- Trader Joe's has a beauty section with skin care, hair care, and body products.
INSIDER 's Caroline Aghajanian put $50 worth of its beauty products to the test for one week to see how they work.- Products featured in this video include the Tea Tree Tingle shampoo and conditioner, the Refresh citrus body wash, the micellar cleanser and makeup remover, the Tom's of Maine Original Care deodorant, the Nourish all-in-one facial cleanser, the Enrich moisturizing face lotion, the coconut body butter, the blueberry and acai facial scrub, the rich hydrating face sheet mask, and the shea butter and coconut hair serum.
Following is a transcript of the video.
Caroline Aghajanian: Beloved grocery brand Trader Joe's has several beauty products that the average shopper may have overlooked. A quick Google search shows that some swear by the chain's affordable facial moisturizers and sheet masks. I'm Caroline, and I wanted to see what all the Trader Joe's beauty hype was about. So, for one week, I swapped out all of my hair-care and skin-care products for ones I found at Trader Joe's. And I tried to keep my total purchase affordable.
Caroline: I think I have just the right amount for it to be under $100, maybe even under $50. These are all super affordable. I have my hair-care stuff, and I have my face stuff. I think we're good.
Caroline: I had a really good time at Trader Joe's, obviously, and I'm really excited to show you what I got.
Caroline: So, I have a good range of body, hair, and face. I am gonna start with the shampoo conditioner. This is their Tea Tree Tingle brand. This shampoo and conditioner has peppermint and tea tree, and it's gonna clean my hair while alleviating dry scalp, is what it says on the back.
Caroline: $2.99 for the Refresh citrus body wash. This has a blend of orange blossoms and grapefruit. It smells so good. I am also super excited to try their shea butter and coconut oil hair serum because it says it helps tame frizz and adds shine.
Caroline: The next thing on the list is natural deodorant from Tom's, which Trader Joe's sells. It says 24-hour odor protection. I am gonna test this at the gym. Test this when I'm really sweaty to see if it really works.
Caroline: When I went to buy the face wash, I really wanted to show you guys the face wash that I love, which is their Tea Tree Tingle face wash, but they were sold out. It is pictured here. This is my go-to face wash every day. It's the one thing at Trader Joe's that I've tried and I've loved, but I went with the second option, and I'm really excited actually to compare these with one another.
Caroline: The next-expensive thing is this blueberry and acai facial scrub. I can smell the blueberry just from the box. This one I'm super excited about because I really love a good exfoliant. This says use two to three times a week for best results.
Caroline: This is gonna be my lotion for the week. Summer is coming up, so I want nice smooth silky skin and hopefully coconut body butter will help me get there.
Caroline: Last but not least, I got this Enrich moisturizer, which I'm really happy that it has SPF 15 in it. I believe it is fragrance-free, and it says it's for all skin types.
Caroline: I was diligent in that I used only Trader Joe's products during the week. It can be stressful to switch up your routine if it's working for you. But, anything for beauty science.
Caroline: So, it has been a really good week using all these products. I am pleasantly surprised. I'm just gonna break it down and just get into the ratings.
Caroline: So, the shampoo and conditioner I think worked really well. The shampoo really washed my scalp and kind of made it really non-greasy and got all the gunk out. And the conditioner did what a conditioner needs to do. It really hydrated the hair. It smelled amazing, and it felt very fresh on my scalp. And also another pro of this product is that it washed out of my hair really easily so I didn't have to take a lot of time kind of getting it out of my hair. So, the cons that I have for the shampoo is that I had to reapply, probably like two or three times, I had to reapply for the bottom of my hair because I felt like I just needed more product. So I ended up using a lot more product than I normally would. Also, I dye my hair, and so I think for processed hair this isn't the best shampoo because after a week of using it I felt like it stripped a lot of my color and made my blond really brassy. So, personally, I would probably spend a little extra money getting something that is a little more hair-color friendly. But I think for a day-to-day wash, like, this works just as well as your average shampoo and conditioner for, like, many hair types. So I am going to give this a three out of five.
