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All of our ingredients play a key role in making products that are 100% gentle for your baby's sensitive skin, hair, and eyes.

It's important for you to know exactly what's in the products you're choosing for your little one, so we made an ingredient glossary just for you.

Our Promise

For over 100 years, we've dedicated ourselves to understanding babies and the special nurturing that their eyes, skin, and hair require. This requires constant research, upgradation, and innovation as new information in constantly brought to light.

We use our knowledge to provide mothers with safe, clinically proven mild, and 100% gentle care products. Our products engage the senses and, when used with baby’s routines can help evoke positive emotions and ultimately enhance the loving bond between a mother and her baby.

But we don't stop there. We listen – to every concern, every thought, every apprehension expressed about our products. We monitor feedback and also conduct real-world evaluations with moms and healthcare professionals. 

You’ve told us that the trust you have in JOHNSON’S® products means going beyond the testing — that it’s more than science measuring the safety of our products. It's a responsibility we take seriously as we continue to apply our knowledge and research to bring you safe, innovative products that live up to our pure, mild, and 100% gentle care promise.

Innovation

We aim to progress with – if not before – the times when it comes to research and product innovation. In this day and age, we are constantly trying to update, and improve on existing product formulations, so your baby’s protection is never compromised.

While we are proud to be the first major organization to set and meet a public commitment, we also promise to continue making further enhancements to our baby products in step or ahead of evolving needs of parents so as to bring 100% gentle care for babies always.

After all, as a parent, you're committed to providing the very best care for your baby. And so are we.

Johnson's® continues to raise its Best For Baby™ standards to better meet the changing needs of babies, preferences of parents and to be gentler on the environment.

JOHNSON'S® reformulated to have fewer, essential
ingredients which brings 100% gentle care for your baby

Ingredients Some Common Consumer Perceptions/Questions Clinical Evidence in JOHNSON’S Products Actions
Sulfates – Cleansing Agent Is it mild enough for baby skin? Demonstrated safety profile
Removed based on preference of consumers
Dye – Colorant Can artificial ingredients be harmful to baby? Demonstrated safety profile
Removed based on preference of consumers*
Phenoxyethanol – Preservative Can it be irritating to baby skin? Demonstrated safety profile
Kept − without preservatives there is a much greater risk of microbial contamination
Fragrance Can it cause rashes or an allergic reaction on baby skin? Demonstrated safety profile
JOHNSON’S formulas were already free of known allergens, but we pushed further, keeping potential and an expanding list of allergens out of our formulas **

*Global - Except some bar soaps, most colognes and some toddler washes.
**List of fragrance allergens as identified by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety of the European Commission. 2012.

After all, we are here because children, yours and ours, are our top priority. So, please do not hesitate to contact us in case of any query. Here’s to their happy, healthy development!

Your Ingredients Questions Answered

We are here for you. You can write to us, share your photos with us, complain to us, ask us for advice–and we are here to help.  And no question is a bad question, especially when it comes to care and concern for your baby.

To get things started, here are a few questions we have received recently.

Q.What are essential oils and are they okay to use on my baby?

A.An essential oil is a thick liquid that contains the base aroma of a plant. It is used as a fragrance in many consumer products. While essential oils are natural and may sometimes be safe for adults, they also contain allergens and can be irritants to baby’s skin, so they don’t pass JOHNSON’S® safety requirements or testing. JOHNSON’S® does not support the use of essential oils in baby products.

Q.I noticed that some of the natural baby care products I was looking at in the store were different colors and sort of different textures, too. Why is that?

A.What you’re talking about is “shelf life” and it’s important because sometimes a shampoo or baby wash can sit at a store for a few weeks before you take it home and use it. The products that look separated, appear discolored, or have an unusual odor generally indicate an unwanted or unexpected ingredient interaction.  Why take the risk?  We do not recommend that you use them on your baby.

Q.I assume if something costs more it must be better and have better ingredients.  Is this true?

A.Unfortunately, cost does not necessarily mean that a product has better or safer ingredients.  At JOHNSON’S®, we believe in charging fair prices to continue to make safe products available for all moms and babies.

