Health & Beauty | Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

Seen @ Trader Joe’s : BLOOMING MINI SKULL PLANTS, $5. For Halloween

20 Oct 2025 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, DIY, Fall Season, fresh, General, Health & Beauty, Mexican, New, News, plants, Prices, Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: #Halloween, healthy, no preservatives, plants, Products, Rave, review, Trader Joes, vegan gluten free, vegetarian

Brighten up your space with these plants for five bucks now at Trader Joe’s (limited) for Halloween (2025) DIA DE LOS MUERTOS – Day of the Dead inspired design.

Pretty cute, huh?

Seen at Trader Joe’s: MUM PLANTS (chrysanthemums)

25 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, Asian, frozen, Health & Beauty, Home Goods, New, News, organic, Pantry, plants, Prices, Products, Rave, review, seasonal, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: chrysanthemums, healthy, live, mums, no preservatives, plants, pot, Products, Trader Joes, vegetarian

I got one of these lovely yellow live Mums live potten plant for my wife yesterday. They looked super healthy. These cost only five bucks, not a bad deal at all.

Mums are pretty hardy. If indoors, they need a good window that gets some good sun for about 6 hours. Keep them a bit moist.

Trader Joe’s Chrysanthemum Plants $4.99 (summer 2025)

PLANT CARE: Caring for mums (chrysanthemums) involves providing them with proper sunlight, water, and soil conditions, as well as occasional fertilization and deadheading. Mums are generally low-maintenance but thrive with a few key care practices. Mums need at least six hours of direct sunlight per day to bloom well. Choose a location that receives ample sunlight, whether in the garden or on a patio. For potted mums, ensure they get enough light, but avoid intense midday sun which can fade blooms. Watering: Mums prefer moist but not waterlogged soil. Water regularly, especially during dry spells, ensuring the soil is kept moist but not soggy. Potted mums may need more frequent watering than those in the ground. Deadheading: Remove spent blooms (deadheading) to encourage more flowering and keep the plant looking tidy. Simply pinch or cut off the faded flower heads.

Two Trader Joe’s Must Buy Summer Items

23 Jun 2025 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, Health & Beauty, Home Goods, Prices, Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: cool off, heath and body, hot, product, Products, review, summer, sweaty, Trader Joes

At this time of year I have one or two Must Buy items that I need to make sure are in the bathroom.

At the risk of repeating myself, my Must Have things to have in our bathroom in summer are:

Trader Joe’s CASTILE PEPPERMINT SOAP as well as the TEA TREE TINGLE BODYWASH SOAP.

For me, it’s just a necessity to have these in our bathroom for when it’s just Too Hot. For shower think Tea Tree Tingle soap. Using this in the shower really cools you off.

The castile peppermint soap is instantly cooling and refreshing (though you have to be careful around your eyes and around sensitive body parts). Useful for all kinds of cleaning tasks, say for doing laundry, adding a capful of it to your regular soap will help make even sweaty gym clothes smell clean and fresh.

This $6 Trader Joe product is saving my sanity this Summer!

02 Aug 2024 1 Comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, General, Health & Beauty, Home Goods, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: cool off, hot, how to, summer, sweat, sweaty, weather

This is a public service announcement.

As many of us are unfortunately aware this summer has been particularly hot, even brutal in some places, especially in the West/SouthWest.

One product from Trader Joe’s is saving my sanity, and it may save yours. I am talking about the super minty fresh PEPPERMINT CASTILE SOAP which goes for six bucks for a 16 oz. bottle.

Seriously, coming in all hot and sweaty from outside I generally immediately jump in the shower, turn on the cold water, and put a squirt of this soap on a shower poof. The mint smell hits you instantly and that starts to cool you, as you lather up all over with the minty suds. You get a tingly sensation on your skin that refreshes you. Mentally it starts to get your brain to some cool place. In seconds you feel better, and when you are done you are so fresh and clean.

I can jump in the shower whenever I start to feel hot and repeat this process as often as I feel like it which can be many times a day.

If you have never tried this soap, I can not urge you enough to try this great soap out to save your sanity too. I promise you that you will feel better instantly after you use it.

I am not kidding, it may be the best six bucks you have ever spent. And yes, this stuff is basically a clone of Dr. Bronner’s which is even more intense mint wise, but is more expensive.

