Applying vaseline on the skin to prevent water loss looks pretty weird to some people. I have received angry comments such as “you’re a cosmetic chemist and you’re suggesting people put PETROLATUM on their skin???”.
The answer is yes, I do suggest people put petrolatum on their skin at night, because it is a safe, effective ingredient that won’t cause allergic reactions. Not only that, it’s extremely cheap and readily available.
Vaseline is formed by a certain kind of molecules (called hydrocarbons) that don’t like water at all and tend to repel it (i.e they’re hydrophobic). For this reason, Vaseline forms a film on the skin’s surface that is difficult to wash off.
While the skin is protected under this layer, it has time to start the repairing process, and it also minimizes water loss (it’s like water is trapped in it). Vaseline doesn’t add any water to the skin, but prevents its loss. We can say it is an indirect moisturizer. It does wonders for chapped lips that are protected while the natural repairing mechanisms are put in place.
I get it: many people want to feel like they’re pampering their skin, and a very cheap ingredient that’s also tacky and greasy doesn’t quite cut it. However, as a cosmetic chemist I can assure you that an ingredient being expensive doesn’t mean it will necessarily do wonders for your skin, and an ingredient being cheap doesn’t mean it will perform poorly.
Applying Vaseline to the skin isn’t anything new. It’s something that has been done for a very long time. TikTok didn’t invent this one! (Recently they call it “slugging”.)
Slugging is especially recommended to people with dry to very dry skin. However, you can give it a try even if your skin type is normal or even oily. If you find yourself disappointed you can always use the Vaseline on your lips rather than your face -and if you don’t like that either, luckily you only spent a couple dollars on the product.
Hope this helps!