Caroline: I absolutely loved the Refresh body wash. I think it smells amazing, and it gave my body such a nice, fresh clean. If you love citrus, you would love the scent. My only con is that it's a little liquidy, so I ended up using a little bit more product than I normally would for a body wash. I used about one-fourth of the bottle, and this will last me another three to four weeks. And for $2.99, I am completely fine with that. And given the smell and the wash, I think I would definitely buy this again. I'm giving it a five out of five.
Caroline: Next one is the face cleaner that I was using. This is the Nourish face wash. And I was comparing it to the one that I know and love from Trader Joe's, the Tea Tree Tingle face wash. This one I think is better for sensitive skin and skin that doesn't require a lot of, like, deep cleaning. Like, if you have really dry skin or if you don't break out as much, I think would be the best face wash for you. For this one, it took me a while to get the soap out of my face, and I used a lot more water to kinda get the formula off. Personally, I'm giving this a 3.5 out of five. 'Cause I feel like it does the job and cleans your face, I personally want something a little more heavy-duty.
Caroline: The next product is the shea butter and coconut oil hair serum, and I absolutely love the product. I love the smell. It reminds me of going to the beach and sipping on a piña colada. It also works really well. I think one of the main things is that it helps tame frizz, and I had a lot of frizz in my hair throughout the week. And I think it really did a good job kind of defrizzing. For the price, $3.99, I think it is a good alternative to a lot of the expensive brands and hair-care treatments on the market. For me, I think it worked really well, so I'm giving this a 4.5 out of five.
Caroline: I was really looking forward to using this blueberry and acai facial scrub. I really love a deep exfoliant. I don't think this one delivered as well as I thought it would. I'm someone who loves fragrance and loves scented things, and this one was a little too overwhelming for me. Also, I don't think it exfoliated well enough, especially around my nose. And it didn't really get into the pores. So I am giving this a 2.5 out of five.
Caroline: So, next one is the coconut body butter, and it is so sweet. This literally feels and smells like frosting. So if you don't like sweet scents, you won't love this. It's a really good deep moisturizer. I think it's something that I would use, like, maybe three times a week. And I think this is a product that is best used at night so it can kinda, like, really sink into your skin and really hydrate your skin. I'm gonna continue using this product. I'm giving it a five out of five.
Caroline: A lot of times when I use makeup-removing towelettes, they end up breaking out my face. But this one didn't break out my face, it smelled really nice, I'm giving it a 4.5 out of five. Only because I did have to put in a little extra work to get, like, my waterproof makeup off. But other than that, it works great.
Caroline: This product is really good because it didn't stain my clothes and it didn't leave, like, deodorant chunks on my armpits, which I hate. There's some days that I really did find myself, like, stinking up a bit, but it wasn't terrible. Like, I can get through the day. And there's some days that I didn't notice any difference at all. So, because I'm still in the middle with this product, I'm giving it a 3.5 out of five
Caroline: Another product that I used this week are the face sheet masks. I used it twice this week. And the cons for the product are that it is very watery and it kinda, like, drips as you're putting it on. And the first time I used it, it had a little bit of trouble, like, staying on my face. So throughout the 20 minutes I really had to adjust the face mask, and I didn't love doing that. And also, for the first five to 10 seconds, it kinda stung a little bit on my face, but that went away. And the pros is that the minute I removed it, I instantly saw, like, very brightening, hydrating benefits. My skin felt really moisturized and really fresh. And so I liked the results. I don't love it, I don't hate it. But I'm gonna give it, like, a 3.5 out of five. I will definitely use it again, but it's not the best face mask out there.
Caroline: And, last but not least, I have my favorite product out of everything: it is the Enrich moisturizing face lotion. I absolutely loved this product. What I love the most is that it has SPF 15 and that it didn't really grease up my face. Like, a lot of times, moisturizers with SPF makes my face feel really greasy throughout the day. But this stayed on really well, it wasn't really too oily, so for a moisturizer that's $3.99 that has SPF that's non-greasy, I absolutely fell in love with this product. It's my favorite.