The 16 oz bottle does last too, as you just need a little squirt of it to produce a ton of minty fresh body wash lather. Its great for so many things too like laundry. I put a squirt on my sweaty gym stuff.

Equally good is their Tea Tree Body Wash

Trader Joe’s UNSCENTED DEODORANT

28 Mar 2024 11 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, DIY, General, Health & Beauty, Home Goods, New, News, organic, Pantry, Prices, Products, review, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update Tags: health and beauty, no preservatives, Products, Trader Joes

New Item (Feb/Mar 2024) For years Trader Joe’s has carried the TOM’S OF MAINE deodorant and that’s what I’ve bought. I have found it fine. Like all of TOM’S stuff its good and Trader Joe’s carries a few TOM’S items as well for example their toothpaste, also good!

TOM’S is one of those rare brands Trader Joe’s actually sells under the original name and not re-brand it as their own.

Recently I saw this in the New Items section – TRADER JOE’S UNSCENTED DEODORANT which comes in a round cardboard tube and thought I should check it out for review.

First this is not oval like all other deodorants we’ve tried before? This one is Round…interesting!

To use it, you just twist the cardboard tube which will raise the round stick up. The first ingredient listed here, is Coconut Oil so that’s what it smells lightly of, the natural aroma as this is Unscented and has no strong aroma. As a deodorant it seems to work fine.

One thing about this I do find odd, as unlike almost any deodorant you or I’ve ever tried before, this one is actually a bit hard to apply. The stick is a bit solid and doesn’t melt instantly under your arms. You have to rub it a bit to get it on. This doesnt go on as easy as say the TOM’S stick which applies easily. A minor gripe but still. Just so you know.

It is coconut oil and even my jar of TJ’s coconut oil can change from a clear liquid oil to solid white mass depending on how warm the room is. If its warm enough it liquefies, it its cold it hardens to solid. But even when its in the more solid state, the coconut oil melts pretty fast in my palm at skin temp maybe with just a little rubbing in a few moments.

TIP: I’ve found out that if I just hold the stick in place under my arm for say 10 seconds or so, letting my body temp warm it, it makes it easier to apply. Do it like that and it works.

As a deodorant it seems to work quite well. Price wise the two brands cost about the same. The TOM’s has a bit more of it: 2.25 oz vs 1.8 oz here.

So I do like this new deodorant and I think I would buy it again. Still I hope they will get enough customer feedback and perhaps reformulate the stuff so it melts just a little more easily (more “ozerkerite wax” perhaps in the formula or less arrowroot? 😉

PROS – Pleasant natural unscented smell (coconut oil). Works fine. One Plus: the packaging is (mostly) paper not plastic like Tom’s. Bit more eco friendly, though now I see the tube inside is plastic. So mostly paper.

CONS – A little too solid so hard to apply, a minor gripe.

UPDATE – I got it again. Seems a bit easier to apply now, so perhaps they took note! (sept ’24)

$4.99

I’m posting pix of both this and TOM’s so you can compare the ingredients:

Trader Joe’s CASTILE PEPPERMINT SOAP

07 Feb 2024 1 Comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, Blog, Changed, DIY, fresh, General, Health & Beauty, Home Goods, New, News, organic, Pantry, Prices, Products, review, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, vegetarian, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: healthy, new, no preservatives, Products, Trader Joes, vegetarian

Saw it in the NEW ITEMS section: Trader Joe’s PEPPERMINT CASTILE SOAP – “A multi purpose cleaner made with olive, coconut, hemp and jojoba oils” – “SHAMPOO, BODY WASH, BATH, HOUSEHOLD CLEANER, LAUNDRY CLEANER”

As you can see this soap is good for almost everything!

Especially if you are of a certain age when you see this blue bottle which says PEPPERMINT CASTILE SOAP it will immediately make you think of the very famous bottle of DR BRONNER’S Castile Soap, an iconic brand. Those blue bottles had a label with a ton writing on it, mostly about World Peace. Dr. Bronner;s has been around for ever (founded 1948). I love the stuff and used it forever until it got quite pricey.

Dr Bronners peppermint soap is a product I am very fond of. Its good for EVERYTHING. The peppermint Dr Bronners is so minty fresh it would make your scalp tingle if you used as shampoo. “Dilute, dilute, OK” it said on the label filled with a ton of the Dr’s writings about World Peace. Don’t get it in your eyes. So Dr. Bronner’s is one of those “old fashioned” products that is so useful and so classic it’s actually been copied at least a few times that I know of. Bed Bath Beyond had their own version of this liquid peppermint Castile soap and now Trader Joe’s has come out with their version. I’m very happy to see this.

