Category: Product Reviews

Trader Joe’s Love: Recent Haul

We don’t have a Trader Joe’s super close to our home, so whenever we are on vacation and find one nearby we make it a point to go there to stock up our VRBO for the week. In addition to all the yummy foods, they also have some kickass beauty products. On our recent trip to Tucson, AZ, I got a little mini haul and loved everything, so I wanted to share it with you all.

Honey Hydration Face Mask, $7.99 (find it here)

I knew my face would be dry with all the desert air, so I picked up this face mask to try. This stuff is SO GOOD for dry skin! You massage it onto your clean face until it turns from clear to a white cream and then leave it on for 10-15 minutes. Then, you wash it off and your face is super soft and moisturized. I used this pretty much every night on our trip and it came home with me to keep using at home. It’s a pretty great deal for $8!

Cinnamon Bun Lip Mask, $5,99 (find the vanilla version here)

This is a lip mask, but in addition to putting it on before I went to sleep, I also used a little as lip gloss during the day. The cinnamon bun version tastes and smells so good and a little goes a really long way. If you see this in stores, be sure to throw one (or two) in your cart.

Daily Facial Sunscreen, SPF 40, $8.99 (find it here)

This was not a new purchase for me, as the Trader Joe’s SPF is my favorite daily face sunscreen. It is basically a dupe for the SuperGoop SPF, but way cheaper. This one is a forever buy for me.

Kringle, $9.99

I couldn’t find a link for this, but if you see these almond Kringles in the store grab one and RUN to the checkout. We picked one up our first day and it was so delicious we had to go back to the store and get another one mid-week. If you like almond and pastries, you will not regret this purchase!

Do you have any favorite Trader Joe’s products that we need to add to our list to try?

Honest Review: COSLUS Water Pick (Powerwashing for Your Teeth)

I think I had a water pick when I was a kid with braces, so it wasn’t a surprise when Jack’s orthodontist recommended one for him to help get into the crevasses. Then, my husband’s dentist suggested he get one to help improve his gum health. So, I figured it was time to jump on the train and now we’re officially a water pick family.

We have not one, but two of them in the house — one for Jack, and one that Travis and I share (with our own separate heads, obviously. We’re not gross).

This is the one that we have and love: COSLUS Water Pick

It holds a charge for a weirdly long time, does an amazing job at blasting away yuck, and my mouth has never felt so clean and healthy. Oh, and this one comes with a few different heads, so I didn’t have to buy anything extra for Travis and me to share the main unit.

A few tips if you’re starting out with a water pick:

  • Try warm water – I like it best when the water pick shoots warm water into my teeth and gums, rather than colder water that can make my teeth hurt.
  • Try it in the shower if you’re messy – Jack uses his water pick while he’s in the shower because I don’t trust a teenager not to end up with water on the ceiling. Fun fact: Travis actually sprayed it on the ceiling recently when he turned it on to check the setting… so maybe I need to make an ‘only in the shower’ rule for him too!
  • Start on the Soft setting – It’s normal that it feels ouchy and uncomfortable the first day or two, so be sure to start on the Soft setting for a slow introduction. After 2 nights of ramping up, it didn’t bother me at all.
  • Stay consistent – I shoot (haha) for every night but probably end up using it 5 out of 7 nights each week. Still a HUGE improvement!

Bottom line: the COSLUS Water Pick delivers. Type-A me is actually looking forward to my next dentist appointment. Do you think they’ll give me a gold star?

Disclaimer: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Lululemon Align Joggers: Thoughts on the Amazon Dupe

A couple years ago, I stumbled across a pair of Lululemon Align joggers at a consignment shop. They were a size 8, and I typically wear a 12-ish, but I decided to take a chance because… Lululemon. And you know what? SO GOOD.

I am obsessed with these joggers. The fabric is buttery soft, stretchy in all the right ways, and super flattering on my booty. Because they are a size or two smaller than my normal size, they fit like a hybrid of a legging/jogger, which I really like. Even after a couple years of wearing and washing, they still look brand new.

I’m about to retire a pair of my Athleta joggers that have been in heavy rotation since 2020 and thought maybe I’d grab another pair of the Lululemon’s, since I like them so much. But when I saw the price tag on the Lululemon website ($118 for joggers?!). I had to pause. I mean, I love them… but do I love them $118 worth?

So, I did what any thrifty person would do and went on a mission for a dupe. My googling research led me to a highly rated pair on Amazon from The Gym People. They looked really similar in photos, cost $29.99 and were rated 4.3 out of over 26,000 ratings, so I figured it was worth a try.

I ordered my usual size, a large, and waited for magic.

Spoiler alert: there was no magic.

The fabric was fine, but not that same second-skin softness that makes the Lululemon pair so special. The fit was terrible. The waistband wasn’t snug enough to do that nice tummy smoothing thing, but weirdly, the top elastic strip dug in whenever I’d sit down. So, it was somehow loose, but tight and uncomfortable? Impressive in a bad way.

So yeah… I’m calling this dupe a hard pass.

Very disappointing. So now I’m left with finding a pair of Align joggers on Poshmark, waiting for a Lululemon sale/promo code that takes the price a bit lower, or sucking it up and paying full price for a new pair. Unless you all know of an actual good dupe for them? If you do, let me know!

Disclaimer: This post contains a Shopstyle affiliate link and an Amazon Affiliate link. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.