Niacinamide and vitamin C: the myth that they cancel each other out

Somewhere on the internet you have been told that niacinamide and vitamin C cancel each other out, or worse, turn into something that irritates your skin. It is repeated so often it sounds settled. It is not.

Where the myth comes from

It comes from research in the 1960s, done with pure ascorbic acid and pure niacinamide, heated, in water, over time. Under those conditions they can react and form a compound that flushes the skin.

None of that describes a modern serum. Today's formulas are stabilised, pH balanced and nothing like a heated test tube. And you are not mixing them in a beaker, you are putting one on your face and then the other.

What actually happens on skin

They work well together. Vitamin C brightens and protects against daily environmental damage. Niacinamide calms, strengthens the skin barrier and helps with oil and pores. Several newer studies find the pair does more together than either does alone.

If your skin is sensitive anyway

Some people do flush with both at once, but that is usually a strong vitamin C on skin that is not used to it, not a reaction between the two. If that is you, put vitamin C on in the morning and niacinamide at night. You lose nothing by splitting them.

The order, if you use both at once

Thinnest first. Usually that means vitamin C, wait a minute, then niacinamide, then moisturiser. If one of them is in your moisturiser rather than a serum, it just goes in its normal place in the routine.

The short version

You can use them together. If your skin dislikes it, split them across morning and evening rather than dropping one, because they are both worth keeping.

Both are in the ingredient guide, with what they do and what actually does not go with them.