What are Nic Salts?

If you're new to vaping, there are many terminologies you'll encounter, including nic salt. You should not get confused with these terms. The way to learn and keep this one in mind is by simply remembering it as nicotine.

The word nic salt is used for both; it is used to indicate nicotine in cigarettes and also referred to as the one in vapes. Although mostly, it is referred to as nicotine salt in vapes. Moreover, there is a big difference between vape nicotine and traditional nicotine used in cigarettes. In this blog, you will learn about nic salts and the comparison between various forms of nicotine.

Nic Salts



Nicotine in Vapes Vs Cigarettes:

Vapes, including disposable vapes and reusable ones, are better than conventional cigarettes. One of the main reasons for that is the form of nicotine used in each. Cigarettes consist traditional form of nicotine in the solid state, while vapes contain it in liquid form, usually present in its e-liquid.

The nicotine in vapes can be of two distinguished forms of nicotine, named free-base nicotine and nic salt. Let’s look into the detail of each of these.

Nicotine Salt:

Nicotine salts are a combination of freebase nicotine and benzoic acid. The high level of nicotine gives a similar feeling to smoking cigarettes, while benzoic acid with other organic materials makes the experience smoother.

Nicotine salt gives a smooth throat hit as compared to freebase nicotine. Most vapers face a common fear of harsh throat hits while vaping. The harsh throat hit is common when using freebase nicotine in e-liquids, and smokers who turn to vapes may like that.

Free-base Nicotine:

Freebase nicotine is the most common and is created through the extraction of salt from tobacco and elevated with chemicals to reach a certain pH level. While nic salts are created using a molecule-binding mechanism.

This state of nicotine creates a strong throat hit, which can feel a bit too strong at super high nicotine strengths. Nicotine-freebase feels harsher on the throat and suits people who prefer the similar feeling of smoking cigarettes or who like to puff often throughout the day.

Major Difference Between Free-base Nicotine and Nic-salt:

Freebase nicotine is the chemical in its purest form, which gives the vapers a stronger throat hit than nic salts. While nic salts are better to inhale, they don't hurt the throat much. In turn, this means you can achieve higher levels of nicotine in your body without experiencing harsh side effects on your throat.

Although there are some differences between free-base and nicotine-salt, still both are equally popular among vapers. Notably, both forms of nicotine are available with Elf Bar disposable vape kits.

Is Nic Salt Right for you?

If you’re already contented with your vape and freebase nicotine e-liquid, you might not feel the need to switch to nic salts. There's no reason to worry that you could miss out on something because you haven't tried salt nic yet.

There isn't just one taste of vape juice that is ideal for everyone thus, choosing between freebase nicotine and nicotine salt is similar to selecting various vape juice flavours.

So it depends upon you which form of nicotine you choose to inhale.

Is Nic Salt Safe to Inhale?

The straightforward answer is that nicotine in any form isn’t safe. However, the nic salt used in vape shop e-liquid is safer than the one cigarettes contain. This is because the nic salt in vapes doesn’t include other harmful chemicals found in cigarettes. These compounds are tar, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, arsenic, and etc which are extremely dangerous for health.


According to National Health Service UK, vaping is 95% safer than smoking. Therefore If you’re considering quitting smoking for a better alternative, then you can consider vaping because of many factors. One of the most prominent reasons is that disposable vapes have a safer form of nicotine and the choice of selecting the best vape device with desired nic salt strength.