5% Niacinamide Body Serum

Paula's Choice

Where to buy Possibly in stock

About this product

The Paula's Choice 5% Niacinamide Body Serum is a misc. Our analysis of its 38 ingredients (31 low-risk) rates it Excellent (99/100). Based on its ingredients, it looks well-suited to dry skin.

Vegan-friendly Reef-safe

Summarised from our ingredient analysis — not brand marketing copy.

At a glance

Type
Misc
Ingredients
38
Low-risk
31
Fragrance
Fragrance-free
Origin
United States

The evidence

Quick Product Notes

Paraben-Free Sulfate-Free Alcohol-Free Silicone-Free EU Allergen-Free Fungal Acne (Malassezia) Safe

Notable Effects & Ingredients

No Notable Effects & Ingredients

Ingredients Related to Skin Types

Good   Bad — tap a skin type to see which ingredients · estimated from ingredient functions
Dry Skin 12/8
Good for dry skin
Glyceryl Stearate Citrate Saccharide Isomerate Squalene Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride Caprylyl Glycol Glycerin Coco-Caprylate/Caprate Pantolactone Polyglyceryl-3 Stearate Sodium Polyacrylate Lecithin Myristyl Myristate
Caution for dry skin
Xanthan Gum Glycerin Polyglyceryl-3 Stearate Hexylene Glycol Hydrogenated Lecithin Sodium Polyacrylate Silica Lecithin
Oily/Acne-Prone Skin No data
Sensitive Skin 2/6
Good for sensitive skin
Glycerin Hydrolyzed Opuntia Ficus-Indica Flower Extract
Caution for sensitive skin
Sodium Citrate Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride Glycerin Hexylene Glycol Citric Acid Phenoxyethanol

Ingredients list

38 total
Lower hazard (1) Higher hazard (4)
All38 Skin Conditioning32 Solvent8 Emollient8 Hair Conditioning7 Emulsion Stabilising6 Viscosity Controlling5 Emulsifying5 Fragrance5
EWG CIR Ingredient Name & Cosmetic Functions Notes
1
Water
(Solvent)
1
A
Panthenol
(Antistatic Agent, Hair Conditioning, Skin Conditioning)
Good for Dry Skin
Good for Dry Skin
1
A
Niacinamide
(Hair Conditioning, Skin Conditioning, Smoothing)
1
A
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
(Emollient, Masking, Perfuming, Skin Conditioning, Solvent)
1
B
Coco-Caprylate/Caprate
(Emollient, Skin Conditioning)
2
3
B
Myristyl Myristate
(Emollient, Opacifying, Skin Conditioning)
Bad for Oily Skin
Bad for Oily Skin
1
A
Pentylene Glycol
(Skin Conditioning, Solvent)
2
A
Glycerin
(Denaturant, Fragrance, Hair Conditioning, Humectant, Oral Care Agent, Oral Health Care Drug, Skin Protecting, Viscosity Decreasing Agent, Perfuming, Solvent)
Good for Dry Skin
Good for Dry Skin
Fungal Acne
Fungal Acne Trigger
1
C13-15 Alkane
(Solvent)
1
A
Squalene
(Hair Conditioning, Skin Conditioning, Emollient, Antistatic Agent, Refatting)
Fungal Acne
Fungal Acne Trigger
1
B
Glyceryl Stearate Citrate
(Skin Conditioning, Emollient, Emulsifying)
Fungal Acne
Fungal Acne Trigger
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter
(Skin Conditioning, Viscosity Controlling)
Citrullus Lanatus Seed Oil
(Skin Conditioning, Skin Conditioning Emollient)
MANGIFERA INDICA SEED BUTTER
(Skin Conditioning)
SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS SEED OIL
(Hair Conditioning, Skin Conditioning, Skin Conditioning Emollient)
1
B
Polyglyceryl-3 Stearate
(Skin Conditioning, Emollient, Emulsifying, Surfactant)
1
Propanediol
(Solvent, Viscosity Decreasing Agent, Viscosity Controlling)
1
Saccharide Isomerate
(Humectant)
3
B
Sodium Polyacrylate
(Absorbent, Emulsion Stabilising, Film Forming, Hair Fixing, Skin Conditioning Agent Emollient, Viscosity Controlling Agent, Viscosity Increasing Agent, Binding, Skin Conditioning)
2
A
Hydrogenated Lecithin
(Skin Conditioning, Emulsifying, Surfactant, Suspending Agent Nonsurfactant)
1
A
Caprylyl Glycol
(Hair Conditioning, Skin Conditioning, Emollient, Humectant)
1
A
Xanthan Gum
(Binding Agent, Emulsion Stabilising, Skin Conditioning, Surfactant Emulsifying Agent, Viscosity Increasing Agent, Binding, Gel Forming, Viscosity Controlling)
TOCOPHEROL
(Antioxidant, Fragrance, Skin Conditioning)
1
A
Ethylhexylglycerin
(Deodorant, Skin Conditioning)
1
A
Hexylene Glycol
(Fragrance, Solvent, Viscosity Decreasing Agent, Emulsifying, Perfuming, Skin Conditioning, Surfactant)
1
A
Sclerotium Gum
(Emulsion Stabilising, Skin Conditioning, Viscosity Increasing Agent, Viscosity Controlling)
2
3
Lecithin
(Skin Conditioning, Emulsifying, Surfactant, Antistatic Agent, Emollient)
1
A
Pullulan
(Binding Agent, Film Forming, Binding)
1
Hydrolyzed Opuntia Ficus-Indica Flower Extract
(Abrasive, Skin Protecting)
1
Pantolactone
(Humectant)
1
Sodium Phytate
(Chelating Agent, Oral Care Agent)
1
2
A
Silica
(Abrasive, Absorbent, Anticaking Agent, Bulking Agent, Opacifying, Viscosity Controlling)
Ceramide AP
(Hair Conditioning, Skin Conditioning)
1
A
1,2-Hexanediol
(Solvent)
2
A
Citric Acid
(Chelating Agent, Fragrance, Ph Adjuster, Buffering Agent, Masking)
Bad for Sensitive Skin
Bad for Sensitive Skin
1
A
Sodium Citrate
(Ph Adjuster, Buffering Agent, Chelating, Masking)
1
Bacillus Ferment
(Skin Conditioning)
4
A
Phenoxyethanol
(Fragrance, Preservative)
Paraben
Paraben

