When it comes to reversing sun damage, no skin care ingredient is better than retinoic acid, a form of vitamin A. It does everything from smoothing fine lines and fading dark spots to making pores look smaller. Make sure you look for Vitamin A in the form of retinaldehyde, Retinal or retinoic acid as an active ingredient- that way you know you’re buying a product that works!! Retinol and retinyl ester are the least effective.