Important limitations
- Individual claims and source links have not yet completed editorial verification.
- Evidence level, applicable study model, formulation, route and population remain unassigned.
Essence
Essence is a nutrient-rich formulation combining B-vitamins, amino acids, and key metabolites such as Niacinamide, Biotin, and Hydroxyproline.
Reported protocols for Essence
What published studies and recent community write-ups report about amounts, timing and course length. 3 clinical and 2 community-reported rows, each linked to its source. These are descriptions of what others report, not instructions, and nothing here is medical advice.
| Context | Dose | Frequency | Route | Course | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical3 rows | |||||
| Biotin for brittle fingernails (ingredient data)71 patients with brittle or splitting fingernails, mostly women, at a Swiss dermatology clinic; 45 evaluable | 2.5 mg biotin | Once daily | Oral | About 5.5 months on average (standard deviation 2.3 months)None described | Zeitschrift fur Hautkrankheiten (PubMed)1989 |
| Forty-one of 45 evaluable patients (91%) reported firmer, harder nails after an average of five and a half months, with the rest judged questionable and none calling it ineffective. The study was uncontrolled and based on patient and clinician impression; a companion electron-microscopy study by the same group measured a 25% increase in nail plate thickness in eight patients treated with biotin. | |||||
| Oral nicotinamide for skin cancer prevention, ONTRAC phase 3 (ingredient data)386 Australian adults with at least two non-melanoma skin cancers in the previous 5 years | 500 mg nicotinamide | Twice daily | Oral | 12 months, with 6 months of follow-up after stoppingNone; benefit disappeared once the tablets stopped | New England Journal of Medicine2015 |
| New non-melanoma skin cancers were 23% fewer on nicotinamide than on placebo and actinic keratoses were about 11-14% fewer, with no difference in adverse events. The protective effect did not persist after the 12 months of treatment, and this gram-per-day oral exposure bears no relation to the tens of milligrams in a millilitre of a cosmetic blend. | |||||
| Oral citicoline in mild vascular cognitive impairment, IDEALE study (ingredient data)349 Italian adults aged 65 or older with mild vascular cognitive impairment (265 treated, 84 controls) | 500 mg citicoline | Twice daily, taken fasting | Oral | 9 monthsNone | Clinical Interventions in Aging (Dove Medical Press)2013 |
| Mini-Mental State scores held steady in the citicoline group (22.4 to 22.9) while untreated controls declined, with no change in daily-living scales and no adverse events recorded. The study was open-label with a non-randomised control group, which limits what can be concluded; it is included because citicoline is the choline source in this blend. | |||||
| Community-reported2 rows | |||||
| Cosmetic B-vitamin blend from a research vendor (related product, not this formulation) | 0.5-1 mL of a blend listing per mL: niacinamide 50 mg, thiamine 50 mg, pantothenic acid 25 mg, niacin 5 mg, choline 10 mg, inositol 10 mg, biotin 100 mcg, folic acid 100 mcg and riboflavin | Once daily, morning or night | Intramuscular (the author found subcutaneous injections caused lumps) | Not specifiedNone described | Community resource2025 |
| A 2025 biohacking e-book describes the vendor's Glow Up, the closest published analogue of this blend, at half to one millilitre every day for complexion and hair growth. It warns that the main side effects are post-injection pain and the possibility of B-vitamin excess, and advises checking B-vitamin levels on blood work. | |||||
| Hair and nail B-complex blend, phased vendor protocol (related product, not this formulation) | 0.5-1.0 mL of a 150 mg/mL blend (biotin 100 mcg, thiamine 50 mg, niacinamide 50 mg, pantothenic acid 25 mg, choline 10 mg, inositol 10 mg, niacin 5 mg, folic acid 100 mcg per mL) | 2-3 times a week for weeks 1-4, then 1-2 times a week | Subcutaneous, after reconstituting a 10 mL lyophilised vial | 12-week protocol, then continued maintenance or repeated cyclesOne described option is 8-12 weeks on, 4 weeks off | Community resource2026 |
| A peptide vendor's product page lays out a loading month at two to three injections a week, a maintenance phase of one to two a week through week 12, and then either indefinite maintenance or 8-12 week cycles with a 4-week break, placing nail changes at 4-6 weeks and hair changes at 8-12 weeks. It concedes that its 100 mcg biotin dose is a tiny fraction of the 2.5 mg daily oral dose used in the nail studies. | |||||
How a course is commonly described
- Weeks 1-4: loadingCommunity-reported
The most detailed vendor protocol for a comparable blend uses 0.5-1 mL two to three times a week for the first month, spaced evenly through the week; the legacy page for this product gave 1 mL up to three times a week, which matches this phase. Bright yellow urine from riboflavin excretion is described as expected and harmless.
- Weeks 5-12: maintenanceCommunity-reported
Frequency drops to one or two injections a week at the same volume, and the vendor places reported changes in nail strength at 4-6 weeks and in hair thickness or shedding at 8-12 weeks. None of these milestones has been measured in a study of any injectable blend.
