Johnson's

Johnson's is an American personal-care brand best known for its baby products, including Baby Powder, Baby Oil and the "No More Tears" baby shampoo. The brand traces back to Johnson & Johnson, the New Jersey company that introduced Johnson's Baby Powder in 1893 [2]. Since the 2023 spin-off of Johnson & Johnson's consumer-health division, Johnson's has been owned by the independent, publicly traded company Kenvue Inc. [3]

Alongside the heritage baby line, the name is now also carried by an adult face and body skincare range marketed under the tagline "The power of gentle." The brand's recent history is closely tied to long-running litigation over talc in its baby powder, which led the parent company to discontinue talc-based versions and reach large legal settlements.

The corporate story begins in 1886, when three brothers — Robert Wood Johnson, James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson — founded Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey [5]. The Johnson's Baby brand itself dates to 1893, when Johnson's Baby Powder was first sold [2]. The two years are sometimes used interchangeably, but they mark different things: 1886 is the founding of the corporate parent, while 1893 is the debut of the baby brand.

The powder grew out of a customer complaint. In 1892, Dr. Frederick B. Kilmer, the company's first director of scientific affairs, responded to a physician whose patient suffered skin irritation from medicated plasters; Kilmer suggested a scented Italian talcum powder and sent a can to the doctor [2]. The product reached the market the following year. The first infant to appear on the powder's label was Mary Lea Johnson Richards, granddaughter of co-founder Robert Wood Johnson.

Through the twentieth century the brand built out a full baby-care line. Baby Cream and a gift box followed in 1921, Baby Oil in 1938 and Baby Lotion in 1942. In 1953 the company introduced its "No More Tears" baby shampoo, formulated to be mild on infants' eyes; within six months of launch, Johnson & Johnson had captured 75 percent of the baby-shampoo market [2]. Later additions included the "No More Tangles" detangling shampoo in 1971, Baby Wipes in 1980 (initially sold as Wash Cloths) and a Bedtime range in 2000.

In November 2021, Johnson & Johnson announced it would separate its consumer-health business into a standalone company, later named Kenvue. Kenvue held its initial public offering in 2023 and became an independent, publicly traded company that August, taking ownership of Johnson's Baby along with brands such as Aveeno, Neutrogena, Listerine, Band-Aid and Tylenol [3]. Kenvue is headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, having relocated from Skillman, New Jersey. Among Johnson's sister brands under Kenvue are Aveeno, Clean & Clear, Piz Buin and OGX.

The adult skincare range positions itself around gentleness. According to the company, it is "committed to skincare and helping you bring your skin to its natural best," drawing on what it describes as "100 years of expertise in caring for beautifully soft skin." The brand frames this through what it calls "The Power of Gentle movement," intended to encourage people "to make more gentle choices." On Kenvue's brand site, the products are described as "supported by science," with an emphasis on nourishing skin, and "The power of gentle" is presented as the central message of the skincare philosophy.

The brand's signature products are rooted in its baby line: Johnson's Baby Powder (1893), Baby Oil, Baby Lotion and the "No More Tears" shampoo. The adult range spans facial cleansers, moisturisers, shower gels and body care, with face products aimed at different skin types. Following the move away from talc, the brand now offers cornstarch-based powder alternatives, and the company says its reformulations removed ingredients including formaldehyde, parabens, triclosan and phthalates [2].

Johnson's baby powder became the subject of extensive litigation over alleged asbestos contamination of its talc. In October 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported finding trace asbestos in a bottle of Johnson's Baby Powder, prompting a recall [2]. In 2020, Johnson & Johnson discontinued talc-based Baby Powder in the United States and Canada in favour of a cornstarch formulation; talc versions continued to be sold in other markets until the formula was discontinued worldwide in 2023 [9].

More than 60,000 lawsuits in the United States alleged that asbestos in talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder caused ovarian cancer or mesothelioma [9]. In June 2024, the company reached a $700 million settlement with a coalition of state attorneys general over the marketing of its talc products, which required it to permanently stop the manufacture, marketing and sale of all talc powder products in the United States [6]. The same month, Johnson & Johnson proposed a broader settlement of about $6.48 billion to resolve the bulk of the remaining U.S. talc claims [9]. The litigation attaches to Johnson & Johnson and its talc subsidiary, the brand's former corporate parent; the Johnson's Baby brand transferred to Kenvue in the 2023 spin-off.

Johnson's is active and continues to sell globally as an acquired brand under Kenvue, which has owned it since the 2023 separation from Johnson & Johnson [3]. The heritage talc Baby Powder has been discontinued, while the cornstarch-based version and the adult "Power of Gentle" skincare range remain on sale. The most recent documented developments are the talc-related legal settlements of 2024 [6].