Oily skin isn't dirty.
It's over-correcting.
Harsh washes strip the surface, the skin panics and makes more oil, and by lunch you are shiny again. Niacinamide works the other way: it steadies how much oil is made in the first place.
So what is niacinamide?
It is vitamin B3 — one of the best-studied skincare actives and one of the few tolerated by almost every skin type. It does quiet, structural work rather than dramatic work.
On oily skin two of its effects matter. It moderates how much sebum the skin produces, and it helps the skin make its own ceramides — the fats that hold the barrier together, so it stops over-reacting to being cleaned.
- FORM
- Vitamin B3 — niacinamide, water-soluble and stable
- DOES
- Steadies sebum output; supports the skin's own barrier fats
- SUITS
- Oily and combination skin, enlarged-looking pores, spot-prone skin
The squeaky-clean feeling is the problem.
Skin sits slightly acidic. Foaming soaps and many 'oil control' washes are alkaline; they strip the surface fats and leave that tight, squeaky feel. The skin reads that as damage and produces more oil to repair it — so the wash that felt most effective is the one that makes you oiliest by afternoon.
A wash that cleans at skin's own pH and puts back what it takes breaks that loop. Nothing dramatic happens in the mirror on day one. That is the point.
Three steps make oily skin shine. This works on two.
Harsh cleansing removes the fats that hold the surface together. The skin registers damage.
The gland compensates for the loss, and in oily skin it over-compensates.
Oil sitting in a pore stretches it visually and catches debris. With less oil, pores read smaller and the surface smoother.
Why 2% in a wash
Leave-on serums use 5–10% because they sit on the skin for hours. A wash has a minute of contact, twice a day, so it needs enough to matter in that window without adding cost you rinse down the drain. Two per cent is that balance.
What else is on the shelf
NiacinamideIn this formulaWhat actually happens, and when
Morning and night, a full minute
Before you start
Clean, not stripped.
2% Niacinamide with allantoin and glycerin in a fragrance-free, pH-balanced wash. 175 ml.
