TIAM - Robynrose review for Vita B3 Source

🌱I received this product from TIAM and Picky in exchange for my honest review🌱 🌱 Brand Story: TIAM aims to provide a younger customer with affordable, effective formulas with minimal unnecessary additives for a bright, fun skincare experience. 🌱 Claims: Alcohol-free, Paraben-free, Silicone-free, Sulfate-free, Allergen-free, Fragrance-free, Non-comedogenic, Oil-free, Fungal Acne-Safe, Eczema-Safe 🌱 10% Niacinamide and 2% Arbutin help fade dark spots and discolouration 🌱 Key Ingredients: Despite the bright yellow packaging, this is not a vitamin C serum! It’s a niacinamide serum, which provides brightening, but in a different format. 🌿Niacinamide (10%) - 10% Niacinamide is strong enough to provide brightening results from consistent use 🌿Arbutin (2%) - This is a strong enough concentration to see visible results 🌿Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate - Another dark-spot fading support star, this will help the other two perform best 🌱 Other ingredients: 🌿Lindera Erythrocarpa (Red-Fruit Spicebush) extract - Humectant, promotes wound healing 🌿Cornus Officinalis (Japanese Cornel) Fruit Extract - Skin conditioning 🌿Geranium Thunbergii (Thunberg's geranium) Extract - Potent antioxidant, may cause skin sensitivity 🌱 Ph: Unknown 🌱 Texture: A runny, clear serum. Tiam notes that as you go through the bottle, you may start to see white flecks in the serum. This is the high concentration of niacinamide returning to a solid state and is fine to use, just rub it with your fingers to disperse it. 🌱 Scent: Very faint, inoffensive cucumber scent. 🌱 Price / Amount: $24CA for 40mL, or $0.60/mL Pretty affordable 🌱 Application: This is a fairly sunny serum that absorbs fairly quickly. It isn’t sticky unless you use way too much. The scent is nice when you apply it, but is gone within minutes. Let’s talk about what you can expect for results. While niacinamide is a superstar on its own, the addition of a hefty 2% arbutin really kicks this serum into high gear. Both are proven by research to inhibit the production of melanin. Now, this is not the same as bleaching your skin. It does not remove existing melanin. These compounds prevent *new* melanin from forming. And so, as time goes on, your skin will turn over, producing less melanin and shedding melanated skin. That said, if you have naturally darker skin, you probably won’t see a dramatic shift in your skin tone. A product like this is intended for dark spots, post acne marks and summer freckles. It targets skin evenness, not overall skin tone. 🌱 Every day: Can be used morning or night. 10% niacinamide is quite strong if you have never used it before. You may feel some tingling or stinging when you first try it. If you are new to niacinamide, try every second or third day and work your way up. Arbutin can also sometimes cause skin tenderness in high concentrations. Just be aware and see if your skin feels more sensitive, you may want to reduce your everyday usage. 🌱 Notes: This formula contains a strong enough concentration of 3 effective pigment-fading ingredients, but in order for it to work, you must combine it with proper SPF every day so that new pigmentation does not form from UV exposure. The one thing this product cannot really help fade is post acne redness, also known as erythema. This is when your skin is healing from the inflammation of acne, and capillary blood flow has changed, which causes pink, red or purple colouration. This is not melanin and cannot be faded by brightening products. However, this redness will go away on its own, and it can heal a little faster with general skin health ingredients like niacinamide. 🌿Products with Arbutin are not recommended for use during pregnancy or breastfeeding 🌱 Packaging: Opaque glass bottle with a rubber dropper provides 100% UV protection. Which is good, even though niacinamide and arbutin are both fairly sturdy photostable ingredients. It’s best to protect your formula so it doesn’t expire early. 🌱 Accessibility: This product comes in a glass jar with a rubber dropper. The dropper has texture bumps to help with grip. I love the subtle embossing on the outer box that helps visually impaired users identify the product by feel. 🌱 Sustainability: The bottle and dropper are recyclable if washed. 🌱 Overall: If you are struggling with melanin spots from acne marks or freckles, this formula contains enough of the correct active ingredients to provide results. I cannot guarantee your results, but based on the scientific research, this is one of the best formulas you could choose right before prescription-only strength.