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Niacinamide Is Not a Bleach. It Is How Marks Fade Without the Ban.

Ingredients · Published 2026-09-19 · 10 min read · 2300 words

Five percent used for twelve weeks can lower contrast on PIH. It will not outrun Highveld UV or a market-stall cream. Tinted SPF remains the other half.

Key takeaways

Four to five percent used daily beats a 20 percent used twice.
Visible light and UVA1 keep PIH alive on SA commutes.
Tinted or iron-oxide SPF is the other half of the bottle.
Twelve weeks and a photo beat a seven-day bleach claim.

Source: Isaacs et al. IJD 2025 / skin-of-colour pigment reviews / Mahmoud visible-light darkening (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12712754/)

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