Day 353 - Refresh Citrus Body Wash (with Vitamin C)

Remember when I tried Trader Joe’s “Nourish” shampoo back in November??  shampoo review here  It was amazing and such a pleasant surprise!  I loved it.

So I was really looking forward to using this “Refresh” Body Wash.  The label extolled so many virtues that I could barely contain myself! 

·         “With our unique aroma-therapeutic blend of orange blossoms and grapefruit”

o   Ahhhh, that must mean it is gonna smell INCREDIBLE! 

·         “More than just a body wash, this cleansing formula was developed to nourish and moisturize, leaving your skin tingly clean and silky smooth.”

o   TINGLY CLEAN???  I am in!

·         “This citrus blend is sure to energize you on even your most tired of days.”

o   Helllll-o, who doesn’t need energizing every now and then??

Trader Joe's Refresh Body Wash

So I tried it.  And took the most carefully staged photos of this year long project.  J  I wanted you to see the product in action, mind you, but I didn’t want you to see the USER, if you know what I mean…

Body wash on pouf - here we go!

We are in Florida for the holidays and our house here has an outdoor shower in the backyard.  It is nothing fancy, but it is a greeeeeat place to shower.  Look, here is my view while I wash!!

View from the outdoor shower.  Note:  shower was not ON when I took this photo.  :)  Didn't want to break my camera!

I always beg David not to trim the trees in the backyard too much, cuz I want it to stay private and “enclosed” and greeeeen.  This panorama photo of my shower view also shows 2 of our pride and joys – TRIXIE, the magical fruit cocktail tree we planted this summer who surprised us when we got here this week by having not only BLOSSOMS but A REAL LIVE PIECE OF FRUIT (which I think is a Meyer lemon, my favorite kind of lemon that you can get at TJ’s if you do not have one in your backyard and was reviewed in this blog here ), and you can also see AVA, the avocado tree (not yet giving avocados, she may be barren…) that we grew from a pit and is now taller than me!!

Ava - grown from an AVOCADO PIT - it is working - she is turning into a real tree!!

David and TRIXIE, the Magical Fruit Cocktail Tree.  She is going to actually produce real live citrus fruit!

Trixie blooms

A bee pollinating some of Trixie's blooms.  Lovely!  Nature in action.

FIRST EVER CITRUS FRUIT GROWN BY US!

Teeny tiny fruit-to-be s.

You can see photos of Trixie when we first got here and she apeared in this blog here.  My has she grown!!!

Anyway, let’s look at the product:  I didn’t fall in love with this body wash.  From all the hype on the label, I thought it would smell FABULOUUUUUUS.  In truth, it doesn’t “smell” nearly enough (for me anyway).  It is just sorta slightly citrus, but no “bam” scent.  The NAMES of the scents sound incredible, the label lists:  sweet orange blossoms, succulent pink grapefruit, herbal extracts of chamomile, ginseng, ginger, Echinacea, pure jojoba oil, vitamin b 5.  I mean, all of those scents sound like they if they were poured upon my shower pouf and rubbed into my skin I would float away on a olfactory voyage.  But, alas, it just sorta smells vaguely citrusy.  I don't like my body wash to make me SMELL after I use it, I might want to put on perfume and I don't want my soap scent to compete with that.  But I like it to have some scent as I lather up.  

Not too smelly (as in, not quite enough smelly)

And it didn’t bubble up as much as I would like, either.  It just sort of bubbles instead of BUBBLING!!!  Do you get my drift? 

And not many bubbles, either...

The good stuff about it is it cleans my skin.  It is not tested on animals.  It is quite cheap.  And I presume it is good for my skin, too.  oh, and it’s not expensive.

As for scents, I will continue to go out every day and sniff the citrus blooms on Trixie (the magical fruit cocktail tree) and keep wishing there was a way to bottle that glorious scent and bring it home with me. 

As far as this body wash, I don’t love it like I did TJ’s shampoo.  But I don’t hate it.  I guess I just expected more.  But, like they say in the movie “Babe”, “It’ll do, pig.”

If it made more bubbles and had more scent, I wonder if they would up the price?

Price – $2.99

Rating - 3

Day 317 - Nourish Spa Shampoo

I tried to go into testing this product with an open mind, but I must admit, I sort of expected to not like it.  My experiences with Trader Joe’s toiletry items have been, welllll, let’s just say “hit or miss” (does anyone remember Head to Toe Moisturizing Balm way back on day 89???? ( tragic review here ).  But a friend told she really likes this Nourish Spa Shampoo, and I ran out of my other shampoo, so I thought, “What the heck??!!” and picked up a bottle.

What the heck!  Why not try it??  It is day 317 of 365, it is basically now or never!

There are a few of things I need to point out before I review the shampoo:

1.       The friend who recommended it to me has very different hair than I do.  She is African American.  I don’t know much about hair other than what is on my head, but I DO know that many stores have separate hair product shelves for Caucasian hair and African American hair…  So when she recommended this for me, part of me thought, “Joi are you NUTS?” and the other part of me thought, “Joi, this could be hilarious!” but no part of me really thought, “Oh great!  A shampoo that works perfectly for JOI will also work perfectly for ME!”…

This is ME.  

This is JOI.  She loves pageants. 

