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More than 3.5 million social posts sharing ingenious Vaseline hacks exist online. Now the brand’s scientists are putting hundreds of the most viral tips to the test, awarding a #VaselineVerified seal of approval to those that work.
And with safety always front-of-mind for Unilever’s R&D teams, our experts have also been debunking the hacks that don’t deliver results.
Enhancing fragrance longevity, taming flyaway hair, adding a temporary soft focus to camera lenses and protecting lips from the tingle of spicy snacks? Verified!
But claims that Vaseline Jelly could help whiten teeth or speed up lash growth were proved false by our panel.
As Peter Schrooyen, Global Vice President R&D for Skin Care and Prestige, explains: “The skincare landscape can be overwhelming online. But by combining beauty science with creativity and leaning in to the social buzz around this much-loved brand, we saw an opportunity to help consumers feel confident about choosing and using our iconic Vaseline Jelly safely and effectively.”
We caught up with three of the scientists who took Vaseline hacks into the lab…
We tested several, but two that I particularly enjoyed testing were both beauty hacks. The first was to see if Vaseline Jelly works to remove waterproof make-up. The second was to see if it could prevent hair dye from staining the skin. Both are now Vaseline Verified!
To test if Vaseline Jelly could gently remove various types of waterproof make-up, I applied the make-up to my forearms in the lab, let it dry for at least 10 minutes, and then used a cotton round with Vaseline to remove it.
For the hair dye hack, we applied Vaseline Jelly to eggshells and dyed them like Easter eggs to simulate how Vaseline could block staining. We then compared the visual results between the treated and untreated eggs to assess the barrier function.
Vaseline Jelly forms a hydrophobic barrier on the skin. When used to remove make-up, it helps dissolve oil-based products and lifts them away without stripping the skin. When it’s applied before hair dyeing, it acts as a physical shield, preventing pigment from penetrating the skin’s surface. This works because Vaseline Jelly is an occlusive ointment, which blocks the dye from absorbing into the skin and stops it from migrating.
The health, safety and wellbeing of our community are at the forefront of everything we do. We worked cross-functionally with our legal, regulatory, analytical and claims teams to ensure legitimacy in all our work and documentation.
There’s so much beauty advice online, and not all of it is safe. Science helps us validate what actually works and protects people from trying hacks that could cause harm. Verified information builds trust and empowers people to care for themselves confidently.
It’s exciting to be part of a creative, culturally relevant campaign that brings real science to viral beauty trends. I love that we’re reaching Gen Z and DIY beauty creators with facts, not fear, and this sparked a lot of curiosity and conversation in the lab.
Being part of this team means using my expertise to make beauty safer, smarter and more inclusive, and that’s something I’m really proud of.
I helped to verify 17 hacks and disprove five. The one that involved the most thought was testing whether Vaseline Jelly could make fragrance last longer on the skin – and we were able to verify that it does.
We tried several simple tests that didn’t seem conclusive. Then I remembered a very sophisticated instrument that our analytical team could use. They applied Vaseline Jelly and fragrance to small samples of artificial skin, put them into test tubes, and the team had to retrofit the instrument to measure how well fragrance lingered in the air inside the tubes. We saw that Vaseline Jelly applied to the skin after fragrance helped it last longer.
The fragrance is applied first, then the jelly. Vaseline forms a barrier where the volatile materials in fragrance are slowed down from evaporating. When they evaporate, they become airborne, and the scent can be detected.
Unilever is a reputable company so all our products can be backed by proven science. That superior science is a way in which we can differentiate our brands.
Scientists working behind the scenes on Vaseline Jelly aren’t usually in the public eye, so this feels quite unusual.
Along with the rest of the team, I tested several Vaseline hacks – and we moved quickly to bring the science behind this campaign together, working closely with our colleagues in Unilever’s Legal and Regulatory teams.
The egg shell/hair dye demo that Eden mentioned was an idea that came up at the end of the day on a Friday. I finished work, delved into my box of Easter decorations, found some dye and a jar of Vaseline Jelly and tested it in my own kitchen. It worked, and we verified it in the lab soon afterwards.
Another hack I enjoyed working on was testing if Vaseline Jelly could reduce friction to help prevent chafing. Runners often recommend applying it to different parts of the body, to help with this. We were able to verify that it works.
We knew in theory that Vaseline Jelly should work to reduce friction but just to make sure, our Analytical Measurement Science team developed an anti-friction test. They used an instrument and a bio-skin plate that mimics the surface of skin, which they coated with Vaseline. They were able to confirm that the layer of Vaseline reduced the friction.
Vaseline Jelly is an occlusive product which creates a barrier to protect the surface of the skin. That means the Vaseline can help skin and fabric glide against each other, reducing the friction that can cause irritation.
The safety of our consumers is extremely important to us. We don’t want anyone to use our products in a harmful way, even if others are promoting it on social media.
Vaseline Verified involved a lot of people and a lot of hard work, but it’s been very rewarding to see the impact the campaign has had. We’re all proud that R&D could serve as the catalyst for such resounding content.
By taking hacks from TikTok to test tubes, Vaseline Verified has put science in the spotlight, giving a new generation of consumers more reasons to trust the 153-year-old brand.
Tapping into cultural relevance and celebrating content created by Vaseline’s legions of fans has made the campaign unmissable. Not only has it sparked more than 136 million social views in its first three months, it’s also won nine prestigious awards at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity – a Titanium Lion, two Grands Prix and six Gold and Silver Lions.
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