Maggie Stasik (5:24)

No, I. I don't think about my scalp in that way. What I do consider, though, is that I always think my forehead and my scalp are one in the same.

Alec Cressman (5:35)

How would that be? Like a scalp, a scowl, head. I'm trying to put the words together, but I'm not doing it.

Maggie Stasik (5:41)

I. I think some people don't think about, like, while your forehead ends and then your scalp begins. But it's all the same, right?

Alec Cressman (5:49)

Do you shampoo your forehead?

Tyzo Brand Representative (5:52)

No.

Maggie Stasik (5:52)

But I will say, you know what that makes me think of. I had had a stylist who would be shampooing and even conditioning my hair and always massage down onto my forehead and into my cheeks. It would make me insane. I would leave every time, and then my face would break out.

Alec Cressman (6:10)

Really? Yeah. Interesting.

Maggie Stasik (6:12)

Yes.

Alec Cressman (6:13)

Yes. Well, your eyebrows are clean, I hope. Yeah. Yeah. Different, right? We think of those as separate except for you and your forehead. But we think of face and health and skin sometimes different than we think of the body. Those lines are blurring a little bit more. But the scalp has always been separate. But they're not.

Maggie Stasik (6:32)

They're not.

Alec Cressman (6:33)

Yeah. The scalp is very much skin, and the health of the scalp determines the quality of hair that comes out of the follicles. So I fixed it, I identified it, and then I had to fix it. But I want to share. This is where we're getting to, is how I fixed it and why I theorize that it worked. Basically, the way I fixed it was normalizing cellular energy. So we know that if the skin doesn't have energy, it can't repair itself, it can't regulate itself, or it can't protect itself. And if one of the key molecules responsible, and one of the key molecules responsible for cellular energy is NAD plus. Do you use NAD plus?

Maggie Stasik (7:13)

No. Tell me about what this is.

Alec Cressman (7:15)

It's a coenzyme that helps cells produce energy and carry out the repair processes. It's something we make already in our body. It's endogenous production, and you can support it with supplements. Like I take an NAD supplement, but I hadn't for a long time. This just reminded me it's essentially a metabolic helper that allows cells to convert nutrients into usable energy. So think of it like premium gas. And then all of the ways that the gas can get to the engine and burn off. That's the way it's doing it. Energy really isn't something we talk about enough in skincare. We know it works. We Know that we can, but it's not really like the mechanism that we speak about, but it's behind everything the skin is trying to do. So if nad, I'm just gonna call it NAD plus. NAD is responsible for energy levels. Knowing that NAD levels decline with age and stress, which may be one of the reasons we see increased sensitivity and slower recovery in skin and scalp over time. So this could be what was going on with me. I had stopped supplementing, taking the supplements, and I'm of a certain age, and it was in a stressful time. And mean, we all are, right? Yeah. So could have been this part. So let's talk about ways that we can encourage cellular energy or NAD production in the skin. And what I used really helped balance out my problem, you know? Niacinamide. Yeah. Niacinamide is an ingredient, darling. And I think we kind of understand generally how it works. But let's break it down a little bit further. It is a precursor to NAD plus. So it helps us make that meaning the body uses it as a building block to produce NAD plus. And this is important because. Just call it NAD from here on out. NAD is involved in hundreds, hundreds of cellular reactions in the skin. So when we can support that endogenous production of. Of nad, we're not just affecting one pathway. We're really supporting overall skin function. And that is why niacinamide shows up in so many aging formulations, because it's not just about wrinkles. It's about maintaining cellular function. So when we think of the formation of wrinkles, it's almost like getting lazy. Right?

Maggie Stasik (9:45)

You see niacinamide in a lot of acne products as well.

Alec Cressman (9:48)

Yes, for sure. So what are we seeing happening in acne is like, a misfunction. Same as in aging or even in hyperpigmentation. Especially with, like, overstimulated skin, it's not functioning as it should be. There's a glitch somewhere in the system, or it's running out of battery juice. And so not all. It's not operating optimally. Right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So instead of thinking about niacinamide, as this does everything ingredient, I think we could work to break it down into three functional roles in the skin to find out why or identify why it does. Great. For all of those things. Why is it one of our favorite ingredients in skincare? Hold that thought. We'll be right back.

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Alec Cressman (11:20)

Okay, here we go. Let's get back to the podcast. Let's talk about first, barrier repair. So NAD supports cellular repair processes and niacinamide increases ceramide production. So what that means is the skin has energy and materials to rebuild its protective layer. It's efficiently able to do its job.

Maggie Stasik (11:42)

And this is important, I think, for multiple skin conditions, as we said, aging. Absolutely. And then also you're seeing these ingredients used in acne products or products where you have over proliferation of oil or rosacea sensitive skin or anything really, as we just said, where barrier repair needs to be addressed.

Alec Cressman (12:06)

And I think barrier is a huge buzz now. Like buzz is. And I love it. I'm a big fan of this being presented as a trend because I think what we're being more aware of now is that even in those advanced treatments, I would say I may have been conditioned to come up with the answers via my Peel catalog. Come up with the answers via some way more what they would say advanced protocols would be, that's the way to fix this problem. Whatever the, oh, you got acne, let's burn it off, let's soak up all the oil and restart the skin cells. Which could be an answer, but instead going, hey, actually we need to strengthen the foundation of your barrier and then we can find out what's going on, right?

Maggie Stasik (12:48)

Yes, absolutely. Kind of that less is more approach. Let's nurture the skin, let's make sure it's healthy before we then go and strip it or burn it or whatever, whatever the thing is.

