Beyond Cookie Butter: Here’s Why You Should Be Shopping Trader Joe’s for Your Beauty Stash
Trader Joe’s: The land of insanely addictive cookie butter, everything-bagel seasonings, and other super cheap snacking treasures; though it’s hard to steer my attention away from their Speculoos cookies and bake-and-serve Mandarin Orange Chicken, I’ve recently taken notice of TJ’s other charms…their beauty and skincare products.
As a habitual beauty shopper with a serious addiction to slathering my face and body with any new lotion and potion I can find, blowing my whole paycheck at Sephora simply does not go hand-in-hand with attempting to save for a down payment and a wedding. Which is why I was so thrilled to have had my eyes opened to crazy cost-effective swaps from Trader Joe’s for some of my go-to (but $$$) everyday products. You’ll have to cruise through your local TJ’s aisles to find all these goodies as the grocer doesn’t have an e-commerce site, however, some of their best-sellers can be purchased through Amazon (for a bit of a premium).
Alas, here are 7 of my favorite products from Trader Joe’s that you can scoop up for less than $8.
French Liquid Soap, Orange Blossom Honey, $3.99
I first learned of this hand soap from one of my favorite bloggers, Emily Schuman of Cupcakes & Cashmere. It has quite a strong scent (one I like very much!), but the packaging is pretty enough to leave on the countertop. I have this in my guest bathroom and I regularly get asked about it!
Honey Mango Moisturizing Cream Shave for Men and Women, $3.49
This doesn’t foam, which surprised me at first, but if you regularly resort to using your conditioner on your legs, etc., and you’re tired of re-upping too often, this might be for you. It smells really great and leaves your skin super smooth.
Enrich Moisturizing Face Lotion, $3.99
As someone with really combination skin (I’m talking dry and flaky cheeks, oil-slick T-zone), finding a moisturizer that works for me is hard. This isn’t my favorite face lotion, but for under 4 bucks, it’s pretty great. I threw on some more SPF, since 15 doesn’t really do it for me, but other than that, I’ll keep this one around for when I’m out of my “premium” moisturizer, and don’t feel like spending big bucks to replenish.
Micellar Cleaner & Makeup Remover Towelettes, $3.99
Micellar water was a big thing last year in the beauty world. Admittedly, I never really tried it (and still haven’t), but I do love these micellar towelettes for taking off a day’s worth of makeup. I used to buy Neutrogena wipes, but these are even cheaper and work just as well. I’m a convert!
Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo, $3.99
This girl loves a good tingly shampoo…it kind of makes me think it’s working harder to break through my greasy roots. If you’re not into the astringent smell of tea tree, skip this, but I love it.
All for One/One for All Shampoo, Conditioner & Body Wash, $7.99
Okay, so I do not believe in combining shampoo and conditioner into one product, so I can’t report back to whether this works well for that purpose. My hair needs a ton of moisture not to be a frizzy, tangled mess, however, I did use this as a body wash and it reminded me of Johnson’s baby shampoo. It’s pretty gentle, and I needed some lotion after my shower, but it’s a rather large bottle for the price (32 fl. oz) and one that might save you some time and money if you’re okay with having this do its intended triple duty.
Head-to-Toe Balm, $3.99
This is basically a fix-all for anything rough on your skin. I rubbed it all over my cuticles, on my heels before bed (then I put socks on), on my lips, on my elbows. It still feels a little greasy to me (even though it says it’s not greasy), but it eventually soaks in and you’re good to go.