My Ingredient Notes

No personal ingredient notes yet. Save ingredients to your profile to get good/bad alerts here.

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Key ingredients

Panthenol
Skin Conditioning
Niacinamide
Skin Conditioning
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Emollient, Skin Conditioning
Coco-Caprylate/Caprate
Emollient, Skin Conditioning
Myristyl Myristate
Emollient, Skin Conditioning
Pentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning

Benefits

Good for dry skin

Concerns

Contains paraben
Not fungal acne (malassezia) safe
May not suit sensitive skin

Ingredients explained

Water
Solvent
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 Solvent
Niacinamide
Hair conditioning, Skin conditioning
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 CIR A Hair conditioningSkin conditioningSmoothing
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Emollient, Masking
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 CIR A EmollientMaskingPerfumingSkin conditioningSolvent
Coco-Caprylate/Caprate
Emollient, Skin conditioning
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 CIR B EmollientSkin conditioning
Pentylene Glycol
Skin conditioning, Solvent
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 CIR A Skin conditioningSolvent
C13-15 Alkane
Solvent
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 Solvent
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter
Skin conditioning, Viscosity controlling
Limited public safety data.Read moreShow less
EWG N/A Skin conditioningViscosity controlling
Citrullus Lanatus Seed Oil
Skin conditioning, Skin conditioning emollient
Limited public safety data.Read moreShow less
EWG N/A Skin conditioningSkin conditioning emollient
MANGIFERA INDICA SEED BUTTER
Skin conditioning
Limited public safety data.Read moreShow less
EWG N/A Skin conditioning
SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS SEED OIL
Hair conditioning, Skin conditioning
Limited public safety data.Read moreShow less
EWG N/A Hair conditioningSkin conditioningSkin conditioning emollient
Polyglyceryl-3 Stearate
Skin conditioning, Emollient
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 CIR B Skin conditioningEmollientEmulsifyingSurfactant
Propanediol
Solvent, Viscosity decreasing agent
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 SolventViscosity decreasing agentViscosity controlling
Saccharide Isomerate
Humectant
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 Humectant
Sodium Polyacrylate
Absorbent, Emulsion stabilising
Low-to-moderate hazard.Read moreShow less
EWG 3 CIR B AbsorbentEmulsion stabilisingFilm formingHair fixingSkin-conditioning agent -emollientViscosity controlling agentViscosity increasing agentBindingSkin conditioning
Hydrogenated Lecithin
Skin conditioning, Emulsifying
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 2 CIR A Skin conditioningEmulsifyingSurfactantSuspending agent- nonsurfactant
+ 16 more — see the full ingredients list above
Panthenol
Antistatic agent, Hair conditioning
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 CIR A Antistatic agentHair conditioningSkin conditioning Good for Dry Skin
Myristyl Myristate
Emollient, Opacifying
Potentially comedogenic - can block poresRead moreShow less
EWG 2–3 CIR B EmollientOpacifyingSkin conditioning Bad for Oily Skin
Glycerin
Denaturant, Fragrance
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 2 CIR A DenaturantFragranceHair conditioningHumectantOral care agentOral health care drugSkin protectingViscosity decreasing agentPerfumingSolvent Good for Dry SkinFungal-acne trigger
Squalene
Hair conditioning, Skin conditioning
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 CIR A Hair conditioningSkin conditioningEmollientAntistatic agentRefatting Fungal-acne trigger
Glyceryl Stearate Citrate
Skin conditioning, Emollient
Low-hazard ingredient.Read moreShow less
EWG 1 CIR B Skin conditioningEmollientEmulsifying Fungal-acne trigger
Citric Acid
Chelating agent, Fragrance
Skin irritation can occur at high concentrationRead moreShow less
EWG 2 CIR A Chelating agentFragrancePh adjusterBuffering agentMasking Bad for Sensitive Skin
Phenoxyethanol
Fragrance, Preservative
Low-to-moderate hazard.Read moreShow less
EWG 4 CIR A FragrancePreservative Paraben

How to use

How to use

  • 1 Morning & evening: Suitable for both AM and PM use.

General guidance from this product's category and active ingredients — always follow the directions on the package.

Trust & honesty

Officially notified as a cosmetic in Malaysia (NPRA). Government registration record.

Effective levels — general guide

The concentrations these actives are typically effective at in research — not a measurement of this product.

Niacinamide 2–5% (up to 10%)

Most research uses 2–5%; some formulas go to 10%. Very high levels can cause flushing in sensitive skin.

Niacinamide

INCI lists don't disclose amounts, and we don't claim to know this product's levels — these are the ranges these ingredients are usually effective at, so you can tell a real formula from "fairy-dusting" a marketed active. How we estimate this.

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