I’ve been a very, very stupid girl. Sure, I’d heard people call Vaseline a beauty staple before, but I could never get past associating it with diaper rash. My mom used it on my younger brother and I avoided the jar at all costs because it had been near a baby’s bum and baby bums were icky. I also labored under the impression that Vaseline had a weird smell, but I can’t remember if that’s because my mom used a ‘baby-scented’ variety or if I confused it with Vicks Vapor Rub somewhere along the line, the two products becoming one big goopy gel-like mass in my mind.

Then the good folks over at Unilever Canada sent me a tub of it. And I proceeded to let it sit on my desk as I took more expensive, more attractively-packaged brand name products home to try each night. At the time, I was desperately searching for a product to heal cracked, dry lips. I’m a stress biter — to the point that I’ve actually bruised the insides of my own lips — and no amount of ChapStick, magical many-hour creams, or anything else was capable of counteracting the havoc I’d wreaked.

So I gave in and tried Vaseline. I immediately discovered I’d been wrong about the smell, followed by the realization that this might be one of the most underrated beauty products ever. Not only has Vaseline turned my sandpaper pout into one worthy of (oh, the irony) a baby’s bottom…. It. Does. Everything. I’ve used it as a night cream. It removes makeup. It tames and moisturizes eyebrows and eyelashes. It keeps lipstick off my teeth. It clears up dandruff along the hairline. It smoothes gross elbows, knees, feet and cuticles. It protects scrapes inflicted by an exceptionally scary cat. Seriously, it does everything.

Even better, a container lasts forever and is ridiculously cheap. To spend money on high-end beauty products that do less and not as well has never seemed more frivolous. So don’t be stupid like me, go to your local drugstore and make one of the best beauty buys out there. 

$6.49, Shoppers Drug Mart, Don’t be scared off when you find it in the ‘Baby Accessories’ aisle

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Sabrina Maddeaux is Toronto Standard’s managing editor. Follow her on Twitter at @sabrinamaddeaux.

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