Should you use hyaluronic acid before or after niacinamide

Layering skincare products often feels more complicated than it should be. Will they cancel each other out? Will you end up destroying your skin barrier? In most cases, as long as you’re not experiencing irritation, you’re fine to keep layering away – but maybe you want to know whether there is any additional benefit to using multiple skincare ingredients? For example, is it worth using niacinamide and hyaluronic acid together?

• What is Niacinamide?
• What is Hyaluronic Acid?
• Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid Together
• How To Use Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid Together
• Who Could Benefit From Using Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid Together?
• Summary – Can You Use Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid Together?

What is Niacinamide?

Niacinamide is one of those skincare ingredients that seems to do just about everything and suits every skin type.

Some of its wide-ranging skin benefits include:

• Boosting collagen production
• Reducing fine lines and wrinkles
• Treating acne
• Reducing inflammation
• Neutralizing free radicals (antioxidant)
• Reducing oil production
• Brightening skin and reducing hyperpigmentation
• Hydrating skin

The latter of which makes combining niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, together, a great choice.

What is Hyaluronic Acid?

Hyaluronic acid is a humectant that is naturally present in your body as part of your skin’s natural moisturizing factors (NMFs).

When applied to your skin it draws water from the deeper layer of your skin (your dermis) to the outer layer of your skin (your epidermis) and can bind up to one-thousand times its weight in water. The result? Super hydrated skin!

Niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, together, are a super skincare combination as they complement each other’s hydrating effects.

Your skin’s hydration is controlled by the outermost layer of your epidermis, the stratum corneum (a.k.a. your skin barrier). Your stratum corneum has a ‘brick and mortar’ like structure where your skin cells (bricks) are held together by a glue-like mixture of lipids (mortar).

These lipids are mainly made up of a blend of ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids and create a barrier that prevents water from escaping your skin and irritants from entering.

Your skin cells themselves contain natural moisturizing factors (NMFs) such as hyaluronic acid, lactic acid, urea, amino acids, and sugars.

NMFs control the hydration of your individual skin cells and regulate how much water goes in and out. When the water within your skin cells is well balanced, it helps increase the elasticity of your skin, keeping it looking healthy and strong.

Overall, your skin’s hydration is dependent on the NMFs in your skin cells and the mixture of lipids that hold your skin cells together.

This is where combining niacinamide and hyaluronic acid together comes in.

Niacinamides hydrating effects are down to the fact that it increases the levels of ceramides, fatty acids, and cholesterol in your stratum corneum, while hyaluronic acid regulates the water that comes in and out of your skin cells.

Pairing niacinamide and hyaluronic acid together mean that you are tackling your skin’s hydration from both angles!

In addition, niacinamide helps to boost collagen production while hyaluronic acid improves elasticity so combining the two together can help improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

How To Use Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid Together

You don’t necessarily have to use niacinamide and hyaluronic acid together at the same time of day in order to benefit from this double-hydrating effect. For example, you could use hyaluronic acid in the morning to keep your skin hydrated throughout the day and niacinamide in the evening followed by a moisturizer.

Both niacinamide and hyaluronic acid are water-based ingredients which means that you don’t have to worry about applying them in a particular order if you do want to use them at the same time of day.

Plus, they both have a pH level somewhere between 5.0 and 7.0 so you also don’t have to worry about either ingredient altering the pH of the other.

While hyaluronic acid acts almost instantly to hydrate your skin, niacinamide can take up to 4 weeks to replenish the lipids within your stratum corneum so it’s worth using a ceramide-based moisturizer while using niacinamide and hyaluronic acid together.

Who Could Benefit From Using Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid Together?

The combination of niacinamide and hyaluronic acid would be particularly suitable for acne-prone skin. This is because acne-prone skin often contains too much oil and not enough water/hydration.

Using niacinamide and hyaluronic acid together would also work well for older skin as both ingredients can help improve fine lines and wrinkles.

Summary – Can You Use Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid Together?

Yes! You absolutely can use niacinamide and hyaluronic acid together. In fact, this combination can offer a double-whammy of skin hydration as well as a number of other benefits.