Vanicream vs Aquaphor: Moisturizing Cream or Healing Ointment?

Vanicream vs Aquaphor: the short answer

Pick Vanicream for an everyday face and body cream with a short free-from ingredient list, which costs $0.85 per ounce at the Target price we recorded. Pick Aquaphor for a water-free petrolatum ointment, which its Drug Facts panel labels a skin protectant, or for a lip balm.

Vanicream and Aquaphor come up in the same searches for gentle moisturizers, but their best-known products are two different kinds of product. Aquaphor Healing Ointment is an over-the-counter skin protectant: its Drug Facts panel lists petrolatum 41% as the active ingredient, and its seven-ingredient list contains no water. Vanicream Moisturizing Cream is a cream with water first and petrolatum second, built around a list of ingredients the brand leaves out.

This is a label and data comparison, not a hands-on test. Every price, ingredient list and brand claim below comes from vanicream.com, aquaphorus.com, Target and Ulta, read on September 29, 2026, across six products, three per brand.

Choose this if

• Choose Vanicream Moisturizing Cream for a free-from cream for face and body. Its current list has 10 ingredients, petrolatum sits second, and it lists no fragrance, dye, paraben or lanolin.
• Choose Aquaphor Healing Ointment if you want an ointment instead of a cream. Its Drug Facts panel names petrolatum 41% with the purpose "Skin Protectant (Ointment)," and its other six ingredients include lanolin alcohol, panthenol and glycerin.
• Choose Aquaphor Lip Repair for lips. It is the only lip product among the six, at $5.99 for 0.35 oz at Ulta's regular price.

Who makes Vanicream and who makes Aquaphor?

Vanicream is made by Pharmaceutical Specialties, Inc. (PSI) of Rochester, Minnesota, and Aquaphor belongs to Beiersdorf. Vanicream's Our Story page says the founders formed PSI in 1975, and the same page says PSI is licensed by the Minnesota State Board of Pharmacy as a pharmaceutical manufacturer. Aquaphor's US site is operated by Beiersdorf, Inc., and its terms of use describe the Aquaphor brand and trademarks as marks of Beiersdorf and its affiliates.

Both brands claim a #1 dermatologist-recommended title, for different categories. Target's Vanicream listing cites an IQVIA ProVoice survey for the 12 months ending June 2026 naming Vanicream the #1 dermatologist-recommended brand for sensitive skin, with no sample size stated. Aquaphor's Healing Ointment page calls Aquaphor the #1 dermatologist recommended brand for dry, cracked skin.

Vanicream Moisturizing Cream vs Aquaphor Healing Ointment: what is the difference?

Vanicream Moisturizing Cream is a water-based cream with petrolatum second, while Aquaphor Healing Ointment is a skin protectant ointment with petrolatum 41% as its stated active and no water on its list. The Vanicream jar is also $11.40 cheaper at checkout and holds 2 more ounces.

What the Aquaphor panel says. Aquaphor Healing Ointment is an over-the-counter drug product, so it carries a Drug Facts panel: active ingredient petrolatum (41%), purpose "Skin Protectant (Ointment)." The panel, as Target's listing for the 14 oz jar prints it, gives three uses: it temporarily protects chapped or cracked skin, helps protect from the drying effects of wind and cold weather, and temporarily protects minor cuts, scrapes and burns. Panthenol and glycerin, which Aquaphor names in its description, sit fifth and sixth on the list.

What Vanicream says about its cream. Vanicream says the cream "helps restore and maintain a normal moisture level" and calls it a minimal ingredient formula for dry and sensitive skin. The 2026 pack art says "24-HR HYDRATION Clinically Proven," but the brand publishes no sample size or study details, so treat it as a brand-reported result. Vanicream also states the cream contains no ceramides and is non-comedogenic, and the directions read: "Apply as needed to face, hands, feet, and body."

The cream's list changed recently. The product page and the 2026 packaging list 10 ingredients ending in sorbic acid, while the brand's FAQ and Target's listings still show an older 11-ingredient list that ends in BHT, so a jar on a store shelf may carry either label.

