— § 01
What niacinamide actually is.
Niacinamide is the amide form of vitamin B3 — water-soluble, photo-stable, and in topical use for over four decades. Inside the cell it serves as a precursor to NAD+ and NADP+, the redox cofactors that drive sebum synthesis, ceramide assembly, and a number of inflammation pathways. That dependency is why niacinamide influences so many endpoints from a single molecule: you are tuning a metabolic input that several skin processes are downstream of.
It is not a scrub, a peel, or a "treatment" in the dramatic sense. It is a quiet metabolic adjustment that, used consistently for eight to twelve weeks, produces small, replicated improvements across oil, redness, pigment, and barrier function — without the irritation curve of a retinoid or the pH demands of an acid.