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A lubricant with uses as diverse as they are varied, petroleum jelly has never had as much success as in recent months. It only took a beauty technique straight from South Korea to transform this translucent grease into a daily staple, more than 150 years after its creation. Incredible but true.
What does Vaseline mean to you? This petroleum jelly invented by the American chemist Robert Chesebrough in 1872 has had a host of uses for more than 150 years, from craftsmanship to mechanics and medicine, without having been raised to the rank of product. unavoidable. For most people anyway. Marketed in dozens of countries, Vaseline has often been associated with sexual intercourse, although its use goes far beyond this practice alone. But the health crisis has changed the game, allowing ordinary mortals to (re)discover that it was (also) essential in… the bathroom.
As we know, the pandemic has considerably changed consumer habits in many sectors. In beauty, this has resulted in a return to the essentials, to authenticity, to nature, with an emphasis on familiar, trustworthy and accessible products, often drawn from the medicine cabinets of our ancestors. A phenomenon that has propelled Vaseline to the rank of a beauty routine essential… More than 150 years after its appearance. However, the benefits of petroleum jelly for the skin are not new. Everyone was aware that it promoted healing, and had proven itself against certain lesions and burns, and even against skin dryness and chapping. But it is indeed on social networks, TikTok in mind, that this mineral grease has been propelled into another dimension.
1.7 billion views on TikTok
It will therefore have been necessary to wait a century and a half before seeing Vaseline become a beauty essential adored by all beauty addicts, and even more… The success of Vaseline is such that on TikTok the hashtag associated with the product counts to this day no less of 1.7 billion views, with a host of beauty techniques and tips popular with users around the world. And if she is the subject of sometimes totally unexpected tricks, such as the one which consists in using Vaseline to smell good longer, it is undoubtedly the art of slugging which allows her today to fully surf the wave. success.
For the uninitiated, if there are still any left, slugging is a beauty trend straight out of K-beauty that helps fight against skin dryness. This technique with an unattractive name (‘slug’ means ‘slug’) results in the application of a thick layer of Vaseline on the face, to be left on for as long as possible (all night for optimal results), to deeply moisturize your skin. A tip that would make it possible as a bonus to put an end to redness and itching. The hashtag associated with this method has already been seen nearly 800 million times, testifying to the interest shown by ordinary mortals in a product that is 150 years old. The phenomenon is such that it has spread to other parts of the body with ‘nail slugging’ and ‘hair slugging’, while Vaseline has seen itself propelled by some to the rank of miracle product to acquire ‘eternal youth’. A bit exaggerated, we agree.
The fact remains that petroleum jelly has transformed in just a few months into a beauty essential that everyone – or almost – is snapping up. According to Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), the success is such that the market for Vaseline, the name of the registered brand, should exceed 651 million dollars by 2027. This is enough to attract the attention of many areas to this coveted ‘new’ beauty product. …
A first step in fashion?
After the beauty industry, can Vaseline win favor in the fashion world? It’s hard to see a link between this translucent fat and the glamor of the catwalks, and yet… It could make its entrance through the front door of the fashion shows very soon. It is a publication of the very serious and prestigious label JW Anderson which gave rise to rumors around a potential collaboration between the fashion sector and Vaseline. The brand, which recently deleted all of its posts on Instagram, left only two: a first announcing a big launch to come, characterized by a loading symbol, and a second simply showing a jar of Vaseline.
It did not take more to panic the counters on the social network, and discover the craziest rumors around a potential collaboration between the label and the iconic petroleum jelly. Still, it is difficult to imagine – at this moment – what the fruit of such an association could look like. Are we in a hurry? Yes, if we consider that the creative geniuses of fashion always know how to surprise us, and be ever more daring…