Petrolatum is the ingredient the two flagships share. A 2021 study that compared petrolatum, a petrolatum depositing body wash and a regular body wash on dry leg skin found that direct petrolatum had positive effects on stratum corneum barrier measures compared with the regular wash. It tested petrolatum as an ingredient, not either jar. If you plan to use the ointment as the last layer of a night routine, our slugging guide covers how that works.

Where Vanicream Moisturizing Lotion fits

Vanicream Moisturizing Lotion is the cream made lighter. Vanicream says the lotion starts from the cream's base and is meant for warmer months, when you may not want as heavy a moisturizer. Petrolatum stays second, propylene glycol and sorbitol trade places, and BHT is still on the list, for 11 ingredients. It costs $13.59 for 16 oz (453 g) at Target, the same as the cream.

Does Aquaphor make a cream like Vanicream's?

Yes: Aquaphor Moisturizing Cream is a water-based face and body cream, and unlike the Healing Ointment it lists no petrolatum and no lanolin. Aquaphor Moisturizing Cream is the closest Aquaphor match to Vanicream Moisturizing Cream, and it costs more: $20.99 for 16 oz at Ulta's regular price, or $1.31 per ounce against Vanicream's $0.85.

What the 9% means. Aquaphor's product page describes a "9%* Hyaluronic Acid, 3 Ceramides, Shea Butter and Glycerin-enriched formula," and its footnote says the 9% "represents a combination of 3 Ceramides, Hyaluronic Acid, Shea Butter and Glycerin." It is not 9% hyaluronic acid. Aquaphor does not break the figure down. On the list, glycerin sits second, shea butter sixth, sodium hyaluronate 15th and the three ceramides 17th to 19th of 31.

Neither Aquaphor claim in the table comes with a sample size or study details, so both are brand-reported. The brand also calls the cream hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic, and free of fragrance, parabens and dyes. For background on the moisture barrier both brands refer to, see our skin barrier guide.

Which is better for your face, Vanicream or Aquaphor?

Vanicream, because Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer is the only face-specific product among the six, at $13.99 for 3 fl oz (89 mL) at Target. Aquaphor's face option here is its Moisturizing Cream, which the brand sells for face and body.

Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer is a separate formula with no petrolatum. Its 19-ingredient list opens with water, squalane and glycerin, puts hyaluronic acid eighth, and lists five ceramides (EOP, NG, NP, AS and AP) ninth to 13th. Vanicream calls it "a rich, but lightweight lotion" that is suitable to wear under makeup, and its FAQ names sensitive, oily, dry and combination skin. The brand says the hyaluronic acid and ceramides help hydrate and retain moisture, with no test results attached.

The trade-off is price. The face tube works out to $4.65 per fluid ounce, against $0.85 per ounce for the 16 oz Vanicream jar. If you want one jar for face and body with ceramides, Aquaphor Moisturizing Cream lists three of them plus shea butter.

Which is better for lips, Aquaphor or Vanicream?

Aquaphor, by default: Aquaphor Lip Repair is the only lip product among the six, at $5.99 for 0.35 oz at Ulta's regular price. It is not a petrolatum product. The brand's list opens with octyldodecanol, C18-38 alkyl hydroxystearoyl stearate and castor seed oil, lists water eighth, and the brand page shows no Drug Facts panel, so Lip Repair is a cosmetic lip balm, not a skin protectant.

Aquaphor says Lip Repair is formulated with nourishing vitamins, shea butter and chamomile essence. The list shows tocopherol, tocopheryl acetate, sodium ascorbyl phosphate, shea butter and bisabolol, plus beeswax 16th of 19. The brand calls it "Proven to relieve dryness and soothe chapped, cracked lips," with no study details published. Ulta sells it as 0.35 oz, while the brand page's size field reads 0.34 fl oz.

Which is better for sensitive skin, Vanicream or Aquaphor?

Going by the labels, Vanicream's free-from promise checks out against all three of its lists, while Aquaphor Healing Ointment is the one product of the six that contains lanolin alcohol. None of the six lists fragrance, denatured alcohol or a named fragrance allergen.

