There is some sort of Niacin cream or something people put on their face for acne, and I believe it helps a lot.

Im talking about as part of a multivitamin, its also called b3 I think. No one?

Just don't OD on it. In a mistaken and futile attempt once to pass a drug test, I took 7 Niacin vitiamans. Not only did I not piss clean, but I had the worst skin burn- inside AND outside - that I'd ever had.

I used to take a lot of niacin. I also got flushed and one time my elbows and other joints went completely red. Kinda scary.

Oh, and it never helped my acne.

I've been taking a multi on and off the past couple weeks and now im being consistent with it. Thing is, its got Niacin, which causes me to flush every couple times or so. This has a detoxifying effect and helps blood flow so it seems like I should be beneficial, yet ive heard some people say it can be bad for people with skin problems. I even saw someone say it could cause rosacea...my moms got rosacea and im gonna do everything in my power to avoid it. Anyone got any knowledge to share?

Look for one with niacinimade rather than niacin.

I was wondering about niacin myself one day, so I searched on google and got the wiki article for it. Turns out its an important vitamin for muscle breakdown and rebuilding. It's commonly said to help flush out your cells with lots of water, but I'm not sure about how true that is. My multivitamin is at 20mg which is tiny bit over the recommended daily dosage, but as long as you don't go too much beyond your daily recommend amount you should be okay. Read up and make sure it doesn't effect any conditions you may think you are predisposed to.

There are a few threads about niacin and acne. Here's what I think:

It has to do with the pentose phosphate pathway. Niacin helps to generate NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate). NADPH is an electron donor to regenerate Glutathione. So in other words, Niacin is increasing your level of antioxidants and that's beneficial for acne because the oxidation of sebum is a problem with acne. It's what allows P. acnes to colonize pores.

It's about energy metabolism and antioxidants.

This thread was dug up from the dead! But I thought I'd add my thoughts on niacin. I take powder niacin from bulksupplements 2x/day. I first started taking it while I was on accutane to help lower my cholesterol. I noticed it really helps my skin and so I've just continued to take it. I think it makes me less oily, less inflamed, and my skin just looks better overall. There is the flush side effect, but I usually avoid that by taking the niacin with food. When I do flush it doesn't bother me very much.