Does Niacinamide Really Reduce Pores or Is It a Myth?

Myth Busted

This viral serum promises to shrink pores, but does the science back up the hype?

Expert Analysis · Honest Reviews · Real Results

1.🔍Pore Shrinkage Promises

Listen, nothing truly shrinks your pores. They don’t have muscles.

The real goal is making them *look* smaller by keeping them clean and unpuffed. That’s the entire game.

2.🧪The Viral Bottle

It’s The Ordinary‘s Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%. $5.90. The claim? Minimize pores, control oil. For that price, I had to test the hype.

Watery serum, not sticky.

None. Smells like the lab it came from.

Basic dropper — you will absolutely knock it over.

Photo: Karly Jones / Unsplash

3.❌What’s Actually In It

It’s a two-ingredient show. Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) regulates oil and calms inflammation. Zinc PCA helps with sebum.

That’s it. No fragrance, no fluff. The simplicity is the point.

Photo: Igor Rand / Unsplash

4.✅The Reality Check

Applies like water — absorbs in 8 seconds flat. Dries down a tiny bit tacky.

By week two, my T-zone was less of an oil slick by noon. The surprise? It pills under moisturizer if you don’t let it fully dry.

💡

One Thing: Use a pea-sized amount for your whole face. More is not better — it will pill like crazy.

5.💡Did My Pores Shrink?

My pores didn’t vanish. But they looked less clogged and defined — like a blurred filter, not a photoshop.

✅

Buy if

You have oily, combo, or congestion-prone skin.

⏭️

Skip if

Your skin is very dry or sensitive to niacinamide (it can cause flushing).

💰

Worth it?

For under $6, it’s a no-brainer experiment.

6.🤔The Final Word

It’s not a pore-shrinking miracle. It’s a brilliant, cheap oil-regulator that makes pores *appear* better. That’s enough.

8.0/10

A cheap, effective blurring agent.

🛍️

Where to Buy: Sephora or the brand site. They almost never have sales, so just grab it.