Doctors: Hyaluronic Acid Could Be The Key To Healthy, Clear Skin

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There is no shortage of beauty products claiming to give us younger looking skin, but dermatologists say there is one ingredient that actually works, and it's revolutionizing skincare as we know it.

Alexis Marcus had tried everything for her acne, but everything she tried only dried out her skin.

"I really struggled between finding that balance between keeping the oils, but also not over-drying the skin," Marcus told CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez.

Her dermatologist suggested she try something different. A new over-the-counter cleanser containing hyaluronic acid acts as a kind of moisture agent.

"It actually pulls in moisture from the air so it hydrates the surface of the skin, literally absorbing over 1,000 times its weight in water," Ron Robinson, of BeautyStat.com, told CBS2.

That can be great news for those with problematic skin, says dermatologist and author of "Skin Rules" Dr. Debra Jaliman.

"Let's say you're acne prone or you're oily or you're prone to blackheads or whiteheads. You can have hyaluronic acid in a product, you can get the moisturization without clogging your pores and getting break outs," Jaliman said.

The ingredient used to be found in only a few high-end products. Now drugstore brands like Olay, Neutrogena, and others include the ingredient in their product lines.

And since hyaluronic acid is naturally occurring in skin, Jaliman said there's little chance of an allergic reaction. She cautions not all products contain the same amount of the active ingredient, so it's important to read labels.

"You want to look on the ingredient list to see what number ingredient is it in. In other words, if it's the last ingredient then it may just have a small amount of hyaluronic acid," she said.

Marcus has been using her hyaluronic cleanser for a month.

"My acne has actually improved and I've really found a difference in the consistency of my skin," she said.

One study predicted that hyaluronic acid will become a nearly $11 billion market in a few years. You can already find it in facial moisturizers, night creams, eye creams, and even in some makeup primers and foundations.

Scientists are currently working to make hyaluronic acid even more effective by shrinking the size of the molecules to better penetrate the skin.