# Baby Cologne? Really??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 24, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320 "2007-09-24T16:10:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/1 "2007-09-24T16:10:22Z")
Everyone loves the clean baby smell. I thought the baby got it from being freshly changed and perhaps cleaned and powdered. I thought that was enough. But then I stumbled across [Johnson’s Baby Cologne](http://www.johnsonsbaby.com/product.do?id=50). JOHNSON’S® Baby Cologne A fresh fragrance made just for babies JOHNSON’S® Baby Cologne has a gentle, fresh fragrance with a pleasant combination of floral and citrus hints. It leaves your baby smelling clean and fresh. This clinically proven mild formula is alcohol free, making it just right for your baby’s delicate skin. Gentle, fresh fragrance Clinically proven mild and gentle Alcohol free and gentle on skin How to Use To give your baby a fresh scent, pour a small amount of JOHNSON’S® Baby Cologne in the palm of your hand and gently apply to your baby’s skin. When to Use Use JOHNSON’S® Baby Cologne anytime you want to give your baby a clean, fresh scent. Huh? I thought a clean baby came with a clean, fresh scent?? I won’t even get started on the multiple French companies that sell baby eau de toilette. Perhaps I am off-base here…? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/2 "2007-09-24T16:22:39Z")
Gross. Just gross. A baby is not a toilet bowl and does not need to smell like citrus (neither does a [vagina](http://jezebel.com/gossip/panty-raid/-296366.php), for what it’s worth). And this is coming from someone who doesn’t think doggie perfume is a bad idea 9as long as it’s safe, naturally). ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/3 "2007-09-24T16:25:11Z")
Seen it and thought it was absolutely ridiculous! I remember seeing a comment from someone here that there is nothing quite like the smell of sleepy baby. Sometimes I just bury my face in my daughter’s neck and breathe deeply. Why spoil that perfection with some ridiculous chemicals!!! ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/4 "2007-09-24T16:26:36Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] When to Use: Use JOHNSON’S® Baby Cologne anytime you want to give your baby a clean, fresh scent. [/quote] Psst! I know an even cheaper and easier way to give your baby a clean, fresh scent. It’s called a BATH! Sick and wrong, is my verdict, if also silly and harmless. IMO, one of the best, sweetest smells in the world is fresh clean baby (the back of a baby’s neck – mmmmm), and so the idea of squirting cologne on one is the worst sort of gilding the lily. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/5 "2007-09-24T19:49:01Z")
I heard The Wailers’ _Small Axe_ has been licensed for the promotion of pediatric body spray. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/6 "2007-09-24T20:29:43Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] Psst! I know an even cheaper and easier way to give your baby a clean, fresh scent. It’s called a BATH! Sick and wrong, is my verdict, if also silly and harmless. IMO, one of the best, sweetest smells in the world is fresh clean baby (the back of a baby’s neck – mmmmm), and so the idea of squirting cologne on one is the worst sort of gilding the lily. [/QUOTE] I second this. Babies smell great, when clean. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/7 "2007-09-24T20:37:26Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] Psst! I know an even cheaper and easier way to give your baby a clean, fresh scent. It’s called a BATH! Sick and wrong, is my verdict, if also silly and harmless. IMO, one of the best, sweetest smells in the world is fresh clean baby (the back of a baby’s neck – mmmmm), and so the idea of squirting cologne on one is the worst sort of gilding the lily. [/QUOTE] Oh holy shit, I never needed to know that Satan’s spawn are scratch and sniff. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/8 "2007-09-24T20:39:16Z")
I never knew this hatred of baby cologne existed. Cuban babies are routinely perfumed, either with talcum powder, it is hot in the tropics, or with baby cologne which smells like violets [(like this one)](http://item.express.ebay.com/Baby_Bathing-Grooming__PARA-MI-BEBE-BABY-COLOGNE-VIOLET-SCENT-MADE-IN-SPAIN_W0QQitemZ320091634103QQihZ011QQddnZBabyQQadnZBathingQ20Q26Q20GroomingQQptdiZ1101QQddiZ873QQcmdZExpressItem) . It seems the cologne comes from Spain, so it may be a cultural thing, and since the spanish-speaking population of the US is growing I think you’ll be seeing more of this in times to come. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/9 "2007-09-24T20:42:46Z")
Another vote for babies smell best just the way they are, thanks. My sister used to tell me to smell my twins’ heads, and I was all, “Uhhh, OK” until one day I was holding one and had his lovely little fuzzy head next to my cheek, and I took a good sniff, and I suddenly got it–ahhhhhh, sweet baby smell! It’s something about their skin, maybe, I don’t know, but cologne would be completely unnecessary. But then, I’m not a big fan of adult cologne, either. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/10 "2007-09-25T04:01:34Z")
In my local Albertson’s they have an entire section devoted to hispanic baby care products. There is a very, very frightening amount of baby perfumes there. I am not brave enough to have tried to smell them, not since I heard how they really make baby oil. 😛 Really, baby-smell is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/11 "2007-09-25T04:21:51Z")
**F@ck Johnson’s**. Three of my family members worked for them, but I will buy nothing, NOTHING from a company that puts lavendin oil in baby products and calls it lavender. Lavendin, for those who don’t know, is a known skin irritant and makes minor burns worse, unlike lavender essential oil. The only thing it has in common is the smell, and of course it’s cheaper, because it’s not therapeutically useful. Anyone who’d use it instead of lavender is a money-grubbing jerk who cares nothing for either babies’ health or the reputation of good herbal therapies. Oops! Who left this soap box here? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/12 "2007-09-25T08:38:53Z")
Hmm…baby cologne…give the kid a comb-over, some plaid diapers and a gold chain and he could join Britney Spear’s kids on vacation here in Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/13 "2007-09-25T09:13:38Z")
Uhm… dunnow, one of the articles that I used to bring from Spain to the US for people who’d specifically asked for it was Nenuco baby cologne. Some of them used it themselves, not on the baby. When we were kids, we used Nenuco same as we use perfums now as grown-ups, sparingly and on Big Days. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/14 "2007-09-25T10:20:26Z")
Not a fan of baby smell, here - citrus might actually be pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/15 "2007-09-25T12:56:41Z")
[QUOTE=Auntbeast] not since I heard how they really make baby oil. 😛 [/QUOTE] From babies? ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/16 "2007-09-25T12:57:41Z")
Sure, it’s demented. But how many people would consider this weird, then go wash their kid with the most fragrance-added, phthalate-assisted, long lasting scented baby wash, shampoo, and bubble bath, and then follow it up with the matching lotion? Generally, any fragrance is an added, unnecessary irritant. And they tend to come combined with dyes and plasticizers as well. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/17 "2007-09-25T13:08:44Z")
True. But at least cleansers and lotion serve a practical purpose as well. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/18 "2007-09-25T14:27:11Z")
That is just nasty. I used unscented soaps and lotions (I didn’t use much lotion) on my infants. What purpose does this serve? Baby sweat does not smell. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/19 "2007-09-25T17:12:27Z")
On the other hand, I would totally wear a perfume that smelled like a baby. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320/20 "2007-09-25T17:33:00Z")
I’ve never heard of baby perfume. How odd and, as above, gilding the lily. It’s true that some baby washes/products are scented, but there’s always an unscented one right next to it, and that’s what I’ve always bought. I don’t like smelly stuff and always buy whatever doesn’t smell. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-cologne-really/420320.md?page=2)