 85.90 g, glycerin 3.00 g, Niacinamide 5.00 g, zinc PCA 0.50 g, panthenol 1.00 g. Stir until fully dissolved. Phase B: hydroxyethylcellulose 0.60 g predispersed in propanediol 2.50 g; stir into A until clear. Phase C: sodium hyaluronate 0.10 g predissolved in a little water from phase A, allantoin 0.20 g, preservative 1.00 g, water 0.20 g. Adjust pH to about 6.0 and fill into a dropper bottle.

Record the lot number in your batch log so every production run can be traced back to its certificate of analysis. Retain a small sample of each lot for at least the shelf life of the finished product, since it makes later quality questions much easier to answer.

Storage

Keep the powder sealed in a cool, dry place. Close the container right after weighing to keep moisture out. Ships from Florida in gram packs.