Vaseline: How did I get to 53 before knowing I could do this?

[CormoranStrike]

My skin is very dry and prone to spots (thank you menopause).

On a whim I decided to try rubbing in some Vaseline - OMG it’s great! I’ve now added a thin layer below my makeup and the difference is remarkable.

Am I late to the party? And what else so I need to know?

@teateateateateamoretea

But work it does - I can confirm it, too

You can confirm that you think it works, is all.

Even if it's a placebo effect - it's effective.

That's all I need.

If that's good enough for you, great.

Vicks on feet has been studied, shows some positive results:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3600823/

Interesting news about the O'Keefe's lip balm as my lower lip is very sore. Basically I cold not find my scissors so used my teeth to 'cut' parcel tape and it stuck on my lip. Without thinking, I ripped it off. Ow ow ow. That was weeks ago and my lip is still sore!

Vicks on feet has been studied, shows some positive results

The study you linked to specifically says:
"fter this, for the VR- and petrolatum-treated groups, parents were instructed to apply the entire contents of the specimen cup labeled for their child to the upper chest and neck area of their child and massage the ointment in for 1 minute"

Try again.

@teateateateateamoretea

If that's good enough for you, great.

I'm a simple girl with simple requirements.

If it works, I'm satisfied.

If you think it works, you're satisfied. People think crystal healing works, and reiki, and homeopathy. None of it actually works, apart from a placebo effect (which can powerful). But you feeling better after you put vicks on your feet does not mean vicks on your feet did anything to cause you to feel better.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc, and all that.

Vicks works by releasing menthol and camphor vapour to ease a cough or blocked nose. There would be no benefit to putting it on feet unless your feet got really hot in the night which would increase the amount of vapour evaporating or something and it might feel nice(?) The aim is to breathe in the vapour.

Vicks isn't absorbed into the bloodstream so rubbing it on your feet is basically an old wives tale.

Vicks or Vaseline might work on fungal nail infection if it formed a sufficient barrier preventing air getting to the fungus. However rubbing petroleum based products on your feet regularly could trap bacteria underneath, creating a breeding ground for bacteria.
I won't be trying it

Vicks on feet to help soothe a cough works in our house too.

But is IS propter hoc.

The Vick goes on the feet. The cough gets better. If the Vick had NOT gone on the feet, the cough would not have got better.

Either the Vick is the DIRECT cause of improvement (which I agree is disputable), or it is the INDIRECT one because it has stimulated a placebo effect.

Either way, it is because of the Vick that the cough has improved.

A placebo effect is still an effect. I don't know why people are so against it. If you found you could cure (say) 80% of eczema conditions by giving people a totally harmless yet scientifically "does-nowt" pill, would you not consider that an appropriate and effective treatment?

Maybe it's related to the thing where you wear wet socks to bed to cure a cold. There are various theories about it that all sound dubious, but people say it works. It could be that when you feel your feet cooling or being damp, that doesn't do anything in itself but stimulates your brain to do something.

The best thing for chapped lips is a bit of coco butter rubbed over them (I bought some pure coco butter pellets for cooking and discovered this.) It also smells amazing, and makes it feel like you are eating chocolate (although wierdly doesnt taste at all like chocolate if you eat it)

@HerselfIndoors

Maybe it's related to the thing where you wear wet socks to bed to cure a cold. There are various theories about it that all sound dubious, but people say it works. It could be that when you feel your feet cooling or being damp, that doesn't do anything in itself but stimulates your brain to do something.

Yes, I imagine it might stimulate something close to a very mild fever of the body is trying to warm itself up. But also, if someone has vicks on their chest, I can normally smell it pretty strongly if I am a few feet away. So I can imagine if Vicks is on your feet some of the mentholy smell is reaching your nose/mouth even if its less intense than if it was on the chest. Particularly if you are short like me or a child.

Weleda Skin Food is the absolute dogs bollocks of moisturisers!

I can't imagine putting Vaseline all over my face, yuk!

Also, Im not woo about medecine at all. But a few years ago I had a big debate with a friend who said me going out in the cold snow with wet hair would give me a cold. I said scientifically it was because colds a re caused by bacteria. But then later I had to apologise after we researched and it turned out that there is a link between getting cold and colds (I cant remember what the reason was but there was a genuine scientific reason). Plus I did actually get a nasty chest infection. The point being, I know a little bit about science and am rational but I am not a scientist, and therefore could easily dismiss something because of gaps in my own knowledge.

The Vick goes on the feet. The cough gets better. If the Vick had NOT gone on the feet, the cough would not have got better

No, thats the fallacy. The vicks went on the feet, the cough got better. Had the vicks not gone on the feet, the cough would still have got better.
All the Vicks did was make you feel pyschologically better about your cough.

I'm not against the placebo effect, at all. I'm just concerned about anti-science dumbing down. Example, if you think putting voodoo charms in your pockets relieves a cough, I'm happy for you if you feel better. But I'm not going to agree with your assertion that voodoo charms cure coughs.

with the help of Vicks, you can be better in a week. Without it, it might take seven days.

if you think putting voodoo charms in your pockets relieves a cough, I'm happy for you if you feel better. But I'm not going to agree with your assertion that voodoo charms cure coughs.

Ok - we'll agree on that then

with the help of Vicks, you can be better in a week. Without it, it might take seven days

Good point, John

I put Vaseline on my feet and wore socks to bed. In the morning I walked across the carpet and left dark stains on the carpet which never came out.

I expect you've imagined them Hovverry

the reason Vick works when applying it to your feet, is because they are warm, it releases the smell, will only work if you have bedding right up to your neck if you sleep half out it wont

I read that the reason vicks works on the soles of your feet when you have a cough is that you have more pores on the soles than any other part of your body and is therefore absorbed. Nothing to do with smelling it from your feet

What if you have cold feet?

I read that the reason vicks works on the soles of your feet when you have a cough is that you have more pores on the soles than any other part of your body and is therefore absorbed

Absorbed into your feet? And what do you think that does?
(also thats not true that you have more, you actually have less, as the rest of your body has 2 types and your feet only one).

Look at the sources for this claim...google it, and its a tale passed around on parenting sites and crackpot "medicine" forums. It's next to hanging garlic round your neck or imagining cut onions absorb viruses. It's bunkum.

@Keepingthingsinteresting

Sorry *@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz* the best lip balm is o’keefes in the orange tube. I had a terrible skin condition around the edges of my lips (you could basically peel them off!) for about a year. GP couldn’t work it out even with blood tests, nothing worked, had to stop wearing makeup- this fixed it in 2 weeks and I now buy in bulk. It is literallly magic 😁

Thank you so much for this recommendation! I have been a loyal fan of Luxe's 'Reve de Miel' lip balm for 20+ years, but recently I seem to have become allergic to it. I ordered some O'Keefe's thanks to your recommendation and it is a complete revelation! No itching, no irritation, and my lips are healing fast. Thank you