Back in the late 1800s, few American households were without a jar of Vaseline® petroleum jelly. Now the Vaseline® brand is instantly recognizable around the world. While Vaseline petroleum jelly is still a big seller, they also provide a wide range of body and hand care moisturizing products.

One of the more recent additions is Vaseline's Cocoa Butter vitalizing gel body oil. This could be a product you'll either love or hate as it has received widely mixed reviews which might leave you wondering whether it should be labeled with a strong precautionary warning before trying it out.



The bottle looks inviting enough. It's a narrow cylindrical shaped squeezy bottle with a brown flip-top lid. The gel oil inside is clearly visible with hundreds of tiny air bubbles suspended throughout. The label on the front informs us that its fragrance is made up from cocoa butter, Brazilian nut and almond oils, while on the back is a more detailed list of chemical sounding ingredients.

It's recommended that Vaseline's vitalizing gel body oil is used right after showering or bathing as the act of cleaning ourselves tends to strip it of its natural oils. Applying the oil is easy as the lid is simple to open and the gel oil has to be squeezed out of a tiny hole, ensuring you don't end up pouring out too much.  As soon as you've squeezed the gel out into your palm, there's no mistaking the fragrance of cocoa butter which is quite strong but smells good enough to eat. Once you've rubbed it all over your body though, the scent appears to fade and by the next morning, is barely noticeable.

Be careful once you've got oil on your hands as things can get a bit slippery, not least the bottle. And whatever happens don't spill it on the floor, especially if it's tiled or laminated. It's difficult to see and if you don't wipe it up straight away, it's liable to cause someone an injury if they step on it and end up slipping over.

Once you've covered your body with the oil, that's when the fun starts. No matter how much you rub the oil into your skin you are still left with a highly visible layer of gel. Then you have to get dressed. Unfortunately, because it's an oil, it stains your clothes and this is even more noticeable the darker your clothes are. As such, it's probably best to use it at night before going to bed. Although I haven't had any problems with removing the oil in the wash, some people haven't been able to entirely remove it.

Regarding its moisturizing properties, I consider it to be more effective and longer lasting than any moisturizing cream or lotion I’ve ever used. By the following morning all traces of greasiness are gone which means I don’t need to worry about the oil staining my clothes. But what is most impressive is how soft my skin feels. Although the oil has completely absorbed, it has somehow left my skin feeling almost like velvet, as if I've acquired a brand new layer of baby soft skin. It also feels incredibly well protected and the effects are still in evidence a couple of days later.

For me, the benefits of Vaseline's cocoa butter vitalizing gel body oil outweigh any of the negatives such as the slippery bottle or staining of clothes. However, although it's worked well for me, it appears to have a rather unpleasant side effect on some people, with several reporting breaking out in a rash. Whether or not this has anything to do with the various nut ingredients is not for me to say. However, many who have complained also have sensitive skin, so possibly this is the reason.

As someone who does not have sensitive skin or any kind of nut allergy, I was fortunate enough to be able to appreciate the excellent moisturizing properties of this product. While it can be messy at times, when it comes to moisturizing, Vaseline's cocoa butter vitalizing gel body oil is one of the best.