Botox. Restylane. Collagen. It’s hard to keep track of all the new beauty products being launched first in cosmetic surgeons offices, and often making their way to our drugstore aisles. If you tried to keep pace with the new innovations, your own bathroom could start looking more like a mad scientist’s lab!
But some beauty products demonstrate their worth by standing the test of time. Vaseline Petroleum Jelly is celebrating its 140th anniversary next Spring. It was created by Robert Augustus Cheesebrough, a 22-year-old chemist from Brookly, New York. Quickly it became a household name, and within ten years of its inception, Americans were buying it at a rate of a jar a minute!
Watch for a makeover of the brand and its packaging next Spring, in recognition of its birthday, but in the meantime, consider these beauty tips that incorporate this classic.
For your lips
- Rub a little baking soda onto your lips to exfoliate them. Apply Vaseline immediately after to lock in the moisture and get your lips feeling soft and smooth (and oh so smoochable!)
- If you’re still searching for the perfect shade of lip gloss, or you’re all out and need some colour in a pinch – why not make your own? Dip one end of a Q-tip into Vaseline and place on the back of your hand. Dip the other end of the Q-tip into your favourite eyeshadow or powder blush colour (plums work very well) and mix into the Vaseline. Apply with a Q-ip and you’ve got your own unique lip gloss shade!
For your skin
- Considering a sleeveless top for the holiday season, but worried about your dry elbows? Rub a little Vaseline on them at night and cover with a bandage. You’ll wake up to smooth skin ready for anything!
- Keep a tub of Vaseline petroleum jelly at your desk or close to the kitchen sink and apply a little on your cuticles several times a day to keep them healthy looking.
For your kids
- I keep a tub in the bathroom and it’s become part of my kids’ bedtime routine to slather some Vaseline on their lips after they brush their teeth. So far it’s keeping those painful chapped lips at bay.
Ringing in just under $5 for at 375g tub, Vaseline is one of the most economical beauty weapons that we can keep in our arsenal.
I use vaseline on my feet, works great on softening my heels. I just smear it all over my feet, slip on a pair of cotton soaks and hop into bed. Overnight is does an amazing transformation on any dry bits. Great stuff!
It’s also very good for those cracked knuckles I tend to get in winter, what with the dry air and all that hand-washing.
I use Vaseline to take off my eye makeup and then dab a little bit more under my eyes to help ward off wrinkles.
We also use it instead of those expensive diaper creams..which isn’t really a beauty trick, but it works wonderfully! lol