Vaseline is just a petrolatum jelly and a lot of creams and moisturisers have this as a component. The problem with Vaseline is that it’s basically pure petrolatum and so blocks the skin completely.
You rarely want to block the skin completely. The uses some other people noted, like stopping bleeding, is one of those uses.
The truth is that I rarely recommend Vaseline because of how limited it is on skin use.
I recommend people look into Aquaphor by Eucerin, which is only about 40% petrolatum and moisturises a bit better. I always travel with a very small container (just a tiny bit) of the stuff. It’s useful if you have any skin conditions (flaked skin, rashes, etc) that you might want to deal with pronto.
Aveeno (a very good brand for skincare) also make very similar heavy creams.
Long story short, no, Vaseline is pretty bad choice for skincare because it just blocks all air exchange. There are better choices. You often do want petrolatum…just not 100%.
This might sound like an ad, but I always keep Aquaphor in my bag. I go rock climbing which gives me really dry hands and Aquaphor helps with that so much
That Eucerin makes really good stuff. They have a thick healing cream that's amazing, like supercharged moisturizer. I use it on my feet once in a while to avoid skin problems.
I feel like sometimes you want a complete block to lock in moisture. I put vaseline on over my moisturiser every night and wash off the remainder in the morning.
Also to answer OP’s question I also use it to take my makeup off.