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I love skincare! 

I got really into it after my first child was born in my mid-twenties. It felt like something I could do for myself that was only for me. When everything you are doing is to benefit someone else, that’s a huge deal. 

What I don’t always love is trying to make sense of the different ingredients. I feel like a lot of brands are vague on purpose. And every online community has some under-stimulated chemist present 23 hours a day to scold you about tiny details about each ingredient. 

So, here are the uses and explanations of two popular ingredients: azelaic acid and niacinamide. No jargon, no technicalities, just straightforward explanations of what they do and how they do it.

That way you (a normal person) can get the information you need, pick products that are going to help you, and move on with your life!

What is azelaic acid? What does it do?

First: azelaic acid is an acid, yes, but not the intense kind you’re imagining in glycolic acid peels. It’s not an AHA (alpha-hydroxy acids) that exfoliates away dead skin cells. It’s also not a BHA (beta-hydroxy acids) that is dissolving oils from the skin. (Technically it’s a “dicarboxylic acid”.) Think of it as an active ingredient, not an exfoliant, that happens to be faintly exfoliating. More like how hyaluronic acid is tehnically an acid but doesn’t behave like one. 

So what does it do?

• An azelaic acid serum is just barely exfoliating the skin, so it helps to unclog pores but does not give you that “exfoliated” skin effect. 
• It also has antibacterial properties, so acne-causing bacteria will be decreased if you’re using it. 
• Azelaic acid products will soothe redness from inflammation, acne, or rosacea.

What is niacinamide? What does it do?

Niacinamide is a form of Vitamin B, niacin. It’s called niacinamide in the topical form that can be put on the skin. 

Niacinamide does basically two things in the skin: it’s an antioxidant that prevents free radicals from entering the skin, and it enhances the skin barrier. All of the benefits for niacinamide are the result of this mechanism of action. 

Because of the antioxidant effects, niacinamide has a protective effect on skin, preventing the damage that comes from skin oxidation. This means that people who use niacinamide are less likely to have early skin aging, reduced appearance of pores, and a more even skin tone with less sun damage. 

Because of the skin barrier improvements, niacinamide leads to improved skin texture and tone, fewer breakouts, and improved skin hyration. A healthy skin barrier can also reduce skin sensitivity in sensitive skin types. 

Azelaic Acid vs Niacinamide for Acne

Both products will decrease the overall presence of acne-causing bacteria on your skin! Both azelaic acid and niacinamide reduce the overall population of acne bacteria on your skin. But they do so differently! (This is going to be a theme in this post.)

Azelaic acid is a barely-there exfoliant–you won’t feel that tingle, but it’s removing dead skin and and reducing blockages that might trap bacteria. Acne improvement comes from that faster skin cell turnover. 

Niacinamide, on the other hand, is pushing the skin to produce more protective ceramides that reduce skin irritation (from acne vulgaris or anything else!). This builds up your skin barrier so that less bacteria can penetrate. 

Taken together, the two ingredients reduce overall acne-related skin concerns more than either one would alone. If you have acne-prone skin looking for skin care products that combine both ingredients, scroll down! But two separate products will be equally effective if you already have them.

Azelaic Acid vs Niacinamide for Rosacea

For rosacea-prone skin, the answer (and your skincare routine) is more complicated. 

Azelaic acid is a preferred ingredient for rosacea! Rosacea sufferers can even get a stronger version of over-the-counter azelaic acid creams from their board-certified dermatologist. In the US, these prescription products are called Finecea and Azelex. But if you’re looking to get started or to see if azelaic acid products might be helpful for your rosacea, over-the counter topical azelaic acid will likely help you out. Prescription products are significantly stronger–products you buy over the counter will have significantly lower concentrations! It was very hard to find research that tests OTC concentrations of azelaic acid cream.

Rosacea is a progressive disease that will slowly get worse over the years if it isn’t treated. Azelaic acid (prescription or not) can be effective in helping prevent your rosacea from getting redder or larger, and to help you avoid the advanced stages of rosacea.

Niacinamide is also good for rosacea, though! As a vitamin, it nourishes the skin and promotes healthy behavior, reducing oil production and decreasing inflammation and skin redness. So, it’s a similarly soothing ingredient for rosacea symptoms. The presence of niacinamide on the skin leads the skin to produce ceramides, leading to healthier and more nourished skin overall. 

What’s worth noting about these two ingredients is that it isn’t an either-or thing–if it was, I would tell you that niacinamide is generally a cheaper ingredient and you should juat get that.  Niacinamide and azelaic acid work differently on the skin. Azelaic acid works to reduce redness and irritation as a gentle, soothing acid, and niacinamide soothes by increasing overall skin hydration. (Most rosacea sufferers also skew towards dry skin. I certainly do!)

So if you can, it may be worth considering a compound product, or combining a prescription strength azelaic acid with a niacinamide product. 

If you’re starting a rosacea journey, you can learn more about ingredients to pick or avoid here.

Azelaic Acid vs Niacinamide for Anti-Aging

We all define anti-aging a little differently, but for the purposes of this post, we’re talking about improving fine lines, brightening dull skin, and improving uneven skin tone. Set the redness questions aside for now — that is an aging concern for rosacea sufferers but not necessarily for everyone. 

