Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment: a Guru Score of 68%

What the experts use it for.

The concerns the experts tie this product to, in their own words. Paid and founder takes don't count.

Clogged or visible pores3 experts

“These serums are really great for acne prone skin or if you want to decrease the look and size of your pores.”

The Budget Dermatologist, watch at 5:38

Dark spots and post-acne marks2 experts

“This product would be great for people who are suffering from hyperpigmentation or enlarged pores or acne marks”

Tea with MD, watch at 6:01

Breakouts and acne1 expert

“Niacinamide [...] has so many benefits from improving acne to fading dark spots.”

The Budget Dermatologist, watch at 4:46

Skin barrier support1 expert

“The twenty percent niacinamide is going to be great at minimizing the look of pores, unclogging the pores, brightening the skin, helping repair skin barrier.”

The Budget Dermatologist, watch at 5:45

Dull skin1 expert

“This one also has licorice root extract in it, so that's going to help fade dark spots as well and smooth skin texture and just brighten the skin.”

The Budget Dermatologist, watch at 4:46

Rough or uneven texture1 expert

“Twenty percent niacinamide is going to do a really good job improving skin texture.”

The Budget Dermatologist, watch at 4:46

Fine lines and wrinkles1 expert

“90% said that the wrinkles looked smoother, and their skin looks younger.”

Cassandra Bankson, watch at 12:07

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored

208SkinDoc

2.10M subs

~Mixed

"If you want a higher concentration of niacinamide, Paula's Choice 20% Niacinamide is something you can choose. It is going to be a little bit more pricey, and I am not sure that 20 percent is going to do a whole lot more for your skin than 10 percent."

Dr. Jenny Liu

324k subs

~Yay

"I've used a serum myself. I think it was fine for me but I'm the type of person who really don't need a separate nice serum. I've had friends who have super oily skin, super textured skin and really swear by this product. [...] This is great for kind of combination, normal skin, oily skin, and potentially could work well for sensitive skin, but with that 20% higher concentration, I think it's just more be careful of the potential irritation."

Mad About Skin

733k subs

~Nay

"So why do Paula's Choice have a 20% niacinamide? For the tiny cohort of people that might actually be appropriate and beneficial, there's a whole host of people out there using it believing the stronger is better and actually suffering and experiencing a lot of side effects as a result. Not science backed, not appropriate for the mass market."

All 2 takes from Mad About Skin

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"So why do Paula's Choice have a 20% niacinamide? For the tiny cohort of people that might actually be appropriate and beneficial, there's a whole host of people out there using it believing the stronger is better and actually suffering and experiencing a lot of side effects as a result. Not science backed, not appropriate for the mass market."

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"Paula's Choice who now offer a 20% strength niacinamide where there's no data to point out how effective that can be and often delivers a whole lot more irritation. What people were finding is using a 2 to 5% strength niacinamide worked really well for them but pushing that concentration higher they didn't necessarily get more results in terms of helping to achieve their skin goals but they got a whole lot more sensitivity and irritation."

Doctorly

3.59M subs

~Nay

"At 20% you're really quite far off of the ideal concentration balancing effectiveness and utility and irritation. So this one, the 20%, really I think is just unnecessary. You can just use the 10% and you don't need to find a way forward from there. [...] 10% is more than enough than what you need from my angle."

Tea with MD

115k subs

~Yay

"This product would be great for people who are suffering from hyperpigmentation or enlarged pores or acne marks"

The Budget Dermatologist

724k subs

~Yay

"One of my personal favorites niacinamide serum is by Paula's Choice. These serums are really great for acne prone skin or if you want to decrease the look and size of your pores."

All 3 takes from The Budget Dermatologist

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"One of my personal favorites niacinamide serum is by Paula's Choice. These serums are really great for acne prone skin or if you want to decrease the look and size of your pores."

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"But this one is still really nice. The twenty percent niacinamide is going to be great at minimizing the look of pores, unclogging the pores, brightening the skin, helping repair skin barrier. It's a [...] pretty traditional serum and smells really good. [...] I would compare this to The Ordinary one and I like the Paula's Choice way better than The Ordinary one even though that one is more affordable because this one absorbs into the skin much more better."

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"Twenty percent niacinamide is going to do a really good job improving skin texture. This one is a little bit thicker in texture compared to the ten percent one which I have used in the past. Niacinamide [...] has so many benefits from improving acne to fading dark spots. This one also has licorice root extract in it, so that's going to help fade dark spots as well and smooth skin texture and just brighten the skin."

Cassandra Bankson

2.46M subs

~Yay

"They also added regular green tea. [...] And when [Paula's Choice] actually tested this with people, they're saying that 95% of people saw that pores looked smaller, they had more elasticity in the skin. 90% said that the wrinkles looked smoother, and their skin looks younger. And with Paula's Choice, I actually believe those claims. The [...] [Paula's Choice] Nyinomide one is $50, so it's a little more expensive than something like these, but it is worth every every scent."

Top Pick: dark spot treatment serum

James Welsh

1.58M subs

~Mixed

"Niacinamide has been proven and all the studies have been done on the effectiveness of niacinamide at around two to 5% and it works perfectly consistently. [...] Is using three times the amount of niacinamide you usually use gonna make your serum more effective? Not necessarily, no. Can it cause more irritation? Quite possibly, yes, it did. With mine, I thought I'd give 20% a go. Never again. [...] A 20% higher percentage doesn't mean you're going to see better, quicker results."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Frequently asked.

What is Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment?

A facial serum with a 20% concentration of niacinamide, designed to help with the look of pores, skin texture and dark spots.

Is Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment worth it?

The gurus are split. 4 of the 8 gurus give it their stamp of approval while 2 would skip it, which lands it in the middle at a Guru Score of 68%.

What is Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment's Guru Score?

Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment holds a Guru Score of 68%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 8 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Who is Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment best for?

Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment is generally suited to oily skin and combination skin.

What is Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment good for, according to the experts?

In their reviews, experts say Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment is good for clogged or visible pores (3 experts), dark spots and post-acne marks (2 experts), breakouts and acne (1 expert), skin barrier support (1 expert), dull skin (1 expert) and rough or uneven texture (1 expert).

Is Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment good for clogged or visible pores?

3 experts who reviewed Paula's Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment say it is. The Budget Dermatologist put it this way: “These serums are really great for acne prone skin or if you want to decrease the look and size of your pores.”