Three Benefits of Combining Niacinamide and Tretinoin

There are plenty of active ingredients out there, and creating an effective, efficient skin care routine involves knowing which actives you can safely combine to achieve your goals.

Every skin care routine looks a little bit different, depending on the issues you’re hoping to address and the results you want to see. 

For many, niacinamide and tretinoin are excellent ingredients to include to reach these goals — especially if you’re dealing with breakouts or signs of premature aging. 

Here’s how you can combine these ingredients safely and what changes you can expect to see when you pair niacinamide and tretinoin in your skin care routine. 

What is niacinamide?

Niacinamide is one of several different forms of vitamin B3 — and it’s the most common form for use in skin care. 

Niacinamide is known for its ability to lock in moisture by strengthening and protecting the skin’s moisture barrier, build proteins (namely keratin, a crucial protein for the skin), regulate oil (sebum) production and many other supportive properties.

It also qualifies as an antioxidant, meaning it can help to protect the skin from free radical damage (most often caused by chronic sun exposure).

Niacinamide is available over the counter, although there are higher concentrations that may require a prescription (or be used as part of a cosmetic treatment plan).

What is tretinoin?

Like niacinamide, tretinoin is also a vitamin — vitamin A. It's also known as retinoic acid, not to be confused with retinol (although both fall into the retinoid category). 

Unlike OTC niacinamide, tretinoin requires a prescription. It works as a powerful chemical exfoliant, helping the skin become far more efficient at sloughing off the old, dead skin cells that can clog the pores and leave the skin looking dull and aged. These properties are part of why tretinoin is effective at helping to manage breakouts, too.

Tretinoin (sometimes referred to as tret) also speeds up the production of newer, more youthful skin cells — so the cells you see on the surface of your skin are the youngest and freshest possible. 

What are the benefits of combining niacinamide and tretinoin?

Both niacinamide and tretinoin have their own amazing advantages for your skin, but combining them can ramp those benefits up even more. 

Here are three of the top benefits of using these actives together:

1. Can help ease breakouts

When used together, niacinamide and tretinoin can join forces to help keep your skin clear. 

Niacinamide helps to support balanced levels of sebum — or natural oil — in your skin, while tretinoin helps to clean out your pores and prevent breakouts. 

2. Can help skin look younger

Your skin requires moisture to thrive and look its best, and niacinamide is great at keeping your skin hydrated and radiant. 

In addition, niacinamide can help support your skin while tretinoin gets to work, as tretinoin can be a little bit harsh on your skin at first.

3. Can help improve the appearance of dark spots and pigmentation

Being able to speed up the turnover of skin cells can also help gradually reduce and improve the appearance of scarring and pigmentation issues like dark spots. 

As the skin sheds the old, dead skin cells, the new skin cells that grow to replace them often show less and less of the original scars and dark areas. 

With time and patience, your skin can become clearer, more even-toned and more radiant. However, this process can also be overwhelming for your skin — we’ll talk about “the purge” in just a moment.

What is a tretinoin purge?

One factor of incorporating tretinoin into your skin care routine that gets a lot of bad press is a phenomenon called “the purge.” 

The basic idea behind it is that because tretinoin is such a powerful exfoliant, it can cause the skin to essentially panic. As the speed that skin cells turn over increases, it can take a temporary toll on your skin, causing breakouts, flaking, redness, irritation, etc. 

It’s important to remember that this is only a temporary phase. With a little patience and the right support (like a supportive moisturizer), you’ll be able to move through it and find your way to your best skin yet. 

If you have concerns that your purge may be more of a sensitivity or an allergic reaction, consult with your board-certified provider.

How to safely combine niacinamide and tretinoin

Just like with all skin care ingredients you combine into a single skin care routine, there is a right way to get the best out of niacinamide and tretinoin when used together. If you use them together incorrectly, you increase your chance of ending up with sensitive, irritated skin.

Depending on which of your products contain niacinamide, it’s usually recommended that you split these actives up — using one in your morning routine and one in your evening routine. Specifically, we recommend using niacinamide in the morning and tretinoin in the evening. 

You also don’t want to start using these two products at the same time. If you do have a reaction to one or the other, introducing them separately can help you determine which may be causing the issue. 

It’s best to start with tretinoin, using only a small (less than pea-sized) amount once or twice a week. If you have particularly sensitive or easily irritated skin, you can also apply it after your moisturizer to give your skin an added buffer. 

How to use niacinamide and tretinoin with skin care treatments

Skin care treatments are another way to support your skin’s health — and most of them work great with niacinamide and tretinoin. 

The key is to make sure that you let your skin care provider know what your daily routine looks like. At Skin Pharm, our NPs and PAs can work with you to craft a skin treatment plan to help you achieve your goals. 

In some cases, it may be best for you to hold off on using tretinoin for a few days before and after your skin care treatments, but your provider will always let you know. Taking a break can give your skin some extra time to heal and replenish — once it’s no longer irritated, you can usually go back to using your actives as before.

In summary...

While we discussed three benefits of using niacinamide and tretinoin together in your skin care routine, the benefits of customizing your entire routine to your specific goals are endless. With the right combination of ingredients combined in the right way, your skin can reach heights you may have never thought possible. 

If you’re not sure where to begin or you’d like to discuss your options with one of our skin care providers, schedule a skin care consult for personalized skin care advice. 

This article was medically reviewed by Chelsie Rogers, PA-C, a board-certified physician assistant with six years of experience in cosmetic dermatology.

Sources:

Niacinamide: A B vitamin that improves aging facial skin appearance | PubMed

Tretinoin: A Review of Its Anti-inflammatory Properties in the Treatment of Acne | PMC

Sebum - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

Skin Pigmentation Types, Causes and Treatment—A Review | PMC