Does niacinamide (vitamin B3) make a visible difference for your skin?
Niacinamide cream (5%) demonstrably improves ageing skin and uneven skin tone, and is safe to use. For people with a history of skin cancer, the tablet form offers additional protection, but that requires medical consultation.
Niacinamide (vitamin B3) works in several ways inside the skin. It helps cells produce energy and repair damaged DNA. It also protects the skin from external damage and calms inflammation. That explains why it is used for such a wide range of purposes.
The evidence for visible improvement is concrete. In a study of fifty women, they applied a cream containing 5% niacinamide to one half of their face and a dummy cream to the other half for twelve weeks. The niacinamide side clearly outperformed on fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation spots, redness, and skin elasticity. The study was small and included only fair-skinned women with sun-damaged skin, so how universally these results apply is not certain.
A comprehensive review from 2024 confirms that niacinamide cream has clinically supported benefits for a broader group of people: evening out skin tone, strengthening the skin barrier in dry or sensitive skin, and addressing conditions such as acne, dermatitis, and actinic keratosis (sun damage that can be an early stage of skin cancer). For acne, niacinamide likely performs similarly to topical antibiotics such as clindamycine, but the available studies were small and barely measured improvement as reported by patients themselves.
For people at higher risk of skin cancer, there is stronger evidence for niacinamide in tablet form. In a phase 3 study of 386 high-risk patients, taking 500 mg twice daily for twelve months resulted in 23% fewer new skin cancers and 11 to 20% fewer actinic keratoses compared with a dummy pill. Once people stopped taking the tablets, the effect disappeared. A large study of more than 33,000 people even found a 54% reduction in risk among those who started taking the tablets after their first skin cancer. That last study is not an experiment but an observation, so not all interfering factors can be ruled out.
On safety: taking up to 3 grams per day by mouth is considered safe, and no serious side effects occurred in the studies. For the skin, 5% is the most thoroughly studied concentration, both for anti-ageing and for an even skin tone.
Based on one small split-face study in people (n=50), two reviews, one review on acne, one phase 3 study for skin cancer (n=386), and one large retrospective study (n=33,822).
Does omega-3 from fish or flaxseed help give you better-looking skin?
Omega-3 from fish oil has the strongest evidence base for skin conditions involving inflammation, such as eczema or psoriasis, but results are mixed and no proven optimal dose exists. Flaxseed omega-3 has a weaker effect. If you want to try it for a skin complaint, discuss it with your doctor.
Does omega-3 protect your skin from sunburn?
Omega-3 may offer some protection against sunburn reactions, but the evidence from good studies is too limited and no proven protective dose is known. Simply continue using sunscreen and regard omega-3 at most as a possible supplement.
Does zinc help with acne and healthier skin?
Zinc demonstrably reduces inflamed pimples, but works less well than benzoyl peroxide or antibiotics. It is most useful if you cannot tolerate standard treatments or as a supplement to them, always in consultation with a doctor.
What really helps against skin ageing?
Using sunscreen every day is the best-supported way to slow skin ageing, complemented by not smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation and getting enough sleep. Cosmetic options such as thread lifts and honey in creams have a weaker or not yet sufficiently proven basis and call for a careful weighing of the risks.
Does rapamycin improve skin aging?
Topical rapamycin showed promising signs for skin ageing in a small study, but the evidence is still too thin to justify self-application.
Do AHAs or BHAs really help against wrinkles and blemishes?
Both AHA (glycolic acid) and BHA (salicylic acid) demonstrably help with acne, blemishes and, to a lesser extent, wrinkles, although results vary from person to person. For acne, salicylic acid has the strongest backing, especially for people with darker skin.