Dermatologist review

Vanicream Moisturizing Cream

Boring, cheap, fragrance-free, with no common allergens. The moisturizer dermatologists reach for when skin is reacting to everything.

Reviewed by Dr. Schwarz, MD · Dermatologist

Moisturizer
Vanicream Moisturizing Cream
Creamtexture / format
Petrolatummain ingredient
Sensitive Skin, Dry Skinbest for
$1.06 / ozprice per ounce

A dermatologist’s take

Recommend.

This is what I recommend when skin is reacting to everything. No fragrance, dye or lanolin, so there is very little to react to. No actives either, which is the point — it will not treat acne, wrinkles or dark spots. If your skin is oily, the lotion is lighter.

Pros

  • No added fragrance
  • Good fit for sensitive skin
  • Good fit for dry skin

Cons

  • Thick texture can feel greasy
  • Takes time to absorb

Skin fit

Who is it best for?

Sensitive Skin on light skin.

Sensitive Skin

Good fit

Most reactions to a moisturizer come from a short list of ingredients, and fragrance leads it. This cream has none of them — no fragrance, dye, lanolin, parabens or formaldehyde releasers.

Fall back on it while you work out what your skin is objecting to.

The front of one shin on pale skin. The surface is pink with fine white flaking and a few shallow cracks, and the skin around it is even in tone.

Dry Skin

Good fit

Petrolatum is the most effective sealer there is, cutting water loss by over 90%, and this cream is built around it. Apply within a minute of the shower and it traps the water your skin just took up.

The tub is cheap enough to use as much as the job needs.

Extreme close-up of light skin in an active eczema flare, too close to tell which part of the body it is. Blotchy pink-red inflammation covers the whole frame with no clear edge, with small raised bumps, fine dry scale and a few fresh scratch marks.

Eczema

Okay fit

Eczema-prone skin is leaky and twitchy at once. The barrier lets water out faster than normal, and the same gaps let allergens in, so eczema skin reacts to things ordinary skin ignores.

Blandness matters more here than clever additions. Use it daily on large areas, over a prescription cream rather than instead of one.

The back of one hand and the wrist on pale skin. A bright pink, slightly swollen patch with tiny blisters covers the back of the hand and stops at a straight line across the wrist.

Contact Dermatitis

Okay fit

Contact allergy is a learned response. The immune system takes days to answer, so the rash often shows a day or two after the ingredient touched you, which makes the culprit hard to spot.

Fewer ingredients means fewer suspects — a sensible cream while you wait for patch testing.

Inflamed acne on light skin. The spots sit in a patch of pink, and the ring of redness around each one is easy to see. A few have a yellow-white head, and the skin between them is dry and flaking.

Acne

Poor fit

Nothing here treats a pimple. It calms the dryness acne treatments cause, but it clears nothing on its own.

The back of an upper arm on light skin, covered in small rough bumps at every hair opening. Each bump sits in a faint pink ring, so the arm looks evenly speckled and slightly red.

Keratosis Pilaris

Poor fit

It softens skin around the bumps but does not dissolve the keratin plugs inside them. That takes urea, lactic acid, or salicylic acid.

Feel & smell

What does it feel like?

HeaviestLightest

Cream

Thick and rich, heavier than most face moisturizers, slightly greasy. It takes a moment to sink in and leaves a soft cushion — too much under makeup for most people, so keep it for night and the body.

No scent at all, not even the faint smell most unscented creams carry.

Inside the formula

What do the main ingredients do?

Petrolatum mechanism diagram. Forms a surface barrier: Petrolatum creates an occlusive film. Helps hold moisture in: Less water evaporates from the outer skin.
Open full-size diagram
More ingredient roles
Skin structure: surface, outer barrier, epidermis and dermisSimplified skin layers for clinical context. This schematic does not measure ingredient penetration or demonstrate a finished product effect.Surface filmOuter barrierEpidermisDermisSurface + outer barrier

How this formula works.

Vanicream Moisturizing Cream does two of the three moisturizer jobs and skips the third. Petrolatum seals the wall better than anything else, cutting water loss by over 90%. Sorbitol and propylene glycol pull water into the bricks. There is no ceramide in it, so it does not replace the glue.

