Make Up Review

The Ordinary Niacinamide Powder Review

by Mohammad Ali Ayaz on Jan 04, 2024

The Ordinary hasn’t come up with anything new for a while now, since Pycnogenol maybe? So grab your excitement hats, we have something new to play with. Niacinamide powder is a bit of an enigmatic one, it’s something we didn’t know we needed. I’m going to try and figure out who needs it, what we need it for and what we do with the stuff.

If you’ve found yourself here from Google, you might want to check out my/our communities- The Ordinary Chatroom and The Ordinary Subreddit (or the Skincare with Friends chatroom for less The Ordinary specific chat). Great places to head if you’re looking for advice and reviews

Here’s the facts and figures-

What Is Niacinamide Good For?

Niacinamide is gorgeous stuff. It has loads of positive skincare effects, It works for every type of skin issue.

Here is the science behind niacinamide’s power- It is a precursor to the coenzyme NADH, which has a great deal of functions in the human body-

(Review article for further reading)

It really is magic stuff, effective for so many different issues. Anyone, apart from those with actual baby skin, could use niacinamide to improve their skin. It’s good for aging, acne, dryness, oiliness, pigmentation, loss of firmness, sunspots, the works.

The Ordinary Niacinamide Powder Review

The Ordinary Niacinamide Powder open jar containing powder — The Ordinary Niacinamide Powder Review

Niacinamide powder comes in a dark brown UV protected glass bottle in a card box with a small plastic scoop, much the same as The Ordinary’s 100% Ascorbic Powder. The instructions go-

Mix a quarter scoop of the spoon provided with a water-based treatment in the palm of your hand and apply to the face in the morning and/or evening. Avoid contact with eyes, if contact occurs rinse thoroughly with water. Wash hands after handling. Do not mix with formulations with a pH of 5 or lower.

The issue I have straight away with this is the quarter scoop bit. It’s really hard to tell what a quarter scoop looks like. Also, the concentration is going to change depending on the amount of stuff you use to dilute it with. You have to pretty much do it by eye. Normally skincare formulas containing niacinamide contain between 1-10%, so that is a tiny bit of powder going with a face worth of serum.

The Niacinamide powder dissolves really easily. There is no grittiness and it soaks in well. I always get a little tingle when I use The Ordinary’s 10% Niacinamide and the powder gives the same sensation. I didn’t get any redness or soreness afterwards, just the tingling.