Let’s review some skincare again shall we? Today’s review will be for the Good Molecules Niacinamide Serum. This serum was sent to me in a PR package to try and one I was quite nervous about. Why? Because this serum is an exfoliant and my sensitive skin and chemical exfoliators does not always mix well. Last year, I spent a good chunk getting my skin used to chemical exfoliants and now I felt I could give this a whirl. What are my thoughts on the Good Molecules Niacinamide Serum?
Skincare review: Good Molecules Niacinamide Serum
Good Molecules is an affordable brand very similar to the likes of The Ordinary. They advocate clean, simple skincare at a drugstore price point. This particular serum therefore retails for just $6. Good Molecules is only available from Beautylish which is a US website. So when you’re in Europe, please note that you may have to pay for customs fees when you place an order and go over the legal limit of €22.
What does this serum promise to do?
This is a skincare product, so of course there are promises attached to this product that claim what it should do and what effects it should have. Niacinamide is an exfoliant that should help with texture, dullness and minimize pores. It should also help maintain the hydration levels in your skin by protecting the skin’s natural barrier and increase moisture retention. As an exfoliant this is certainly a step up from the lactic acid that I used from The Ordinary last year. Not only did that come with a lower percentage of the active ingredient, lactic acid in itself is a more gentle chemical exfoliant and one recommended for sensitive skin or skin that has never been chemically exfoliated before. A Niacinamide serum would be much more intense and I would therefore recommend you look into one that is less powerful if you have never used such a product before.
Why did I start using this?
Because they sent it to me! Nah that would be too easy, but I remember the brand asking me before sending me anything what my skin concerns were. My biggest skin concerns is texture as I get little white bumps (known as milia) all over my cheek and eye area. Those bumps are a sign of low moisture levels in the skin and I minimized them a lot over the years simply by having a good skincare routine. I still ended up with texture on my cheeks though which didn’t look great under my makeup. I have found since switching to chemical exfoliants that the bumps reduce greatly and my skin indeed feels smoother and the bumps are less noticeable. With the lactic acid I used at first this required regular, twice a week, applications. With the niacinamide I don’t have to do it as often. I tend to use this once a week to once every two weeks and maintain the same results.
What is this product like?
Sadly, this product confuses me a bit. It comes in a secure dropper style bottle, but for me the dropper doesn’t work. When I get is out of the bottle it feels very watery and thin, but it is as if the dropper just won’t suck it up as the product is too thick. So what I have been doing is just dumping some out on my hand, but now the packaging is super messy. So not my favorite in terms of packaging. I am not sure if this is supposed to happen, but it has a very strange consistency that at first made me think this might not be the way it is intended. However, once I get it on the back of my hand, it is easy to apply and it sits on the skin nicely. It is absorbed immediately and I prefer using this in the night time.
My final thoughts
I am a bit on the fence about this product. Yes, it works and it gets the job done that I need it to do. And at this price point I think that is a great thing to do. However, the strange formula makes me believe this may not be the most stable product and therefore it may give an allergic reaction at some point. I feel that now that I have used it for a while, that this product seems to only become thicker as time goes on. That for me is a sign that I should throw this in the bin soon as it will not last very long in terms of expiration. So while this is affordable, I don’t see myself using this up before it expires and that is a bit of a shame.
Would I recommend the Good Molecules Niacinamide Serum?
I would if you are looking for a good chemical exfoliant at an affordable price point and can easily place an order in the US. If not, I would look into other ones. I think The Ordinary do one too and that is more accessible to me personally. So I think I will not be repurchasing this. It is not worth the hassle and I would like to now try another niacinamide exfoliant to see if it also has that weird texture and thickens over time.
8 responses to “Good Molecules Niacinamide Serum review”
I recently began using The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid (2%) and Mandelic Acid (10%) First thing is that they are both really drippy, and like you found with yours, the dropper doesn’t really pull much product, it’s like kind of useless, I just use it as a wand. (Also the same issue with the Retinol I use that has a dropper) The Mandelic Acid is an exfoliator that’s supposed to help with acne, even though it’s rather oily. At first it was working rather well, cleaning my skin and not drying it out like some other anti-acne products do. But, like most products, it stopped working for me, so I’m taking a break from it. The Hyaluronic Acid is okay, doesn’t do much, but it’s super messy. It gets sticky and runs everywhere. I wonder why the droppers in these things don’t work well?
I don’t like HA. For some reason it doesn’t moisturize for me at all.
Niacinamde is not an exfoliant
Thanks for the information! It was sold to me as one, which is why I gave that information. I now know it is a vitamin but it is used in products that are marketed as exfoliants.
[…] have been using this. I also notice it works well to help with my skin’s texture. I tried the Niacinamide Serum as well and liked it, but it glooped up really quickly and became unusable. This does have a […]
Niacinamide is not a chemical exfoliant and shouldn’t be used as a replacement for one. It works differently.
And yet it works on my skin better than any exfoliant I have ever tried. Many are too intense for my skin and I like going with what works for me, not what a product claims to be or do.
[…] have figured out my skin just loves and it’s niacinamide. I figured that out when I tried the Good Molecules Niacinamide Serum. However, I also have found that I prefer it if niacinamide is part of the formula rather than the […]