2.       I am NOT picky about my shampoo.  My last bottle took me an eternity to get through cuz I got a great deal on what seemed like the world’s biggest bottle of shampoo at BJ’s (which is like Sam’s Club or Costco).  It was some Herbal Essence crap.  I am also not above using the tiny hotel shampoos when I travel.  Don’t judge. 

3.       I have horrible hair.  It is the thinnest, most fine hair you can imagine (and no, in this use I do NOT mean “fine” as in, “Oh I hope Joe wins Survivor this season – he is so fiiiine…” I mean “fine” as in “Wow, you can’t even get a barrette or bobby pin to stay in your hair without slipping out because it is so F-I-N-E…” fine.  I have always had this crappy hair.  Look, even when I was a KID I had bad hair.  Oh sure, my Toni Tenille hairdo was amazing, and my pig tails that each contained about 5 hairs really rocked, but still…  Again, don’t judge.

Age 6, with the Santa I played with every Chrsitmas.  I thought my hair looked soooooo pretty in curled pig tails.  

Rockin' my Toni Tennille 'do and stylish high waisted pants by my friend Monica's
flocked Christmas tree that I coveted every year

4.       My stylist recently moved.  And I do not mean “moved to another salon” I mean MOVED FROM ONE COAST TO THE OTHER.  Rhiannon abandoned me.  And my hair looks horrible right now!  It is so shaggy.  And it is all her fault!  I neeeeed her.  What’s a girl to do??  Sigh.  Anyway, I mention her here because I want you to see how gorgeous HER hair is.  She has, in my opinion, perfect hair.  It doesn’t even matter what color she makes it – it is always amazing.  Plus, she is nice.  Damn you Rhi, why did you have to MOVE?

Isn't her hair AMAZING?  And, like, the opposite of mine. Sigh

CAPTIVATING

5

5.       I once shaved off my hair.  My mom had colon cancer and was going through chemo that made her hair fall out.  So 3 of us in the family shaved our hair in solidarity.  And you know what?  I had no idea how liberating that experience would be.  I loved it.  If you have ever considered it and not done it, go for it.  Trust me on this one – it is sorta life changing.

David and I after shaving - Kansas City

6.       And finally, my last “hair point” before I review this shampoo, I really like short hair.  Once a niece or nephew (I can’t remember who) asked very genuinely, “Aunt Susan, why do you have hair like a BOY?”.  The question didn’t hurt my feelings or offend me.  I loved that it was a teaching moment.  I DO NOT HAVE HAIR LIKE A BOY.  Because there isn’t “boy hair” and “girl hair”, just like there aren’t “boy toys” and “girl toys” or “male jobs” and “female jobs”.  There is HAIR (and no hair!).  I have hair.  I was glad to be able to model that to that child.

Ok enough hair talk – onto Trader Joe’s NOURISH SPA SHAMPOO.

Look, it's cheap!

Guess what?  I LIKE IT!!!  It really makes my hair feel clean and shiny.  It is not overly scented, though it does have a slight scent that I cannot figure out what it is.  (Note – David, who normally doesn’t even notice smells, noticed the scent of this when he tried it and he didn’t like it.  But his opinion will not be counted in this review J ).

Simple bottle, good shampoo (NOTE - I think the packaging may have changed a bit recently but it is till the same shampoo)

The bottle says “balanced moisturizing, safe for color treated hair, contains argan oil to smooth and shine, and enriched with botanticals”.  It does not contain laurel/laureth sulfates.  The conditioner I am currently using also has argan oil, and the combination of the two is making my hair super shiny these days!

TJ's Nourish Spa Shampoo in action!  It doesn't bubble up all that much, but it makes my hair feel clean!

This shampoo is not tested on animals, which is cool.  And it is super cheap, especially when compared to salon brands (sorry Rhi!).  I often buy styling products at the salon but usually pick up shampoo other places.

Overall, this is a GOOD SHAMPOO.  It cleans, doesn’t dry my hair, makes it shiny, and is cheap!  OH YAH! 

Now, I have asked my friend Joi who recommended this product to me to do a guest review, and here is what she said:

“When I decided to go with my natural hair in the spring of 2012, I opted to use only non-alcohol based products.  Searching for these gave me a slew of options with brands that would break my wallet.  Some products I tried left my hair either dry, feeling unclean or a frizzy mess.  My biggest concerns were finding a product that was a reasonable price, sulfate free, and left my hair clean and moisturized.  While in Trader Joe’s one day I decided to try their Nourish Spa Shampoo and holy moly, it was love at first lather.  Their shampoo gets nice and sudsy, cleanly rinses from my hair and leaves it soft and tangle-free with a fresh sweet scent.  The best part thought, is the price is a whopping $2.99 a bottle, which makes the 30 minute commute to my closest Trader Joe’s worth the gas.  I usually stock up on several bottles a trip that last me 6 – 8 months.  Trader Joe’s Nourish Spa Balancing Moisturizing Shampoo is 5 out of 5 in my book.”

Well what do you know - it really IS a good shampoo for all hair types!  We both really like it.  I suspect you will like it, too, and it won't empty out your wallet.  It sure is easy to do the math and average our two scores together - we both gave this product a 5!

Price – $2.99

Rating - 5