You hear the name ‘Vaseline’ and may think it only has a few uses, but this will make you miss out on one of the cheapest beauty remedies out there! Below, you’ll find 19 unusual uses for Vaseline, and why this 140+ year-old product needs to become part of your daily routine. From keeping your cuticles and elbows from drying out, to preventing crazy streaks when you get a spray tan, this product will change your life. Use it to mask split ends in-between trims, and soothe your skin after shaving!
- Remove eye makeup.Coat your lids, then gently swab with a tissue.
- Highlight cheekbones.Fake a model’s bone structure by patting and blending a tiny amount across cheekbones. The shine attracts light and creates a contoured effect.
- Gloss your lips.Add red food dye — or tastier cherry Kool-Aid powder — to a dab of petroleum jelly for instant lip color.
- Get an even tan.Dry skin tends to soak up excess tanning lotion, leaving skin splotchy. Smooth on petroleum jelly before using tanning products.
- Preserve your fragrance.Dab on pulse points, like your wrists and the sides of your neck, before spritzing on perfume. Your scent will last the entire day.
- Buff away dry skin.Combine with brown sugar to concoct an at-home exfoliator.
- Tame unruly eyebrows.Dot petroleum jelly on your fingertip or a clean mascara wand and sweep across brows in one direction, from inside to out.
- Intensify eye shadow.Morph your powder shadows into creams for a more pigmented color (prime your lids with foundation and translucent powder first to avoid creasing).
- Protect skin from hair dye.Smooth a layer at your hairline before using home color and you’ll avoid hard-to-remove dark stains.
- Seal split ends.Coat ends to conceal dryness and frizz when you’re between trims. You can also rub a little between your hands and use as hair wax for texture or to smooth flyaways. Wash it out with a clarifying shampoo.
- Stretch your lotion.Running low on your favorite moisturizer? Add petroleum jelly to prolong its life.
- Get a perfect manicure.Dab a little around your nails when you’re DIY-ing a manicure or pedicure to keep polish from getting on your skin.
- Soften skin.Before going to bed, rub petroleum jelly on places where the skin is extra-dry, like on your elbows or the heels of your feet. Skin will be super-soft when you wake up.
- Remove rings.Is a ring stuck on your finger? Petroleum jelly can help it slide off easily.
- Stop squeaks.Apply to squeaky hinges on doors or cabinets to keep them quiet.
- Shine shoes.Petroleum jelly can make scuffed patent-leather shoes shine like new again.
- To make a DIY lip or body scrub.Mix ordinary sugar with an eighth of a teaspoon of Vaseline to create a quick lip scrub. It’ll help get rid of any flakes and create a super smooth canvas for lip color. If you’re looking to exfoliate your whole body, use more Vaseline and substitute kosher salt for the sugar—the larger grains will be more effective on rough body skin.
- To make your legs glow. Get that sexy Victoria’s Secret–model seen by slicking Vaseline over each shin. To add a sun-kissed glow, you can also mix some petroleum jelly with an old, cracked bronzer and smooth it over your legs.
- To open your stuck nail polish. We love a good DIY manicure but hate struggling to unscrew the cap of our nail polish. Using a smidge of Vaseline on the bottle’s thread will ensure it’s ready to open at game time.