What questions do you have? Submit your questions here & we will get back to you with the answer.

Each of the ingredients in JOHNSON’S® products is included for a specific purpose. We use the legally required INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) nomenclature to describe each ingredient on the label, but we realize they’re not all household names. If you’re curious about what each ingredient does or why it’s included, take a look at our color coded ingredient list.

Ingredient Glossary

  • Yellow – helps cleanse skin and/or hair
  • Blue – PROVIDES FRAGRANCE TO MAKE THAT UNIQUE JOHNSON'S BABY SCENT
  • Green – helps maintain product thickness
  • Red – adds moisture to skin and hair
  • Dark Blue – helps maintain product freshness
  • Gold – helps adjust ph levels
  • Pink – helps keep the product mixed together
  • Grey – helps absorb moisture
  • A
    • Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
  • B
  • C
    • Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
    • Carbomer
    • Cetearyl Alcohol
    • Cetyl Alcohol
    • Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract
    • Citric Acid
    • Cocamidopropyl Betaine
    • Coco-Glucoside
    • Cocoglycerides
    • Copper Gluconate
  • D
    • Decyl Glucoside
    • Dimethicone
  • E
    • Ethylhexylglycerin
  • F
    • Fragrance/Parfum
  • G
    • Glycerin
    • Glyceryl Oleate
    • Glyceryl Polyacrylate
    • Glyceryl Stearate
    • Glycol Distearate
    • Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
  • H
    • Honey
    • Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides
    • Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Protein
  • I
    • Isopropyl Palmitate
  • J
  • K
  • L
    • Lauryl Glucoside
  • M
    • Magnesium Aluminum Silicate
    • Magnesium Aspartate
    • Mineral Oil
  • N
  • O
  • P
    • p-Anisic Acid
    • Panthenol
    • PEG-150 Distearate
    • PEG-150 Pentaerythrityl Tetrastearate
    • PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate
    • Phenoxyethanol
    • Polysorbate 20
    • Potassium Cetyl Phosphate
    • PPG-2 Hydroxyethyl Cocamide
  • Q
  • R
  • S
    • Silk Amino Acids
    • Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate
    • Sodium Benzoate
    • Sodium Chloride
    • Sodium Citrate
    • Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate
    • Sodium Hydroxide
    • Sodium Palm Kernelate
    • Sodium Palmate
    • Stearic Acid
    • Stearyl Alcohol
  • T
    • Talc
    • Tetrasodium EDTA
    • Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E)
  • U
  • V
  • W
    • Water
    • Wheat Protein
  • X
    • Xanthan Gum
  • Y
  • Z
    • Zea Mays (Corn) Starch
    • Zinc Gluconate

Selecting the safer preservatives

Use of preservatives may have been debated much, but they play an important role in product safety.

Think of preservatives as ingredients that prevent spoilage—just like with some foods, we need them to help keep products fresh, preventing mold or bacteria from growing in them. In fact, without some type of preservative system, you’d have to throw away your product after only a few weeks to prevent it from getting moldy or risk bacterial infection.

JOHNSON’S® takes a lot of care in figuring out the best way to preserve our products so they stay safe. There are lots of preservatives approved for use by regulatory agencies worldwide (estimated more than 60), but only a small number meet all of our strict requirements for babies.

Every preservative ingredient we use must pass a five-level safety assurance process as well as the JOHNSON’S® BEST FOR BABY Standard for safety. When selecting preservatives, we also adhere to other safety steps, including:

  • Ongoing review of the most up-to-date research and available data on preservative ingredients
  • Identifying potential factors that may have an impact on the effectiveness and safety of the product's use, including how it will be used and where it will be stored
  • Evaluating all suppliers of our ingredients to ensure they conform to our high standards for quality and safety.

Know Your Baby Science

Do you know how many colours your baby can see? Or when she can start smelling things around her? Read on to know all the science about your little one!

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Guided by our mission to create the gentlest products backed by science, and our desire to address parents’ growing needs – we’ve improved inside and out.

JOHNSON'S® Safety Promise

You made a promise to protect your baby from all harm. See how JOHNSON'S® helps you keep that commitment and provides products that uphold the best standards.

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