VASELINE v BEESWAX: Do You Know the Truth? (2024)

Vaseline (petroleum jelly) Vs Beeswax

If you are still using Vaseline (petroleum jelly) you NEED to read this.

Let's address the ultimate, everlasting showdown of which is better for your skin, the planet and why.

We’ll explain the important differences, so you won’t make any mistakes about what you are putting on your skin.

Petroleum jelly was made famous by the brand name Vaseline, we have all used it at some point, we need not look far to find a tin lurking somewhere, or to see plentiful offerings of various Vaseline variations lining beauty shop shelves everywhere, and it still remains a very popular skincare staple – especially for lips.

What is Vaseline?

You would be forgiven for thinking Vaseline is a perfectly ‘clean’ product thanks to clever marketing – after all its so widely used and revered, isn’t it?

You may not have ever thought to ask yourself, “but what actually is petroleum jelly?”

We’ll tell you.

Whilst petroleum jelly may be so heavily refined that it is deemed ‘safe’ for skin, there is no escaping from the fact that it is actually a petroleum distillate, a by -product of petroleum refining and is produced in the same oil refineries as motor fuel and heating oil – probably not something you would want smeared on your lips or face?

It is true that Vaseline petroleum jelly is highly filtered and purified and is regarded as non-carcinogenic, despite the components separated during the refining to have been reported as carcinogenic – doesn’t really sound that reassuring does it for someone who is conscious of what goes onto their skin?

This ingredient has traditionally been used for dry skin as it creates a barrier on the skin, preventing moisture escaping from an impaired skin barrier.

However, unlike natural ‘barrier’ style ingredients such as beeswax, petroleum prevents absorption of moisture from the air, actually serving to suffocate the skin.

In effect, it's like wearing a plastic bag over your skin and will ultimately lead to your skin drying out and becoming addicted to it!

Petroleum Jelly Vs Beeswax: a clear comparison

Brilliant Beeswax: Nature’s Skin Protector and Healer

Just by glancing at the chart it’s clear which one we would rather trust to slather on our lips and sore dry skin – how about you?

Beeswax is head and shoulders above in terms of not only protecting a damaged skinbarrierbut bringing so much more to the skin such as miosturising, reducing inflammation, soothing soreness, reducing itching, allowing the skin to breathe and heal and protecting from external aggressors.

Beeswax balms for your skin

If you are still using Vaseline for your dry lips, just try swapping it for a beeswax balm and see the difference– you won’t be disappointed.

Choose from our aluminium tin lip balm options (can be recycled or sent back to us via our return and reuse scheme)

or our eco-friendly carboard tubes.

With 5 natural scents (strictly natural essential oils only – nophthalatesor irritating synthetic parfum) ranging from pure honey for very sensitive skins through to mint, lavender, rose and citrussy mandarin, you are bound to find at least one to fall in love with.

Disclaimer: you’ll probably want all scents – so why not save some pennies and go for our Lip balm bundle options?

Beeswax Balms: not only lip service…….

We are sure you have also seen Vaseline being used on other areas of dry, sore skin apart from the lips – familiar with Vaseline ‘skin slugging’ anyone?

Not only leading to pore cloggingby beingsuffocating for the skin, petroleum jelly also offers no extra skin benefits for soothing and healingsore, dry skin or dealing with skin barrier conditions such as psoriasis, eczemaparticularly during flare ups or the horror that is topical steroid withdrawal (TSW).

Contrastingly, beeswax balms offer skin calmingand soothing relief without stinging.

So, if you are wanting to slug your skin or soothe sore dry patches, be kind to your complexion and nature by opting for beeswax instead of petroleum in your salve.

Just balmy: no petroleum here

Have you tried our tripleaward winning‘Nurse Bee?’

Perfect for soothing dry, sore, inflamed and itchy skin.

Pop a thin layer on your skin at bedtime to let it really work its magic as an overnight treatment.

What else do we put in our balms for your skin health?

Raw Welsh Honey acts as a natural nourishing, antibacterial, antifungal and antisepticmoisturiser for dry, sore skin in our Nurse Bee.

It will help keep sore cracked skin free of infection, moist but not oily, and will aid rejuvenation and renewal of depleted skin cells.

Sweet almond oil is an emollient in our Nurse Bee which helps the skin lock in moisture – critical for people with eczema or psoriasis - to help relieve and repair flaring skin.

Did you know sweet almond oil also contains linoleum acid which plays a direct role in helping maintain the skin barrier function which can be easily compromised by eczema?

Shea butter is nature’s plant based moisturiser for dry and eczema prone skin; it will prevent water loss from the first layer of skin as well as penetrating to enrich the deeper layers.

Calendula oilis known in herbalist circles as the ‘mother of the skin’and will help increase collagen and elastin in the skin making it useful in preventing the formation of scar tissue from any scratching.

It’s a welcome double edged dry skin fighting sword too as it will also soothe any dry itchy skin to help prevent that insatiable need-to-scratch feeling in the first place. Hooray!

Essential oils known for dry skin relief are added into our Nurse Bee balm.

Lavender for helping reduce redness, to soothe and calm the skin and to heal rashes. In cohorts with the lovely lavender is pure mandarin essential oil, working as a rejuvenation power house to help replenish and renew dull uneven skin tone whilst offering a citrus antibac ananti inflammatory blast.

Is your skin intolerant to essential oils or very reactive? Don’t worry, we have you covered with our Sensitive Bee universal balm which contains all the same wonders of the hive and enriching plant oils but is completely free of fragrance and essential oils. Check it out HERE.

Real people, real results

Don’t just take our word for it! Pop over to our Nurse Bee and Sensitive Bee balm product pages to see real life results and reviews on how our beeswax balms have helped our customers skin.

Or, why not check out the lovely Becky’s video below. Becky really suffers with eczema and tsw skin so we are so ‘hap-bee’ that our products have helped bring her skin relief, especially seen as she has tried so many different products throughout her skin battles.

@eczema_guthealth_journey Review on Honey bee beautiful my new fave products #skintokuk #skincare #honeybeebeautiful #skincarereview#eczemaskincare #eczematok #topicalsteroidwithdrawluk #naturalskincare #naturalskincareproducts ♬ original sound - Becky ✨

For further information, natural tips and help with dry, sore, eczema or psoriasis prone skin here are some supplement blogs to help:

That’s it from us for this week! We hope that’s helped clear up exactly why we champion beeswax over Vaseline for skincare.

Please do let us know if you have any comments, tips for managing eczema or psoriasis prone skin or, if you have any skincare queries at all , please just drop us an email or message.

Wishing you naturally happy soothed skin and lips, without the petrol.

Cath, Bec and the bees xx