Vanicream says it is free of "fragrance, dyes, parabens, lanolin and formaldehyde releasers," and its front labels add masking fragrance. We checked those claims against the three Vanicream lists here, and they hold: no fragrance, dye, lanolin or paraben, and none of the formaldehyde releasers the brand names on its Chemical Irritants page, which also names lanolin alcohol. The cream and lotion use sorbic acid as the preservative.

On the Aquaphor side, the brand states the Healing Ointment and Lip Repair are preservative and fragrance free. The Moisturizing Cream contains phenoxyethanol, 29th of 31, and Lip Repair contains beeswax.

If you already avoid lanolin, every product here except the Healing Ointment lists none. If you want the shortest list, the Healing Ointment has 7 ingredients to the Vanicream cream's 10. Patch-test any new product first. To see Vanicream against two more skincare brands, read CeraVe vs Vanicream and La Roche-Posay vs Vanicream.

Which is cheaper, Vanicream or Aquaphor?

Vanicream is cheaper at the prices we recorded: its 16 oz cream and lotion cost $0.85 per ounce, against $1.31 for Aquaphor Moisturizing Cream and $1.79 for Aquaphor Healing Ointment at Ulta's regular prices.

Vanicream.com lists no prices, so Vanicream prices come from Target, and Target prices vary by location. The table shows what one store's pages listed on September 29, 2026. The same day, Target pages for another store showed $16.99 to $17.79 for these three products. At $17.79, Vanicream Moisturizing Cream works out to $1.11 per ounce, still below Aquaphor Moisturizing Cream's regular $1.31.

Aquaphor prices are Ulta's regular prices. As of September 29, 2026, all three were on sale at Ulta: Healing Ointment at $18.74 ($1.34 per ounce), Moisturizing Cream at $15.74 ($0.98 per ounce) and Lip Repair at $4.49. At that sale price, Aquaphor's cream undercuts Vanicream's cream at the higher Target price, though not at the price in the table.

The 16 oz and 14 oz sizes are net weights, so those figures are per ounce of weight. The face moisturizer is priced per fluid ounce.

What we would buy

• An everyday face and body cream with a short free-from list: Vanicream Moisturizing Cream.
• The same base in a lighter lotion for warmer months: Vanicream Moisturizing Lotion.
• A face moisturizer with five ceramides and hyaluronic acid that the brand says wears under makeup: Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer.
• An ointment for chapped or cracked skin, the first use its Drug Facts panel lists: Aquaphor Healing Ointment.
• A face and body cream with ceramides, shea butter and no petrolatum: Aquaphor Moisturizing Cream, best bought on sale.
• Lips: Aquaphor Lip Repair.

Weighing Aquaphor against another ointment or cream? See Aquaphor vs Vaseline, Aquaphor vs Eucerin and Cetaphil vs Aquaphor.

Sources

• Vanicream product pages and ingredient lists for Moisturizing Cream, Moisturizing Lotion and Daily Facial Moisturizer, plus the Our Story and Chemical Irritants pages, vanicream.com, captured September 29, 2026
• Target listings for Vanicream Moisturizing Cream with pump 16 oz, Moisturizing Lotion 16 oz and Daily Facial Moisturizer 3 fl oz, including prices and the IQVIA ProVoice survey statement, target.com, captured September 29, 2026
• Aquaphor product pages and ingredient lists for Healing Ointment 14 oz, Lip Repair and Moisturizing Cream 16 oz, plus the terms of use, aquaphorus.com, captured September 29, 2026
• Ulta listings for Aquaphor Healing Ointment 14 oz, Lip Repair and Moisturizing Cream 16 oz, regular and sale prices, ulta.com, captured September 29, 2026
• Target Drug Facts data for Aquaphor Healing Ointment 14 oz, target.com, captured September 29, 2026
• Wei K et al. Effects of petrolatum, a petrolatum depositing body wash and a regular body wash on biomarkers and biophysical properties of the stratum corneum. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2021 (PMID 33336384)