- Week 13 onward: continue or cycleCommunity-reported
Options described are indefinite once- or twice-weekly maintenance, or 8-12 weeks on followed by a 4-week break, with a return to the loading frequency after any gap longer than two to three weeks. A daily 0.5-1 mL pattern is the alternative described in the biohacking e-book for the Glow Up blend.
- Clinical comparisonClinical
The only ingredient data with a cosmetic endpoint is oral biotin at 2.5 mg a day, where nail improvement took an average of five and a half months to appear, in line with the time a fingernail takes to grow out. Oral nicotinamide needed 500 mg twice daily for a year to reduce skin cancers, and the effect ended when dosing stopped.
- No clinical study has tested this blend, any comparable cosmetic injectable blend, or any of its ingredients by injection for skin, hair or nails. The timeline above is vendor description, and the ingredient trials it is compared with used oral doses: 2.5 mg biotin a day, 1 g nicotinamide a day and 1 g citicoline a day.
- Comparable vendor blends carry only about 100 mcg of biotin per millilitre, 25 times less than the daily oral dose in the nail studies, while the 50 mg of thiamine and niacinamide per millilitre are many times the dietary reference intake if injected several times a week, which is why the e-book that describes these blends advises checking B-vitamin levels on blood work.
- Compounded or research-vendor vitamin injectables are not evaluated by the FDA for sterility, potency or stability, and the legacy page for this product itself stated that the blend is not formulated for hair regrowth.
Sources for this section (9)
- Treatment of brittle fingernails with biotin
- Treatment of brittle fingernails and onychoschizia with biotin: scanning electron microscopy
- A Phase 3 Randomized Trial of Nicotinamide for Skin-Cancer Chemoprevention
- Effectiveness and safety of citicoline in mild vascular cognitive impairment: the IDEALE study
Plus 5 community resources (dosing guides, forum threads and vendor write-ups), reported above but not linked.
Overview
Essence is a vendor-named injectable blend sold as a 20 mL ready-to-use liquid by a research vendor, combining five B vitamins (niacinamide, thiamine, dexpanthenol, riboflavin and biotin) with citicoline, inositol and the three collagen-building amino acids proline, glycine and hydroxyproline, and marketed for skin, hair and nail quality; the legacy page for this product listed 1 mL up to three times a week and stated that it is not formulated for hair regrowth, and it gave no per-millilitre amounts, so the ingredient amounts are left blank here. It belongs to a family of cosmetic injectable blends from research vendors (sold under names such as Glow Up, HHB and Beauty Blend) and infusion clinics that typically carry about 50 mg niacinamide, 50 mg thiamine, 25 mg pantothenate, 10 mg each of choline and inositol, and only 100 mcg each of biotin and riboflavin per millilitre. No trial has tested any such combination or any of these ingredients by injection for cosmetic purposes; the human evidence that exists is for single ingredients taken by mouth, chiefly biotin for brittle nails, nicotinamide for skin cancer prevention and citicoline for cognition. Compounded multi-vitamin injectables are not FDA-approved, and B-vitamin blends injected often enough to matter deliver amounts far above dietary reference values.
What researchers are exploring
These themes organize the educational information currently available. Individual claims remain under source review and are not treatment claims.
- 1
Niacinamide
Niacinamide, also known as vitamin B3 or nicotinamide, is an essential nutrient that supports cellular energy, DNA repair, and metabolic balance.…
- 2
Thiamine
Thiamine, also known as vitamin B₁, is a vital nutrient that is central to energy metabolism and nervous system function. It serves as a cofactor for enzymes involved in converting carbohydrates into ATP, the body’s…
- 3
Dexpanthenol
Dexpanthenol, the biologically active form of vitamin B₅ (pantothenic acid), is essential for energy production, cellular repair, and tissue regeneration.…
- 4
CDP-Choline
CDP-Choline, also known as Citicoline, is a naturally occurring compound involved in brain energy metabolism and phospholipid synthesis.…
- 5
Inositol
Inositol, often referred to as vitamin B₈, is a naturally occurring compound that is central to cellular signaling, lipid metabolism, and neurotransmitter balance.…
- 6
Biotin
Biotin, also known as vitamin B₇, is a water-soluble nutrient essential for energy metabolism, cellular growth, and the maintenance of healthy skin, hair, and nails.…
What is known and what still needs verification
Available context is organized without assigning unsupported study models or evidence grades.
- Not graded
Niacinamide
Niacinamide, also known as vitamin B3 or nicotinamide, is an essential nutrient that supports cellular energy, DNA repair, and metabolic balance. It converts into NAD⁺ and NADP⁺, key cofactors for ATP production and hundreds of enzymatic reactions, helping…
- Not graded
Thiamine
Thiamine, also known as vitamin B₁, is a vital nutrient that is central to energy metabolism and nervous system function. It serves as a cofactor for enzymes involved in converting carbohydrates into ATP, the body’s primary energy source, supporting optimal…
Limitations and unknowns
Sources
1 link carried over from the earlier page, awaiting verification.