After slugging for the past 3 months, I had to write a complete guide to slugging after seeing amazing results in the hydration of my skin. I learned about slugging from beauty writer, Charlotte Palermino, on tiktok. The idea of applying petroleum jelly to my skin sounded a bit greasy for my taste before I tried it. However, after trying slugging on my face, I was wowed by the results it offered for my dry skin. Here’s a complete guide to slugging:

What is slugging?

Slugging is the process of applying petroleum jelly after your skincare routine at night. Slugging helps with the prevention of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and keeps the skin hydrated while sleeping. Petroleum jelly does not have any moisturizing benefits, but it acts as a barrier to protect your skin’s hydration level. Slugging is extremely beneficial for dry and dehydrated skin especially during wintertime when our heaters are on full blast! Even my mom’s dermatologist recently recommended slugging to her for dealing with extremely dry skin.

What skin types will benefit from slugging?

Slugging is best for dry skin and maybe normal skin if your skin is feeling dehydrated every now and then. Oily and acne prone skin types should avoid slugging since there is already enough moisture in the skin and the barrier is functioning normally. Since I have dry skin and I live in a desert climate, slugging has been a game changer for me! The heating in my apartment really dries out the air (so much so that I have two humidifiers going 24/7) so it’s important for me to protect my moisture barrier.

How to Slug

After you’ve completed your nighttime skincare routine and applied moisturizer, take a pea sized amount of a petroleum jelly of your choice and apply it over your moisturizer. If you’ve ever used skin oil, it’s a very similar process. Although petroleum jelly might seem deeply moisturizing because it is so thick, you should not skip your moisturizer underneath. The petroleum jelly acts as a thick barrier protecting the skin from TEWL so make sure to apply that moisturizer!

It’s best to slug at nighttime while your skin is regenerating itself. If you’ve never tried slugging before, you might feel a little greasy at first. When I tried slugging for the first time, I thought it would feel greasier than it actually did. *Queue memories of my mom dousing my dry cracked hands in Aquaphor when I was a kid lol*

I personally am a night showerer so I do my skincare routine about 2 to 3 hours before bedtime. If you’re going to be slugging, I would recommend applying your skincare and slug at least an hour before bed so your petroleum jelly has time to absorb before laying on a pillow. I know many people do their skincare right before bedtime, but I actually prefer to do it earlier and wash away the dirt of the day.

Best Products for Slugging

You can use any petroleum jelly product for slugging. It can be anywhere from generic to name brand, but either way, a jar of petroleum jelly is cheap af! I personally use Vaseline as pictured, but there are lots of different options like:

–Vaseline 

–Aquaphor Healing Ointment

–CeraVe Healing Ointment

-Any generic petroleum jelly

*Pro tip: I also love using Vaseline lip therapy for my lip balm. Like I mentioned earlier, petroleum jelly doesn’t add moisture, it simply seals it in. When I use Vaseline lip therapy, I like to apply some Vitamin E oil beforehand especially at night. It’s a cheap and effective option for healing dry lips!

I hope you enjoyed a complete guide to slugging! Have you ever tried slugging or applying petroleum jelly on your skin?