For niacinamide: the antioxidant properties reduce the rate of skin aging because they prevent skin oxidation from damaging outside factors. So they increase the NAD that protects our skin from the aging properties associated with living! 

And then beyond that, having a stronger and healthier skin barrier with more ceramides is also protective against aging. Dry skin shows aging faster, and a strong healthy barrier keeps moisture in and reduces fine lines and unwanted skin texture.

Azelaic acid is also good for anti-aging, but in a different way. As a very mild exfoliant, it improves skin texture and clarity by gently exfolating. There’s also some evidence that it improves collagen production. 

Overall — niacinamide is probably the winner here, especially if you have dry skin. Azelaic acid might be a good choice for people who can’t tolerate tretinoin, but if you can get tret and tolerate it well, that’s going to do what azelaic acid does more effectively. (Tretinoin is also a prescription treatment and it can be harsh! So azelaic acid may well be a better choice for rosacea sufferers experiencing early aging, or for twentysomethings looking to prevent early aging rather than treat it.)

Azelaic Acid vs Niacinamide for Dark Spots and Melasma

Azalaic acid will reduce the overall appearance of skin discoloration (melasma, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, or from UV rays!) through two mechanisms. Because it is gently exfoliating the skin, removing dead cells and revealing fresh skin, it’s reducing the appearance of hyperpigmentation and sun damage. A recent review of the literature noted that for hyperpigmentation, azelaic acid is particularly effective because of the way it inhibits melanin cells from making color. However, this shouldn’t make people of color hesitate to use it — people with darker skin tones can use azelaic acid without worrying about changing their natural tone or making their skin tone uneven. 

Niacinamide, on the other hand, works as a UV protective agent as well as inhibiting melanin like azelaic acid does. It’s much weaker than sunscreen, but it works to prevent some additional UV rays from reaching your skin. Plus, it’s working to disconnect those melanocytes and prevent the expression of melanin that causes discoloration. So, like azelaic acid, niacinamide is treating existing hyperpigmentation, but it’s also working to prevent it in the future. Niacinamide is also a non-irritating ingredient with anti-inflammatory properties, so it’s much less aggressive than some other ingredients that are often used.

So this is a case where you may not get the full double benefit from combining both products compared to some of the other skin conditions in this post where they are sincerely going to see benefits from using both together. But if you are considering combining products, consider combining these two instead of adding hydroquinone (banned in Europe!) or tranexamic acid (effective but you have to take it literally FOREVER).

Cost and product options

Cost is always a part of our decision-making as consumers! And it should be. 

In most of the above cases, the answer has been “ummm they’re both pretty good actually”. The place where these ingredients really diverge is cost of azelaic acid vs niacinamide.. 

On average at different retailers, azelaic acid costs 30% to 50% more than niacinamide!

At The Ordinary, a company known for affordable single-ingredient formulations, azelaic acid costs twice as much as niacinamide. Right now, at the time of my writing this, the 30 ml bottle of niacinamide serum costs $6 and the the azelaic acid suspension costs $12. 

At Beauty Pie, 1 oz of niacinamide costs $19 and 1 oz of their azelaic acid cream costs $28. (I’m using their member pricing because I don’t imagine anyone pays the “full price”!)

Prescription azelaic acid cost

It is worth mentioning the Finecea cost here! Azelaic acid prescription costs can vary wildly in the US (what else is new). If you can get a prescription from your doctor, the cost could be as low as $30 for a prescription-strength azelaic acid gel or foam. Of course, this isn’t available to everyone! But if you have insurance that generally covers prescriptions, it’s worth exploring.

 A few of the online prescription sites like Apostrophe will prescribe this to you, too, but they often charge for the consultation as well. So if you have a regular doctor, you’re better off with them. And, if you have any travel plans coming up, you might check and see if you’re visiting any of the many countries where azelaic acid 15% or 20% is available over the counter! 

But overally this is a pretty significant difference cost difference between azelaic acid and niacinamide! Unless you’re specifically looking for the benefits of azelaic acid, if you’re looking at a condition above thinking, well, I could try either, you probably want to start with niacinamide just for cost reasons. 

Over-the-counter product options

If you’re less worried about cost, Paula’s Choice sells both. The azelaic acid and niacinamide are both available on Amazon with stellar reviews. On their website they sell it as “Niacinamide + Azelaic Acid Duo” at a discounted package price. So if you’re planning to buy both, start at their website (but check the Amazon review photos anyway–there are many more there.)  

If you think you’re going to get the best results from a combination of both products, that’s on the market too. Naturium sells a compound product for about $20. It boasts 10% azelaic acid but doesn’t give a percentage of the niacinamide on either the packaging or their website… I would like that information before I bought this product for myself. However, the reviews are great and the price point is very affordable compared to buying two separate products. 

Final Thoughts

Honestly — they are both good, solid ingredients, and they’re both a decent choice for all of the skin conditions listed above. This was honestly a difficult post to write, because it felt like a lot of “It’s good! That’s good too!” and not a lot of, like, expose type writing. 

There are cases where one ingredient offers a little more than the other, but by and large, if you have a bottle of one of these sitting on your dresser, it’s likely to be an effective treatment. 

Do you use either of these products? Do you like azelaic acid vs niacinamide?