We haven't tested Vaseline or Aquaphor against our balms in a lab, and every fact about them here came off their live pages and posted labels on October 5, 2026. Both brands seal skin with petrolatum, and a 2016 dermatology review credits it with cutting water loss by more than 98%. Tallow is a fat. Expect a lighter seal from it, plus fatty acids that petrolatum doesn't have.
For dry skin that's intact, the jar I'd set beside those two is Bare Silk ($34), suet tallow with four supporting ingredients. The Unscented original smells like nothing. The only prices here are ours, as of that same day.
What is petrolatum?
Petrolatum is petroleum jelly, a complex combination of hydrocarbons refined from petroleum. Mineral oil is its liquid cousin. A 2016 review of moisturizers by Sethi and colleagues says refining hydrogenates those hydrocarbons into molecules that resist oxidation. There's no fat in it at all.
Some posts call it a petroleum byproduct, as if the source settles the question. The petrolatum in these jars is refined, and the FDA lists petrolatum and white petrolatum as active ingredients in over-the-counter skin protectants at 30 to 100%. Both jars in this post are sold as skin protectants, a drug category with its own rules. A tallow balm isn't one of those. It's a cosmetic, with no Drug Facts box and no claim to protect a cut.
How well does petrolatum seal?
Petrolatum tops the occlusives in Sethi's review, the ingredients that work by sealing water in. At as little as 5% of a product, it cuts transepidermal water loss, the water skin gives off to the air, by more than 98%. Lanolin and mineral oil come next, cutting water loss by 20 to 30%. The same review puts petroleum jelly's resistance to water vapor at 170 times that of olive oil. Occlusives like it lay a water-repelling film over the skin. They also help fill the matrix between skin's outer cells, and they do the most on skin that's still slightly damp.
The American Academy of Dermatology's dry-skin page says to pick an ointment or cream over a lotion, and petrolatum is on its list of ingredients to look for. Jojoba oil is, too. Its wound-care page says to keep a cut or scrape moist with petroleum jelly so it doesn't dry out and scab. Petrolatum earns both spots, and I won't argue with either one.
What's in Vaseline and Aquaphor?
Vaseline's product page, read October 5, 2026, says its jelly is made from triple-purified, "100% pure petroleum jelly." By the brand's account, that's the whole jar. Aquaphor's ointment page lists one active ingredient, petrolatum at 41%, and names panthenol and glycerin as the moisturizing extras. Its label on DailyMed, the federal drug label site, lists the rest. Neither page showed a price.
| Read Oct 5, 2026 | What seals | What else is in it | Feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vaseline Healing Jelly Original | Petrolatum | Nothing else named by the brand | Thick and greasy |
| Aquaphor Healing Ointment | Petrolatum (41%), with mineral oil | Ceresin, lanolin alcohol, panthenol, glycerin, bisabolol | An ointment, in the brand's word |
| Bare Silk Unscented (Craft) | Grass-fed suet tallow | Meadowfoam seed oil, jojoba oil, arrowroot, vitamin E | Dense and poured, softens with skin warmth |
Both brands do one job well. Vaseline is a single ingredient, and it carries the strongest seal in Sethi's review. Aquaphor builds on that seal with panthenol and glycerin. Its page calls it "preservative and fragrance free," and its label lists no water. The page also calls Aquaphor the "#1 dermatologist recommended brand for dry, cracked skin." That's their claim to make.
Where does a tallow balm differ?
Petrolatum brings hydrocarbons and nothing else, so there are no fatty acids or vitamins in it. That's no knock. It does its one job better than lanolin or mineral oil. Tallow is a fat, built from fatty acids with oleic acid in the lead, and our post on the fatty acids in tallow has the USDA numbers.
Fatty acids sit in the lipid sheets between skin's outer cells, sheets that Sethi's review says are mostly ceramides. Losing those lipids is how the review explains dry skin. I haven't found a trial showing that a balm's fatty acids end up in those sheets, and tallow's skin research as a whole is thin.
The seal is where they part ways. Tallow wasn't in Sethi's comparison, though it's a fat like olive oil, and petroleum jelly out-sealed olive oil 170 times over. I'd expect tallow's seal to sit much nearer the oil than the jelly. The feel follows the seal. Sethi's review calls petroleum jelly greasy, and our jars are dense and poured, softening in your palms before they work in. Our post on tallow vs traditional moisturizers puts that feel next to a cream.
Which jar for which job?
