Vitamin B3 aka Niacinamide and Ceramides Anti-Aging Skincare MUST HAVE Ingredient for Mature Skin

Let’s see what niacinamide brings to the table, as well as the importance of ceramides. Where vitamin A is known as the big hitter of anti-aging and vitamin C looks to be very promising in what it can do for our skin, both need to be approached with some caution. Let’s discuss the gentler team player, vitamin B3.  This antioxidant is niacinamide and offers many benefits without the irritation.

Niacinamide helps with moisture retention, reduces trans-epidermal water loss and is key in healthy skin barrier function.  It helps with evening out skin tone, redness, texture, brightening, hyperpigmentation from acne scaring, improves the appearance of pores and regulates oil production.  It fights oxidation, glycation, regenerates the energy supply in cells, helps the skin defend itself from free radicals and encourages collagen production.

As you can see, niacinamide does a lot, AND it plays nicely with others.  You can use this with other active ingredients as long as you tolerate both.  That is always a concern, because you can’t use some active ingredients together, like vitamin C and retinol.  Niacinamide will actually help you tolerate other ingredients, because it reduces irritation and calms the skin.  Because of this, you can also use this on more sensitive areas, like around the eyes, neck, etc. It is important to know that studies show these benefits of niacinamide at a 2-5% concentration.  Higher concentrations do not necessarily mean better.  This is actually a very well-tolerated ingredient, but could be irritating at higher concentrations by some.  Another thing that niacinamide can do is push the skin to make more ceramides.   

How do ceramides fit into the picture, and what role do they play? I know I have mentioned quite a bit about the importance of maintaining a healthy skin barrier, and adding both of these ingredients to your routine will do that.  If you think of our skin barrier as bricks and mortar, the bricks are the cells and the mortar is what seals and holds the bricks together creating a water-resistant barrier.  A key component to this mortar component of the skin barrier are the ceramides, and with age, our levels of ceramides decreases.  If this skin barrier starts to break down, you can suffer from rough, dry skin and clogged pores. This can even lead to more serious skin conditions like rosacea and eczema.  

I want to touch on trans-epidermal water loss.  It is said that we lose more moisture at night while we sleep through trans-epidermal water loss.  So, it would be a good idea to make sure that your night moisturizer includes both of these ingredients.  Check to see if your current moisturizer includes these ingredients, because these ingredients are in a lot of products. I use the Cerave PM moisturizing lotion at night, which is very lightweight and soothing.  There is an AM and PM option, and the AM moisturizer does have a chemical sunscreen in it. 

My strategy is to minimize trans-epidermal water loss, and prep my skin for the night with both these ingredients, so it can repair itself.  I have a humidifier by my bed, and I make sure to get plenty of water throughout the day.  I also want these ingredients in my morning routine for added protection, so I am very happy that the Cerave tinted sunscreen contains them as well. I love products that do double duty!

Feel free to download my Anti-Aging Skincare Schedule that you can find on my home page. I provide both a morning and night routine, because there are some items that you don’t want to take together, so I took the guess work out of it for you.