Best for Baby - Fine on Floors! (Johnson's Baby Oil)

Member Name: sirg0508

Product:	Johnson's Baby Oil
Date:	16/07/05 (1102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Shines up floors, is great at keeping moisture locked into the skin

Disadvantages: can be greasy on hair, oil gets on bottle

Johnson’s has been a very successful brand for providing top quality baby products – their common quotes being “8 out of 10 midwives use Johnson’s Baby on their own children” as well as “Best for Baby”. This review will focus on the product for adults (I don’t have children) but also another use which might be useful for those for wooden floors… read on!

So what is it?
The product itself is clear oil with quite a liquid texture... not quite as runny as water but one drop will run. It doesn’t have that strong a smell but generally reminds me of a baby… probably because it probably is used on them!

What is its purpose?
Skin can become dry – products such as soap and even water will dry out the skin but this can be used after bathing to lock in the moisture (apparently 10 times more than other products) to help prevent this problem. The product is very gentle on the skin so should be suitable for everyone – there are only 3 ingredients listed: Paraffinum Liquidum (Liquid Paraffin?), Isopropyl Palmitate and Parfum.

Directions:
“Apply to wet skin after a bath or shower”… easy!

Application:
Now there are several ways I have tried this. One is just by applying it with bare hands. It’s quite runny so a very small amount rubbed into the palm of your hands and over the body will ensure it doesn’t drip everywhere.

As you will probably know from classes like science at school, water and oil don’t mix so what happens when you rub this onto wet skin is water droplets forming on your skin. Depending on how much you rub it, the droplets are small but tend not to dry as quickly as they would have done without the oil. This only really causes a problem when dressing quickly after – clothes will then soak up the water and any material will generally stick to the skin more than on dry skin.


Application (with gloves):
The second way I tried was so I didn’t get the oil on my hands by wearing a pair of latex gloves. Surprisingly, I didn’t find it that much easier to rub the liquid over the skin and unless there is a little pool in the palm of your hand for the liquid to go, it will go everywhere! The only real benefit of this was to stop my hands feeling greasy.


Sun dried skin:
Spending time in the sun normally dries out my skin and even applying this product onto dry skin instantly makes it look much healthier but like all the models in magazines makes my legs look nice and shiny (and not in a greasy way!).

The product claims to be absorbed quickly but even after 30 minutes from applying it onto the skin, you can run your finger along e.g. your leg and still get quite a bit of the oil on your hand. No really problem but for me, I always end up with my trousers stuck to my legs.

In Bath:
This product is great and bad to be used in the bath… why wait until getting out before applying it! The oil will stay to the surface so getting in and out will cover the skin. The only way I say this is bad is if you are washing your hair in the bath too – my hair is quite long too so is always in contact with the water – adding anything like oil is a big no no because it makes it very greasy, heaving and dull.

Depending on the fabric, the oil doesn’t tend to cause a problem but some colours such as black do pick it up more and leave a round circle (if a drop on it) which doesn’t disappear.

Problem:
The only real problem I can see with this product is using it without getting it everywhere. Although the bottle is probably as well designed as it can be, there is no easy way of pouring the liquid without it running down the lid and then the bottle which makes it very slippy and more prone to being dropped. The liquid also comes out quite quickly from the small hole in the lid so if it isn’t tipped back upright quickly it is like trying to keep water from trickling through your fingers – very hard!



**Other use!**
I saw this on a programme and tried it myself only to find it was a really good tip! If you have wooden floors but they tend to look dull and not very shiny, add a TEASPOON (not tablespoon!) of baby oil to a bucket of water. Put the mop in and swish it about a bit and then just clean the floor. When left to dry, the oil shines up the wood giving it a nicer appearance. The reason I also say no bigger than a teaspoon is too much will make the floor slippy which will then be quite dangerous.

The price of this oil is only £1.89 for 300ml which compared to moisturisers which don’t work quite so well is a huge bargain. Only a little is needed and even from having this product for several months, I have only used a quarter of the bottle. I can’t see that many faults with the oil – it is great at keeping the moisture in and works well at shining up wooden floors. The design of the bottle is really good with its curved shape so it is easy to hold even if the oil does get all over it – this is a problem. It can be used in the bath but with my experience having longish hair, it will make it greasy and you’d probably spend as much time again trying to wash it out.

4/5 stars.

Summary: Great product, works well, few faults