Skincare Diary: The Ordinary Niacinamide 5% Skin and Body Emulsion

 

Hello my beauties!!!

It's been a hot minute since I did a 7 day skincare diary on a new product but my skin has been very sensitive and fussy over the past year. No matter what active ingredient I try to use my skin just can't seem to handle it. Which is ashame as I used to love exfoliating 3 times a week and regularly used niacinamide, alpha arbutin and vitamin C derivatives. However since I damaged my skin barrier a year and a half ago my skin just hasn't been the same. The only active ingredient I currently use is niacinamide which is known for it's barrier strengthening and redness reducing properties. I've been using this serum every other morning to prevent irritation from overuse. Here are my honest thoughts and opinions from using this product for 7 days in a row...

Reason for purchase: Wanted to try a gentle serum with an active ingredient that wouldn't cause redness or irritation. I liked that it was a low percentage of niacinamide and came in a 100ml bottle.

Introduced on: 4/08/25

Day 1: Applied to dry skin with no signs of irritation or redness and absorbs easily. Lovely viscous milky gel consistency which spreads well.

Day 2: This time I applied it to damp skin to see if it worked better when diluted abit. There was a slight tingly feeling and it took longer to absorb into the skin. Noticed a red patch of irritation on my left cheek after applying.

Day 3: Irritation was gone and this time I applied it to dry skin which absorbed alot quicker. I noticed that a whitehead had appeared near my eyebrow. I wondered if it could possibly be purging from the niacinamide.

Day 4: Put a pimple patch on the whitehead to help suck out all the juice. Then I applied a succinic acid spot treatment to reduce the inflammation.

Day 5: Another spot appeared on my cheek so it's definitely purging. Serum is still absorbing well and makes my skin feel soft and smooth.

Day 6: Noticed a spot of irritation on my left cheek after applying the serum. Maybe I need to start using it every other day?

Day 7: Redness has calmed down abit and I accidentally knocked off the the whitehead on my left cheek. The spot near my eyebrow is healing as well.

Overall Thoughts (after 7 months): 

After 1 week I didn't see immediate results however I hadn't used a pure niacinamide serum since 2018 when I first tried The Ordinary 10% Niacinamide Serum. I definitely don't think my skin could handle that percentage now but I'm currently enjoying the 5% every other day. I find it helps to give my skin a rest day in between so I can focus on other soothing and calming products. For example, when I'm not using the serum in the AM I'll replace it with the Soon Jung PH 5.5 Relief Toner which is very gentle. It has centella, madecassoside and green tea extract in the formula which are all soothing ingredients. I always notice how soft and smooth my skin feels after I apply the serum. I feel like it's moisturising enough by itself and could definitely be used in the summer as a moisturiser. I don't see enough of a noticeable difference in my skin to say if it's doing anything beyond calming redness and oil control. So for that reason I probably wouldn't purchase it again as I have other products that do the same job.

I know this was about 7 months too late but I thought I'd report my findings anyway as it might be useful if you're currently thinking about purchasing this product but are unsure if it'll be suited to you. Obviously this was my own personal experience so yours might differ. For disclosure my skin is normal leaning oily and very sensitive. So if you have a similar skin type it might work for you as it's very gentle and is good for controlling excess sebum. But if you already have a product with niacinmide which addresses those skin concerns then I would personally save your money!

Who Cares, We care, Skincare :)