Niacinamide is one of the best-studied cosmetic vitamins—and one of the most overstated on pack. Higher percentages read as “stronger,” but published consumer-relevant benefits often plateau well below the numbers on the bottle.
Barrier and tone claims typically rest on studies in the mid-single-digit range. Jumping to 20% may increase irritation risk without a matching evidence step-up for the advertised outcome.
When cataloging products, capture the declared percentage and the claim class separately. A “brightening” line at 10% is not automatically twice as defensible as 5%.
HypeProof tip: treat concentration as a context field for evidence matching—not a score multiplier by itself.