Trader Joe'sWhat to buy and bring home

Trader Joe's is a neighborhood grocery store, similar in format to Aldi but nicer, with tastier food. Almost everything is sold under the store's own brand, so you can only buy these products here. People take what keeps well and is easy to carry: snacks, chocolate and sweets, nuts and dried fruit, tea and coffee, spices, and also inexpensive cosmetics and skincare: face masks, serums, creams, lip balms, bath products. There is no online store or delivery.

The canvas Trader Joe's tote bags are a story of their own, especially the mini versions: in the store the mini costs $2.99 and the large one $3.99, but people all over the world chase them, and on resale they sell for many times more. New colors and seasonal releases sell out within hours: on delivery days there can be huge lines outside the store. If you want a bag, keep track of deliveries at your local stores.

Opinions on the quality of the food are split: some praise it highly, others criticize the ingredients. But it is a decent store for groceries, and we like it for the store-brand cosmetics, which are sold only here.

Definitely try the tea tree facial cleansing pads. They smell sharp, but nothing cleans your face better: even if you have already washed with your own product, something is still left on these pads afterwards.

I also buy the throat spray here: you spray it, and the eucalyptus coats everything. The taste is sharp, but afterwards your throat stops hurting.

Trader Joe's is one of the regular stops on our shopping trips: we have done fifteen, usually 100-300 items each, food and cosmetics. Prices ran from $1 to $35, but almost everything cost up to $15, and two thirds of the items cost up to $5.