Eucerin is for covering a lot of dry skin. Aquaphor is for sealing cracked spots.
Eucerin Original Healing Cream and Aquaphor Healing Ointment share most of their ingredients: petrolatum, mineral oil, ceresin and lanolin alcohol. The difference is water. Eucerin mixes that base into water to make a thick cream that spreads over your arms, legs and hands. Aquaphor leaves the water out, so it stays a dense, glossy ointment that seals harder and lasts longer on the skin.
Use Eucerin as your daily body moisturizer if your skin runs very dry. Reach for Aquaphor on cracked heels, split knuckles, chapped lips and anything raw.
Which one fits your skin?
Eucerin and Aquaphor both list lanolin alcohol. If you react to lanolin, skip both.
Eucerin Original Healing Cream: the same seal, spread thinner
Two 16 oz jars of rich, fragrance-free cream.
Eucerin’s formula is seven ingredients long: water, petrolatum, mineral oil, ceresin and lanolin alcohol, plus two preservatives, phenoxyethanol and piroctone olamine. Petrolatum and mineral oil sit on the skin and slow the water loss that leaves it tight and rough. Ceresin is a wax that thickens the cream, and lanolin alcohol softens skin and helps hold the oil and water together.
Because water comes first, it feels like a thick cream rather than a grease. It spreads over large areas and settles into a soft, low-shine finish, which is why it works as a daily body moisturizer for very dry skin. It’s fragrance-free and dye-free.
Skip it if lanolin bothers you. It’s also heavy for the face if your skin runs oily.
- Spreads easily over arms, legs and hands
- Less shine and transfer than an ointment
- Short, fragrance-free formula
- Costs less per ounce than Aquaphor
- Seals less than a water-free ointment
- Contains lanolin alcohol
- Two 16 oz jars is a big buy if you’re unsure
Aquaphor Healing Ointment: a water-free seal for cracked spots
7 oz jar of 41% petrolatum ointment.
Aquaphor is an over-the-counter skin protectant with 41% petrolatum. The rest is mineral oil, ceresin and lanolin alcohol, with panthenol (vitamin B5), glycerin and bisabolol, a soothing compound found in chamomile. There’s no water, so nothing evaporates. It stays on top as a thick, glossy layer that slows water loss from the skin underneath.
That makes it the better choice for cracked heels, split knuckles, chapped lips and dry patches you want to protect overnight. It’s also labeled for minor cuts, scrapes and burns. The same thickness makes it clumsy over large areas, and it rubs off on clothes and sheets.
It’s fragrance-free and preservative-free, but it does contain lanolin alcohol.
- Water-free ointment seals in more than a cream
- Adds panthenol, glycerin and bisabolol
- Labeled skin protectant for chapped skin and minor cuts
- Fragrance- and preservative-free
- Glossy layer rubs off on clothes, sheets and keyboards
- Hard to spread over large areas
- Contains lanolin alcohol
- Costs more per ounce than Eucerin
How the cream and ointment compare
Put the two labels side by side and they look almost the same. Eucerin is water, petrolatum, mineral oil, ceresin and lanolin alcohol, plus two preservatives. Aquaphor is petrolatum (41%), mineral oil, ceresin and lanolin alcohol, plus panthenol, glycerin and bisabolol. Eucerin adds water and becomes a cream. Aquaphor leaves the water out and stays an ointment.
That one change decides where each works. Without water, Aquaphor leaves a thicker, glossier layer that stays put longer, which is what cracked heels, chapped lips and split knuckles need. Eucerin's water lets it spread thin over large areas and settle into a soft, low-shine finish, so you can put it on your legs after a shower and get dressed.
Eucerin also costs less per ounce. The two-jar pack holds 32 oz against Aquaphor's 7 oz. If you moisturize your whole body every day, that adds up. If you only treat a few spots, a 7 oz jar of Aquaphor lasts a long time.
| Daily body cream Eucerin Original Healing Cream in a Two-Pack | VS | Spot-treatment ointment Aquaphor Advanced Therapy Ointment for Dry Skin |
|---|---|---|
Cream (water first) | Format |
Ointment (no water) |
Petrolatum, mineral oil, ceresin | Base |
Petrolatum 41%, mineral oil, ceresin |
None beyond preservatives | Added extras |
Panthenol, glycerin, bisabolol |
Yes | Lanolin alcohol |
Yes |
Rich, low shine | Finish |
Thick, glossy |
2 x 16 oz jars | Size |
7 oz jar |
Lower | Cost per ounce |
Higher |
| View | View |
Moisture, fragrance and lanolin
Is Eucerin or Aquaphor more moisturizing?
Aquaphor seals in more. It’s a water-free ointment, so the whole layer is petrolatum, mineral oil and wax that slows water loss. Eucerin is water first, so part of what you apply evaporates and leaves a thinner oily film. For cracked or very dry spots, Aquaphor holds better. For daily all-over moisturizing, Eucerin is plenty.
Are both fragrance-free?
Yes. Eucerin Original Healing Cream is fragrance- and dye-free, and Aquaphor is fragrance- and preservative-free.
Does either one contain lanolin?
Both contain lanolin alcohol. Most people tolerate it well, but if you know lanolin irritates your skin, pick a lanolin-free option instead.
Can I put Aquaphor on cuts or broken skin?
Aquaphor is labeled as a skin protectant for chapped or cracked skin and minor cuts, scrapes and burns. Eucerin’s cream isn’t labeled for that use. For a deep, infected or slow-healing wound, see a doctor.
Eucerin and Aquaphor both contain lanolin alcohol. If lanolin irritates your skin, CeraVe Healing Ointment is the lanolin-free swap for Aquaphor, and Vanicream Moisturizing Cream is a lanolin-free cream in place of Eucerin.
Which one should you buy?
Choose Eucerin Original Healing Cream if you need to cover a lot of dry skin every day. It’s the same petrolatum, mineral oil and wax base as Aquaphor mixed into water, so it spreads over arms, legs and hands without a heavy shine, and the two-jar pack costs less per ounce.
Choose Aquaphor Healing Ointment for cracked, chapped or raw spots. It has no water, so it sits on top as a thicker seal, and it adds panthenol, glycerin and bisabolol. Use it on lips, knuckles, heels and anywhere you want protection overnight.
Plenty of people keep both: Eucerin for the body after a shower, Aquaphor for the trouble spots. If lanolin bothers your skin, skip both, since each contains lanolin alcohol.
