The beauty industry earns billions of dollars a year selling skincare products to women craving youthful facial features and a glowing complexion.
But one facialist believes if the products are missing this one key ingredient, you're wasting your hard earned cash.
Carina Gross revealed to FEMAIL how important
vitamin A esters, not to be confused with vitamin A acids, are for fighting free radical damage.
So sure of its acne-fighting, fine line-reducing properties, Miss Gross only recommends skincare like brand Beaute Pacifique which has the antioxidant included.
And you can see a visible difference by accessing a special skin ultrasound, known as a DermaScan, and testing your epidermis layer every 90 days.
"Initially developed for dermatologists to locate skin cancers and moles, it was then discovered it could measure collagen structure and can see underlaying issues long before they become visible to the naked eye," Miss Gross said.
The scanned pictures below detail the overall condition of the epidermis (white), how much collagen is left in the skin (green, yellow and red) and how much sun damage has occurred (black).
Previously, Carina has explained how important it is to take care of your skin from the start.
"I think people are under the impression putting a moisturiser on is a one-stop fix for giving you gorgeous, glowy skin, but it's not true," she reveals.
"The moisturiser does nothing else but stop trans-epidermal moisture loss - your skin can still be dehydrated even if you're putting something onto it."
Instead, waking up to a lukewarm glass of lemon water and avoiding coffee early in the morning is a preferred method for jump starting the skin.
Caffeine amplifies your cortisol levels, which is a stress hormone, and negatively impacts your bodily systems when taken first thing.
Alternatively, exercising as soon as you've lept out of bed is prone to leaving the body with a dewy sheen and can be seen (begrudgingly) as a better option.
"I recommend a non-invasive low level laser treatment over something like a hot laser. They're quick and extremely effect at stimulating the acid levels under the surface," she continued.