Alec Cressman (13:00)

All right, so next up is inflammation regulation, which is a key component for what was happening with me. My barrier was broken, the cells were not repairing or they were like, I don't know what to do. You know when you're so stressed out, you're like, I don't even know where to start. My mother in law's coming over and I got to clean my house. That's what my scalp was doing. I don't even know where to start. I'm just completely freaked out. So barrier repair now inflammation. My scalp was angry, let's say that. Or in the example of acne A lot of times it's angry or you mentioned rosacea. Sensitized skin is just very upset. NAD is involved in cellular signaling and the stress response. So it's almost like reminding this skin to say, hold on, take a deep breath, sit down, relax, let's make a plan. And then niacinamide reduces inflammatory mediators. So the translation is the skin is less reactive, less irritated, more stable, able to approach the problem or come up with a plan. Right? Yeah, which is really important. And then finally, oil balancing. And I think this is why we see niacinamide in a lot of acne products. Where before it was only salicylic. I guess our, our go tos were salicylic and benzoyl peroxide. Because we're going to go after the overproduction and the bacteria. But understanding it's the balance, not just the overproduction of it. The NAD will help with energy and signalizing, so NAD will help with energy and signaling, which means normalized sebaceous activity. The goldilocks. Not too little, not too much. The amount that's just right. So instead of overcorrecting, like with some of those previously mentioned actives, the skin self regulates, as was the case with my scalp particularly. That's why I was getting greasy so fast. And it was a lot. It was crazy. I even got like a pustular in my hair. Oh man, like big. I woke up, I'm like, did I get a horn? Like, what was it? It already like expelled itself, which made me upset. Cause of course I would want to see that. But it was like a knot about a nickel in size. It was almost like having a little bump. I'm like, oh my gosh, what is going on? That's really when I started to panic. So understanding all of that, I just panicked. And I'm like, I have this niacinamide serum. Let me put it in my hair. And I had my friend actually, who's a, he's a compounding pharmacist. I had him whip me up something that I could spray in my hair with niacinamide. And I'm happy to report that all is well.

Maggie Stasik (15:35)

And it worked.

Alec Cressman (15:36)

It worked. And that's why it worked, is because I was supporting with niacinamide not just as the ingredient, but understanding how it was processing in my physiology. So niacinamide helps your skin function better by supporting the energy systems that repair and balance it. It's not just the ingredient, it's what the ingredient inspires. It supports the biology of the skin, not just the symptoms. So when we say niacinamide supports the barrier, it's not just sitting on the surface. It's actually supporting the energy systems that allow the skin to rebuild itself. And particularly in the scalp is one of the most metabolically active areas of the skin. I would say scalp, palms, feet, because hair follicles, they really demand a lot of energy. And when it's supported with something like nad, especially if you're using niacinamide topically, it's not that it was just calming the surface, but it was supporting the environment of those follicles. And I did notice density change in a positive way for me.

Maggie Stasik (16:42)

Was your hair falling out when you're having this reaction?

Alec Cressman (16:45)

Well, it's hard to say because, yeah, it was shedding, absolutely. The falling out scared me when you said that. I was like, oh, God, was. Was definitely shedding a lot more. I got. I have been getting a lot of shedding, I would say the last five years, but particularly in that time, it was like, you know, remember post Covid fever sheds? Did you ever get that? No, no, it was like that, but now it's a lot less. It's been about a month and a half. It's been a lot less. Like, remarkably less. So we talk about niacinamide really kind of like it's a calming ingredient or a barrier ingredient or something that helps with oily. And yeah, it does all of that, but it works in a deeper way. So if we simplify all of that, Niacinamide helps the skin do its jobs better. It gives the skin support that it needs to repair, regulate, and stay balanced. And if the skin doesn't have energy, it really can't rebuild the barrier. It can't regulate inflammation effectively. It can't normalize oil production. So just remember, we're not simply applying niacinamide. We're putting something on the surface to calm things down. And then again, like back to the scalp, which is highly vascular, highly active, full of follicles that require energy that becomes really relevant. So calling all formulators out there, had my friend whip me up something. But listen, if you want to make one with niacinamide, call me up and I will definitely be a guinea pig, or I really want to find one on the market and use it daily. The problem with a lot of the scalp products is you have to shampoo more often. Has been my experience.

Maggie Stasik (18:23)

Like, you mean like a stimulating or hair growth product?

Alec Cressman (18:27)

Yeah, follicular stimulator. But they're out there, right now and a lot of people are talking about hair regeneration because of glp. One use for sure. Hair regeneration and muscle muscle development. But I don't know, I just loved it that it was calming my itchy, greasy scalp. It was supporting the environment that those follicles depend on. And I'm really trying to keep every single hair on my head. You can take the ones from my chin, like that's fine. I don't know why that's happening in reverse, but yeah. So just keep this in mind. Though it doesn't require sky high percentages, niacinamide is effective in relatively low concentrations. So right around 2 to 5% as long as the formula itself is well balanced. So if you want to, I guess, if any listeners have suggestions on a niacinamide serum that's not oily, that's effective, send a my way. Um, so why is niacinamide our favorite ingredient?

Maggie Stasik (19:21)

It supports the biology of the skin, not just the symptoms. So when a client says my skin just feels off, this is one of those ingredients that helps bring things back into balance without overcorrecting.

Alec Cressman (19:34)

Nice. Agree. Now listeners, we really want to hear from you. What is your favorite way to use niacinamide? Reach out via Instagram, Facebook or send us an email at. Get connected@ascpskincare.com we want to know all the details. In the meantime, thank you for listening to ASCP STT Talk. For more information on this episode or for ways to connect with myself or Maggie, or to learn more about ascp, check out the show notes and stay tuned for the next episode of ASCP STT Talk.