Products · Personal care · Vanicream
Vanicream Moisturizing Cream
Reader ratings
A plain, fragrance-free cream with ten listed ingredients and the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance. It is built on petrolatum, with PEG compounds and propylene glycol. Older stock lists BHT, which Vanicream says it removed.
Best for Anyone who wants an inexpensive, fragrance-free moisturizer for body, hands and face, and is comfortable with petrolatum.
- Our quality rating
- Good (4 of 5)
- Price range
- Budget
- Verified marks
- National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance
- Size
- 16 oz pump bottle (also sold as a 16 oz tub and in 4 oz and 2 oz tubes)
approx. $13.59 for a 16 oz pump bottle
See it on Vanicream’s site →We are not affiliated with Vanicream. This link goes to the maker’s own page, with no tracking code. How we're funded.
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Your review
Reviews are personal experiences, not research, and they never change our quality ratings. Every review is read by our team before it appears.
How we evaluated it
Why we chose it What put it on our list
- The National Eczema Association’s product directory lists it with the Seal of Acceptance. Its listing is in the directory’s search results, though the product’s own page there returned an error when we opened it.
- Vanicream’s page lists ten ingredients: water, petrolatum, sorbitol, cetearyl alcohol, propylene glycol, ceteareth-20, simethicone, glyceryl stearate, PEG-30 stearate and sorbic acid.
- No fragrance, masking fragrance or botanical extracts. Vanicream’s FAQ says the cream is “free of fragrance and masking fragrances”, and the list names none.
- About $0.85 an ounce at Target for the 16 oz pump.
Trade-offs What to weigh before you buy
- The oily base is petrolatum, a petroleum product. Our petroleum jelly guide says plain petrolatum is likely safe, and that no moisturizer type is reliably better for eczema. If you would rather avoid petroleum products, this is not the cream for you.
- It contains two ethoxylated (PEG-type) ingredients, ceteareth-20 and PEG-30 stearate, plus propylene glycol and simethicone. None is on our avoid list, but it is not a “natural” formula.
- Which formula is on the shelf is unclear. Vanicream’s page lists ten ingredients, but its FAQ still says eleven, and Target’s label info lists BHT as the eleventh. Target’s Q&A says the formula was updated to remove BHT. Check your bottle.
- No EWG Verified or MADE SAFE listing: MADE SAFE’s index and EWG’s Verified directory have no Vanicream entries. The National Eczema Association’s Seal is a different review.
What to know Details worth knowing first
Our guide to eczema management says that using a moisturizer every day matters more than which one you pick, and our guide to petroleum jelly covers the main ingredient here. This cream is plain: ten ingredients, no fragrance, no botanical extracts, and a listing from the National Eczema Association.
Vanicream is made by Pharmaceutical Specialties, Inc., in Rochester, Minnesota, which says it has made products for sensitive skin since 1975.
Two things keep it from a higher score. It has no EWG Verified or MADE SAFE listing, and the formula is not fully settled: Vanicream says it dropped BHT, yet some retail listings still show it. For which personal care ingredients are worth checking, see hidden chemicals.
Quality & testing How it measures up against our checklist
- Tested by
- National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance (directory search we opened)
| What we checked | What we found |
|---|---|
| Every ingredient listed Maker’s claim | Ten ingredients on Vanicream’s page. Target’s label info lists the same ten plus BHT. |
| Independent screening Verified | The National Eczema Association’s directory search lists “Vanicream Moisturizing Cream”. The product’s own page there returned a 404 when we opened it. This is not EWG Verified or MADE SAFE. |
| Fragrance-free Maker’s claim | Vanicream’s FAQ says it is free of fragrance and masking fragrances. The ingredient list shows none. |
| Short formula Maker’s claim | Ten ingredients (eleven in the older version with BHT). |
What the labels mean
- Verified We opened an independent record that confirms it: a certifier’s listing, a regulator’s list or a lab report. It is linked under Sources.
- Maker’s claim The maker says so on its own page or label. We read it but found no independent record.
- Not verified We looked and could not confirm it, or the maker does not say. Treat it as unknown.
Sources Where our facts come from
- Vanicream Moisturizing Cream product page. Maker’s page. Open ↗
- National Eczema Association product directory, search for “vanicream”. Certifier or regulator listing. Shows “Vanicream Moisturizing Cream” among eight Vanicream products. Open ↗
- Target listing: Vanicream Moisturizing Cream with Pump, 16 oz. Independent source. Price, and a label ingredient list that includes BHT. Open ↗
- EWG Verified directory: search for “Vanicream”. Certifier or regulator listing. Returns no Vanicream products. EWG blocks automated fetches, so we read it in a browser on 2026-10-22. Open ↗
Where to buy Other stores and the prices we saw
- Target (16 oz with pump) approx. $13.59. Target’s label info for this listing still shows BHT; see the tradeoffs.
- Target (16 oz tub, no pump) approx. $13.19
Prices as we saw them on October 22, 2026. They change often. These links carry no tracking code and earn us nothing.
Alternatives Other options to compare
- A plain tallow balm For people who avoid petrolatum. Our tallow guide says there is no head-to-head evidence that tallow beats other moisturizers, and the tallow balms we looked at have no independent screening.
- Vanicream Moisturizing Lotion A lighter version of the same cream, also listed by the National Eczema Association.