I Finally Tried Trader Joe’s Most Popular Bath Product (It’s a Dupe for a $50 Version)
My affinity for Trader Joe’s is well-documented. I buy groceries there, I buy skincare products there, I even go on dates there. And now I have a new non-edible Trader Joe’s product to fuss over: the Brazil Nut Body Butter. Each year, the grocery store releases a Customer Choice Awards roundup of shoppers’ hands-down favorite products, and the 2023 annual winners recently dropped.
In the snack category, the Chili & Lime Flavored Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips were, unsurprisingly, still in first place, while the humble banana took home the trophy for the produce category. The truth is, though, I already know what groceries I’m putting in my basket when I go to Trader Joe’s. What I was really interested in clocking was the “Bath, Body & Home” category and, lo and behold, the winner was the Brazil Nut Body Butter.
“This summertime product kicked off the Brazil Nut craze in our stores. Now, its mega-moisturizing power and salted-caramel & pistachio scent have made it number one in our ‘do-not-eat’ category!” reads the site’s winning blurb. Unfortunately, the product is marked by a “limited” flag on the Trader Joe’s website, which means it’s not currently on shelves. But given the way shoppers sprinted to stores for this lotion over the summer, it’s likely to be back when the warm weather returns, as it has done since it first hit shelves in 2021.
Lucky for me, I did pick up a tub of this body butter over the summer, and can attest that although the product is inedible, it smells delicious — sweet and sunshiney. For an 8-ounce container, it lasted a surprisingly long time, but for $6 a pop you could easily use a more generous amount and then buy another. Although it’s not the most moisturizing body lotion I’ve ever used, the texture is thick and it is packed with nourishing ingredients like coconut oil, shea butter, and Brazil nut seed oil.
Brazilian Bum Bum Visibly Firming Refillable Body Cream
Although sadly you won’t currently find the body butter on shelves, if smelling like you’re on the beach is what you need to get through the winter, it’s allegedly a dupe for the Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream. “It’s a solid dupe and for a FRACTION of the price it can’t be beat,” says one Reddit user who has bought both products. Springing for the Sol de Janeiro cream will cost you a good bit more — while the TJ’s Brazil Nut Body Butter goes for $5.99 for 8 ounces, the Bum Bum Cream costs $48 for 8.1 ounces.
You can also take to Amazon to scoop up the Brazil Nut Body Butter. A much higher price, to be sure, but it means you can have it in the off-season and it’ll get delivered right to your door. Fair warning, though: The lotion is likely sold by a third-party reseller, so you’d be taking a bit of a risk.
If that price tag isn’t for you, though, I say set a calendar reminder now for the start of summer so you remember to pick up a tub (or three) of body butter. Until then, you can always shop one of my other favorite Trader Joe’s skincare products.
