Trader Joe’s Citrus Body Wash

With all of my side trips into LUSH-land, with stops at Kiehl’s-ville and Bigelow-burg bath wise, there remains one constant in my bathroom: Trader Joe’s Citrus Body Wash. It’s one of those unassuming things that just kind of works. At $2.99 for 16oz you can keep bottles by every sink. I even keep one in the car just in case. (Albeit decanted into an empty LUSH teensy bottle.) It’s one of those that’s easy- the light citrus (orange, lemon, and grapefruit mostly) is refreshing but doesn’t linger enough that it will interfere with something that might want to wear. Unlike, say, LUSH Rose Jam, which I love but you’d better plan on wearing something rose after. (such hardship we go through..)

The old Trader Joes (with my old car)

I’ve been going to Trader Joe’s since I moved to Los Angeles in the 80’s. At that time there was one in my ‘hood, in a little strip mall in the “rough” area of WeHo. A strip mall that also housed the (rather infamous) Yukon Mining Company, a moderately divey sort of diner known for large portions and a collection of late night patrons that were.. lively. Over time more and more TJ’s came to the neighborhood: Within walking distance was the one in the former West Hollywood City Hall on SMB at Westmount.

And it’s replacement

Then they opened one at 8000 Sunset, which became my rainy day TJ due to it having two dedicated elevators on P3 servicing the store. (Westmount has a surface lot. as does Fairfax at Santa Monica and Fairfax and Third, which came after. The most recent additions are ones in the base of a very tony apartment building at Burton Way and La Cienega, steps from Beverly Hills and where the old Fish Shanty stood. The newest is in a huge building that sits on the site of the old strip mall at SMB and Fuller.

The “rainy day” TJ’s (and my present car)

TJ’s have opened across the country- as a matter of fact the busiest is supposedly in New York on the Upper West Side, but they don’t have one every few miles, like Dunkin Donuts. Speaking of Dunkin, there’s even a TJ’s that serves my old hometown, hanging like a limpet on the semi-defunct Hampshire Mall in Hadley while Whole Foods is in the former “Dead” Mountain Farms Mall.

The one at the old City Hall

I really started to treat TJ’s as a grocery store a couple of decades ago when we had a grocery store strike. The strike started coinciding with a trip I took back East and I smugly thought it would be over by the time I got back. Nope. It lasted four months and I don’t cross picket lines, so Trader Joe’s became my defacto grocery store. And I kind of never went back. Now I still go to my local Ralph’s since it doesn’t stop stocking things seemingly on a whim, but it also doesn’t have some of the things that TJ’s does. Like citrus body wash for $2.99.

One of those seasonal items…

Are you a Trader Joe’s addict? Do you have one near you? Any favorite items? Find it annoying that things get discontinues or are “seasonal”? Discuss in the comments.

My bottle of body wash was purchased at Trader Joe’s. I didn’t get one of the trick-or-treat bags, even though they are cute because they’re a little silly.

Images: My iPhone, Pexels, and Wikimedia Commons