If your lips are ever dry, cracked, or always peeling, you probably put on a layer of Vaseline lip balm to get some quick relief. Petroleum jelly (also called petrolatum) is the main ingredient. It’s like a plain white tee for your lips: useful, simple, and trusted for generations. But lately, people have been talking online about whether it really works or even hurts. So, do products that have petroleum jelly in them really help your lips, or should we stop using them?
Does putting petroleum jelly on your lips make them soft?
Some of the bad press about petroleum jelly comes from the fact that it isn’t really a moisturiser to begin with. Jeremy Fenton, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and medical director at Schweiger Dermatology in New York City and Long Beach, New York, says that by definition, it is an occlusive, which means that it creates a physical barrier to keep moisture in rather than actively adding it.
Lips are known for not being able to hold onto moisture because they don’t have a thick layer of skin cells on the surface to protect them. That’s where petroleum jelly comes in handy. Dr. Fenton says, “It helps to moisturise because it lets the skin keep and add to its own moisture without having to fight against the constant transepidermal water loss (TEWL) that happens without an occlusive.” Ava Shamban, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and the founder of AVA MD in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, California, says it also has emollient properties that smooth and soften lips that are dry, cracked, or dehydrated.
In short, petrolatum helps keep moisture in, softens lips, and keeps dryness at bay, but it doesn’t really hydrate on its own.
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Some people also say that petroleum jelly products are dangerous or poisonous. Some people think they must be cancer-causing because they come from refining petroleum (like petrol), but experts say that fear is mostly unfounded.
Dr. Shamban says, “If you are talking about a brand like Vaseline or Aquaphor sold by the hundreds of millions of tubes, jars, vials, and sticks, it may have an origin as a petroleum-based product, but it has been highly-processed and refined to remove the impurities that would be toxic or unhealthy.” It’s also hypoallergenic, safe for babies, and commonly used in hospitals to treat wounds. Dr. Fenton says that it can’t go deeper than the top layer of skin, so it doesn’t get absorbed into the body. He says, “Properly refined petroleum has almost no risk of causing cancer.” That being said, both dermatologists recommend sticking to well-known, well-respected brands for the best safety and quality.
Should you put petroleum jelly on your lips?
If you have tubs, you don’t have to throw them away because petrolatum won’t make dryness worse. Dr. Fenton says, “It seals and keeps moisture in, which lets the tissue’s natural hydration stay and lets the skin on the lips heal.” David Kim, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and the founder of Soho Dermatology in New York City, also strongly supports the ingredient. He says, “Vaseline Lip Therapy is the best lip balm, period.” “Nothing else works nearly as well to keep the lips moist.”
But if your lips are very dry, adding a prep step can help. Drs. Fenton and Shamban say that you should use a humectant like hyaluronic acid or polyglutamic acid (PGA) to add a lot of moisture to your skin before sealing it in with petrolatum.
Drs. Fenton and Kim both say that petrolatum is hard to beat when it comes to lip care. But if you want choices, you should look for a few key ingredients.
Dr. Fenton says that beeswax is stickier than petroleum jelly, which helps it stay in place longer and means you don’t have to put it on again as often. He also suggests shea butter because it is the best moisturiser. Aquaphor’s Lip Repair, which was named the best lip balm by GQ, contains both of these ingredients. He also likes Jack Black Lip Balm with SPF 25, which protects against the sun and contains petrolatum, shea butter, avocado oil, and antioxidants.
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If you want to have a hot summer with no masks, you should get some good lip balm with SPF.
Dr. Kim also mentions ceramides, which have been used for a long time to strengthen the skin barrier, as another great lip care ingredient. In the Allies of Skin Peptide and Ceramide Repair Lip Balm, they are next to shea butter. In the Dr. Jart Ceramidin Lip Balm, they are next to hydrating glycerin and soothing panthenol.
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$25 for Peptide and Ceramide Repair Lip Balm at the Derm Store
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Dr. Jart’s Ceramidin™ Hydrating Ceramide Lip Balm for Dry Lips costs $16.
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Dr. Shamban says that lanolin is another good choice for treating dry lips. It is a key part of Aquaphor’s Healing Ointment and acts as an emollient, occlusive, and humectant all at once. “It can act like lipids in the skin that can get through the stratum corneum [the outermost layer of the skin], so it will both hold moisture and keep it there,” she says. Dr. Kim says that some people are allergic to lanolin, so be careful if you are sensitive to or don’t know what it is.
What to avoid is just as important as what to look for. Dr. Fenton says that if your lips are dry or sensitive, you should stick to formulas with few ingredients and skip fragrances and dyes. Dr. Shamban also says to stay away from mint, alcohol, and flavours, which can make severely chapped lips or cheilitis (a type of lip inflammation that causes cracking and scaling, especially at the corners of the mouth) worse. She adds, “Don’t fall for the beef tallow kinds either.” “There’s nothing to see here.”
