Petrolatum

What is petrolatum?

Petrolatum, also known as petroleum jelly, is a semisolid mixture of hydrocarbons derived from the residue of distilled petroleum. It is a light-coloured gel that becomes fluid and transparent near body temperature. Its discoverer called it Vaseline and patented the process of its manufacture in 1872, citing its uses for treating leather, styling hair and for treating chapped hands (R). Since then, petrolatum's beneficial properties for skin care and treatment have been extensively studied and reported (R).

Does petrolatum get absorbed?

It is often assumed that petrolatum stays on the surface of the skin, but results from 2 independent studies have challenged this notion, showing that it does penetrate the stratum corneum (R, R). In fact, petrolatum seems to penetrate more easily and deeply into the stratum corneum than jojoba oil, paraffin oil and sweet almond oil. This has been suggested to be due to the chemical similarity of the petrolatum constituents and that of the stratum corneum lipids. Another plausible explanation is that the occlusion elicited by petrolatum makes the stratum corneum more susceptible to lipid penetration (R).