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Wellness

Aquaphor: A College Essential

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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at ODU chapter.

If I had to choose one thing to be my college essential, it would be Aquaphor. While I haven’t been a lifelong user of the popular product, I have been an avid user since I found out about it a year ago. Aquaphor has quite literally changed my life and I can’t believe I didn’t use it sooner!

A year ago, October 2022, I started Accutane to help reduce my acne. Throughout the process of Accutane, it is common for users to experience dry skin and lips, which I experienced too. As the weather outside got colder and I continued my journey of Accutane, my lips kept getting dryer and dryer. I tried multiple different chapsticks that I had lying around my dorm, but none of them helped. After multiple attempts trying different lip products to fix my chapped lips, I discussed my concerns with my dermatologist about nothing working. My dermatologist immediately recommended trying Aquaphor, which I had never heard of prior, but I was willing to give it a shot because I was desperate for anything to stop my lips from being dry. I immediately went to the store and bought some Aquaphor to try out. There were multiple types of Aquaphor to choose from such as the Aquaphor Healing Ointment, the Aquaphor Lip Repair, and the Aquaphor Lip Repair Stick. I ultimately went with the Aquaphor Healing Ointment because it seemed like it would be the best for my situation. Considering how many different lip products I had tried prior, I wasn’t sure if Aquaphor would fix my chapped lips, but I still gave it a shot.

After a few days of using the Aquaphor Healing Ointment, I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. My lips were finally hydrated and not dry or chapped anymore! I remained on Accutane for four more months, and continued to use the Aquaphor Healing Ointment throughout the rest of my journey on Accutane. Once using the Aquaphor Healing Ointment, my lips were never dry or cracked due to the product preventing moisture loss and keeping my lips hydrated. From time to time, my skin was very dry on Accutane, so I would also apply the Aquaphor Healing Ointment on my skin, which helped a lot too. If my dermatologist never recommended Aquaphor, I would’ve been stuck dealing with always having dry lips. I am so thankful Aquaphor healed my chapped lips and helped me through my journey of Accutane.

To this day, I am still an avid Aquaphor user. I constantly tell my friends how amazing of a product it is and encourage them to use it too. While I no longer need Aquaphor for dry skin and lips from Accutane, I still find ways to use Aquaphor in my everyday life. I always have a tube of Aquaphor on me at all times. I like the 1.75 oz Aquaphor Healing Ointment because it’s small and easy to bring wherever I go. I always have Aquaphor on hand, whether it’s in my backpack, by the side of my bed, or on my desk. I have even influenced my boyfriend to start using Aquaphor! He now carries a tube of the Aquaphor Healing Ointment in his bag for me to have whenever I need it.

Aquaphor is an essential to my daily college routine. As soon as I wake up, I start my morning routine with applying the Aquaphor Healing Ointment to my lips. I keep the 1.75 oz tube of Aquaphor Healing Ointment and the Aquaphor Lip Repair Stick in my backpack for easy access when I’m out and about. As a junior in college, my daily schedule tends to be extremely busy, so it’s important to me to feel put together. With the Aquaphor Healing Ointment and the Aquaphor Lip Repair Stick in my backpack, I’m easily able to reapply Aquaphor while in class, at work, or while out and about with friends. My schedule can feel overwhelming with constant assignments and tasks to finish, so my life can feel all over the place, but I can rely on Aquaphor to help me feel put together. Aquaphor always helps me feel clean and organized throughout my day.

Aquaphor doesn’t just help with dry lips and skin though, it’s also a great product to have for burns and minor cuts. The Aquaphor Healing Ointment contains Mineral Oil, Ceresin, Lanolin Alcohol, Panthenol, Glycerin, and Bisabolol, which is what makes Aquaphor so versatile to use for different occasions. As college students have kitchens in their dorm buildings or begin to move into apartments on their own, there can be incidents where they burn themselves or have minor cuts. Aquaphor is great to have for accidents while cooking, especially as a college student who might not be as experienced with cooking. I have first hand experience of Aquaphor being helpful during accidents in the kitchen. At one point while I was cooking, I accidently touched a pan that was still hot, causing my finger to slightly burn. My finger immediately started hurting because it was burnt, so I rushed to apply the Aquaphor Healing Ointment on my burn. Once applying the Aquaphor Healing Ointment on my burn, I placed a bandage over my burn. After just a day, my burn was miraculously healed. Without using Aquaphor on my minor burns, it would normally take a few days for it to heal, so I was happily surprised when the Aquaphor healed my burn within a day. 

As a college student, Aquaphor is the perfect product to have on hand due to its many uses. I believe Aquaphor should be a college essential for everyone because it’s the perfect product to help with dry lips and skin, especially as the weather begins to get colder. Aquaphor is hypoallergenic and safe for people with sensitive skin, which makes it a great product for everyone. I truly wouldn’t survive college without Aquaphor, and I will always recommend people to use it in their everyday lives too!

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Hi, I'm Caroline! I'm a marine biology major with a minor in environmental issues and management. I'm passionate about protecting the ocean, living sustainably, and creating content on social media. In my free time, I enjoy listening to music and painting.