Its made with Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Hemp Oil (!) plus has two kinds of mint.

I don’t have a bottle of the original soap right now to compare Trader Joe’s version to, but I liked this. Trader Joe’s version of the famous blue bottle of Peppermint Castile soap quite good.

It has a wonderful peppermint smell. This is trulya “multi-purpose” product that you can literally use all over the house: in the bath, in the kitchen, in the laundry, on your floors, really all over the house. A little bit of it goes a long way too. A little squirt of this soap on your hands makes a good lather and your nose will love the fresh minty smell.

BODY WASH/SHAMPOO/BATH – I put a very tiny squirt on a bath poof and just the little amount made an enormous amount of soapy lather in a few seconds. It smelled wonderful and minty fresh. It felt refreshing. Shampoo- It will make your scalp feel tingly and clean from the peppermint (make sure not to let this get in your eyes !)

LAUNDRY – I put it on a clean, washed old T shirt I use for the gym. I hand washed it in hot water with some of this soap. Wow. The water got so dirty it wasn’t funny. This is great for laundry and will make clothes smell great and refresh clothes, especially things like gym clothes or socks that might have odor.

Trader Joe’s CASTILE PEPPERMINT SOAP is $5.99 for a 16 oz bottle. For comparison Target sells Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap for $17 for a 32 oz bottle. So decent price for this quality Castile soap.

I liked this a lot. I would buy it again.

“AVOID CONTACT WITH EYES” (tip: the mint is strong so be careful getting this near your eyes)

https://www.drbronner.com/blogs/ourselves/the-dr-bronners-story

Trader Joe’s HAND & BODY CREAM

27 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in DIY, fresh, General, Health & Beauty, Home Goods, New, News, Prices, Products, Rave, review, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: body, cheap, hand cream, health and beauty, Products, Rave, review, Trader Joes

Trader Joe’s “HAND & BODY CREAM Made with Moroccan Argan Oil”

My wife said, “for the price, it’s good”. $3.99 for a 16 oz bottle.

She thought if from Sephora it would be 4 times that price.

Trader Joe’s Red Current Scented Foaming Hand Soap

11 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by promacnyc in Fall Season, General, Health & Beauty, Home Goods, New, News, Pantry, Prices, Products, spices, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ?, Xmas season Tags: #Thanksgiving, bathroom, gentle, Guests, Hands, product, Products, Rave, review, seasonal, soap, Thanksgiving, Trader Joes, xmas

Red Currant scented Foaming Hand Soap.

This is a seasonal (Fall/Christmas) item and to me it smells “Holiday, Christmas-y” but not too much over the top (you know, like a Hallmark movie?) Its a foaming soap, so as soon as you pump some out, your hands will already have tons of lather going. I liked it and I like the smell which is subtle and not too strong. My wife said she didn’t like the smell until I told her its a Xmas thing and then she changed her mind and told me it’s very nice! 8 oz. Pump bottle. $2.99

This would be nice in the “guest bathroom”.

Trader Joe’s REUSABLE SPONGE CLEANING CLOTHS

16 Oct 2023 2 Comments

by promacnyc in DIY, General, Health & Beauty, New, News, Pantry, Prices, Products, Rave, Staple, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: Cleaning, Products, Rave, review, supplies, Trader Joes

This was in NEW ITEMS. Verdict? It’s handy, handy, handy to have in the kitchen. Made of cotton and cellulose. They’re like a thin sponge. Absorbent. Reusable. “Ideal replacements for paper towels ” = Eco. We’ve used them for washing dishes, cleaning countertops, wiping cabinets. Large at about 8 inches square but just leave them like that as you can easily fold it up in half or quarters. They seem durable. They come five in a package ($4.99 so figure about a buck apiece, not too bad. Hopefully one will last at least a month or so? We’ll see. I even found another use that these are perfect for: namely using it to open a jar (one on the top and for really tricky jar, another on the bottom.

“Wife Approved” (she gave these a thumbs up. These are good and I would buy again along with TJ’s Amazing Cleaning Cloths which sell for $2.99. Those are also super handy, and when they wear out I used them for rags, floor cleaners, etc.