Jonhson & Johnson Now Caters To African Babies - Will You Be Buying?

I remember when Johnson & Johnson’s products were carrying the swing.  Their marketing was so good that our parents would almost surely have at least one of their products on the dresser. That baby oil life! The thing is, as good as the marketing was, it wasn’t geared towards just black folks. In fact, there was always a rose cheeked white baby on it.

Regardless if this we patronized them anyway because there just weren’t many options on the market geared specifically at our black kinks and coils. Up to three years ago when I was seeking products for my daughter, their No Tears formula wasn’t “for us” in the true sense.

But yes, we trusted them because they have been around for a while and their tagline “Trusted by mom’s all around the world” had us believing in their products. Of course that’s before we found out their products were chucked full of toxins and they had to make a public statement promising to clean up their products.

Since then they have been trying to regain our trust and now with the growing awareness of Afro haircare and the growing demand for products that are specifically for us, the Johnson’s Baby Soft & Shiny Line was born.

I first became aware of it when I saw it in my news feed on Facebook after Trudy of 4CHairChics posted a video in her HairTalk. You know how these companies usually get when they’re just diversifying to get a piece of the black market; how they usually opt for a lighter toned or mixed colored person to be the face?

Well in this video there was no mistaking that mom and baby were black. I’m talking a rich dark chocolate  tone and not the type with mixed hair either  but the type with a mass of undefined curls.

The line was launched in South Africa recently after sending the products to bloggers like Tendayi of Africanhairblog in April of last year.

Since it is relatively new on the market there is hardly any information about it but after combing the web I was able to come up with a few morsels.

Now I know that since the new knowledge about our hair many of us curlies think it best not to shampoo baby’s hair much less have a whole line of products. The thing is that some of our little munchkins have lots of hair that we’ve been piling products onto to keep the hair moisturized so we will need a cleanser.

The line boasts three products inclusive of a leave-in. They are the Johnson’s Baby Soft & Shiny Shampoo, Johnson’s Baby Soft & Shiny Conditioner and Johnson’s Baby Soft & Shiny Easy Comb Through Spray.

I must admit the packaging boasts inviting colors and clever marketing like this:

Johnson’s Baby soft and shiny is a 3 step routine that cleanses, moisturizes and makes combing those tight curls easier.

Ooh! So right from the word go we are made to feel that this product is made for us; see the use of the phrase “tight curls?

The product packaging goes on to explain the three steps that should be followed to “make every hair wash a bonding moment that brings mom and child closer together” (and who doesn’t want that right?)

As for the ingredients I was only able to find that the shampoo is fortified with Pro-vitamin B5, glycerine* and mineral oil (No doubt that mineral oil just turned some of you off). All three products have in glycerine* and of course their ‘no tears formula’.

Though I wasn’t privy to the complete label listing the ingredients, I sure do hope that there are tons of wholesome natural ingredients minus the toxins in the line plus the products that will follow. You’d think that the natural hair movement would have given them some insight on what ingredients get a tick on a curly girl’s list and for most of us, mineral oil* isn’t it.

I mean think about Johnson’s, who wants to lay the foundation for munchkin’s hair with petroleum by-products when there are loads of natural oils*? I get it though, mineral oil is cheap since they have lots of it already.

I would probably be more enticed if it read more like the original Johnson’s Baby Soft & Shiny Shampoo that read like this:

Johnson’s Baby Soft & Shiny Shampoo gives hair extra softness with enriched conditioners, honey*, and wheatgerm essences. This classic No More Tears formula rinses quickly and easily and leaves hair smelling fresh and looking beautifully healthy and shiny. It is hypoallergenic and is ideal for everyday use.

Some of us will undoubtedly give this line a miss because of the mineral oil* or perhaps because we were once bamboozled into buying products that exposed our babies to toxins.

At the end of the day still, it’s nice to see that we’ve made enough of an impact so much so that some heavy-hitters in the haircare world have heard our voices and are making some type of attempt at least.

Whether it is an attempt to placate us so we keep buying their products is a whole other matter entirely though. You can take a look below to watch the video  for their latest Ad campaign marketing this line.

So tell us, will you be trying out this new line on your little one?