Broken skin belongs to petrolatum, and that's where the line between these jars is clearest. For a cut, follow the AAD's wound-care steps. Petroleum jelly is one of them, and Aquaphor's label lists minor cuts and burns among its uses. Our balms are for intact skin only. They stay off a cut or a heel that's split open until the skin has closed.
New ink follows the same rule. If your tattoo artist or dermatologist has you on a petrolatum ointment, stay with it until the skin has closed, and our tattoo care post picks up from there. It's cosmetic care, not a treatment. Your provider's plan comes first.
Petrolatum also takes the heaviest jobs, where the skin is rough and dry rather than open. A rough, dry heel under a sock overnight is one of them: petrolatum's FDA-listed uses include chapped or cracked skin, and nothing in Sethi's review seals harder. For slugging, which is an overnight seal, petrolatum gives the heavier coat. Our post on slugging with tallow covers the lighter version, and it's the how-to I'd hand you for a fat balm.
Broken skin or the heaviest seal calls for Vaseline or Aquaphor. Aquaphor adds panthenol and glycerin. For skin that's dry and intact, on your face or your hands, Bare Silk Unscented is the third jar to weigh. It's a fat with five ingredients you can read. Like Aquaphor, it carries no water and no preservative system, and there's room in a cabinet for both kinds of jar.
Start with Bare Silk ($34), five ingredients and sixty days to disagree.
Questions we hear
Is Vaseline good for your face?
For dry skin it can be, and the American Academy of Dermatology lists petrolatum among the ingredients to look for. Vaseline's own pages call its jelly non-comedogenic. The trade-off is feel, and a 2016 review by Sethi and colleagues says petroleum jelly is less pleasant to wear because it's greasy.
Can I use tallow instead of Aquaphor?
Yes, on dry skin that's intact, where you can expect a lighter seal plus fatty acids that Aquaphor's petrolatum doesn't carry. On a cut or a heel that's split open, no. Aquaphor is sold as a skin protectant, with minor cuts and burns among the uses on its label, and tallow balms are for intact skin only. There's no reason a cabinet can't hold a tub of each, one for scrapes.
Is petroleum jelly bad for your skin?
Not by the evidence I read: it's a refined combination of hydrocarbons, and the FDA lists petrolatum as an active ingredient in over-the-counter skin protectants at 30 to 100%. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends it for dry skin and for keeping a minor wound moist. Its limits are feel and scope. It's greasy to wear, and there are no fatty acids or vitamins in it at all.
Does tallow seal as well as Vaseline?
No. A 2016 review by Sethi and colleagues reports that petrolatum cuts water loss from skin by more than 98%, and that petroleum jelly resists water vapor 170 times better than olive oil. Tallow wasn't measured there. It's a fat like olive oil, so expect a lighter seal and less of a greasy film. Tallow also carries fatty acids, which petroleum jelly doesn't.
Go deeper
If you're new to tallow on skin, start with the beef tallow for skin guide. Rough hands and heels get their own post. If the pores question is what's holding you back on your face, read is tallow comedogenic before you buy anything. Our skin barrier post covers the lipid sheets this one keeps coming back to. The overnight method this post keeps pointing at is slugging with tallow; what is a barrier cream places petrolatum in its category, and tallow vs CeraVe and Cetaphil reads the other two drugstore jars the same way.
Sources
- US Food and Drug Administration (2026). 21 CFR part 347, skin protectant drug products for over-the-counter human use, current as of October 1, 2026. eCFR.
- The American Academy of Dermatology (2026). Dermatologists' top tips for relieving dry skin, last updated January 2, 2026. aad.org.
- The American Academy of Dermatology (2025). Minimize a scar: proper wound care tips from dermatologists, last updated July 2, 2025. aad.org.
- Aquaphor, the brand's own website (2026). Aquaphor Healing Ointment, 7 oz, with its active ingredient and claims, read October 5, 2026. aquaphorus.com.
- US National Library of Medicine, DailyMed (2025). Aquaphor Healing (petrolatum) ointment, the drug label with its full ingredient list, updated December 15, 2025. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov.
- Vaseline, the brand's own website (2026). Healing Jelly products page, with its description of the original jelly, read October 5, 2026. vaseline.com.
- Sethi A, Kaur T, Malhotra SK, Gambhir ML (2016). Moisturizers: the slippery road. Indian Journal of Dermatology, volume 61, issue 3, pages 279 to 287.
Brian is the founder of Craft Tallow, a small-batch tallow skincare line shipped from Cottonwood Heights, Utah, built on 100% grass-fed suet. Questions? Reply to any email from us; it lands with him.