Full clinical explanation

Vanicream Moisturizing Cream does two of the three moisturizer jobs and skips the third. Petrolatum seals the wall better than anything else, cutting water loss by over 90%. Sorbitol and propylene glycol pull water into the bricks. There is no ceramide in it, so it does not replace the glue.

The trade is deliberate. Every added ingredient is one more thing reacting skin can react to, and on damaged skin removing suspects beats adding an active. That is why dermatologists reach for this when a patient is reacting to everything else.

It will not treat. No active means no brightening, no exfoliating, no softening a line. It hydrates, it protects, it costs about a dollar an ounce, and on angry skin that is the whole point.

Full ingredient list · 11 ingredients

Water, Petrolatum, Sorbitol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Ceteareth-20, Simethicone, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-30 Stearate, Sorbic Acid, BHT

All ingredient roles

Petrolatum

Forms a thin film on top of the skin that slows water loss while the barrier recovers.

Cetearyl Alcohol

A fatty alcohol that softens skin and thickens the product. Despite the name, it is not drying.

Water

The base the other ingredients are dissolved in. Most of it evaporates soon after the product goes on.

Ceteareth-20

An emulsifier. It keeps the oil and water parts from separating.

Use & results

In your routine

How to use it.

01 / EVERY DAY

How much

A generous layer on anything dry or irritated. Warm it between your palms first — it is thick.

Careful

If your skin is reacting to everything, strip back to this cream, a bland cleanser and a sunscreen, and pause your actives.

02 / OVER TIME

What to expect

Tightness and stinging ease within a few days; rough patches take a couple of weeks. It treats nothing, and is not meant to.

Price spectrum

Where does the price fall?

Paying more doesn’t guarantee better results. A good buy is a formula with the right ingredients, strength and texture for your skin. Use price per ounce to compare cost, then weigh it against the pros and cons above.

The product line

Which Vanicream product should you choose?

Vanicream focuses on straightforward care for sensitive skin. Its cream, lotion, facial moisturizer and SPF products are different formulas, not just different packages. Start with how much moisture you need, then check whether you also want sunscreen or a lighter finish.

RichestLightest
This reviewMoisturizing Cream

Moisturizing Cream

The thickest. Face and body, for skin that is actively dry or reacting.

Moisturizing Lotion

Moisturizing Lotion

The same idea in a pump, thinner. Easier in warm weather and on oily skin.

Facial Moisturizer SPF 30

Facial Moisturizer SPF 30

Daily mineral sunscreen, same allergen-free principle, for people who react to other sunscreens.

Gentle Facial Cleanser

Gentle Facial Cleanser

A short, fragrance-free wash. It will not remove sunscreen.

More about the lineup

Vanicream's line leaves out what people react to. Only the texture and the step change.

Alternatives

If it didn’t work for you

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream product packaging
If you want ceramides in a rich cream

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

Fragrance-free at about a dollar an ounce, with ceramides and hyaluronic acid. Enough people report small bumps from it to be worth noting.

Read the review →
Vaseline product packaging
If you want a single-ingredient seal

Vaseline

100% petrolatum for a few dollars, nothing to react to. It seals rather than hydrates, so use it over damp skin.

Read the review →
First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream product packaging
If you want colloidal oatmeal included

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream

Rich, with colloidal oatmeal 0.5% as a real skin protectant, but it contains eucalyptus oil — and eczema-prone skin is the most likely to react.

Read the review →

Questions

Before you buy

Is Vanicream Moisturizing Cream really fragrance-free?

Yes — no fragrance and no masking scent. Also no dyes, lanolin, parabens or formaldehyde releasers.

Is Vanicream Moisturizing Cream good for eczema?

Yes. It is a standard recommendation for eczema-prone skin because it leaves out the usual irritants.

Should I get Vanicream Moisturizing Cream or the Vanicream lotion?

The cream is thicker, for very dry skin. The lotion is lighter under makeup and in warm weather.

Will Vanicream Moisturizing Cream treat wrinkles or dark spots?

No. It has no actives. It hydrates and protects the barrier, by design.

Can I use Vanicream Moisturizing Cream on my body?

Yes, anywhere your skin is dry.