trader joe's (nourish spa) new & old formula

Hello everyone! It feels like it's been forever since I've posted, my life has been quite busy. That will hopefully change now that I'm finally on summer break. I've gotten very lazy with my hair, too. Not so much neglectful, but I've really been doing 24/7 protective styling and been doing a lot of short wash days. I know I have a lot of things I have to update on, but today I wanted to talk about my favorite conditioner: trader joe's nourish spa!

NEW FORMULA

(or rather, 'changed' formula)



The company has changed the conditioner's formula. I'm probably late on this subject, I think they changed the formula two months ago. When I first saw they changed it I was a little worried, I was thinking 'first herbal essence's hello hydration, now this'. Researching the topic online, I saw a lot of girls were also worried, so worried that they were protesting to have the conditioner changed back without even trying the new one. I was worried, but I wasn't that upset, and picked up a bottle of the new conditioner last week. Here's a comparison of the old and new ingredients:

old formula - purified water, rosemary oil, orange citrus, mango, lemongrass, ginkgo biloba, Echinacea, willow bark, sea kelp, chamomile flower, textured soy protein, lavender, grapefruit citrus, vitamin e, acetamide mea, cetyl alcohol, cirtic acid, methylparaben, propylparaben, fragrance

new formula - purified water, cetyl alcohol, behentrimonium chloride, citric acid, vitamin e, dimethicone, argan oil, rosemary leaf extract, orange citrus, mango, lemongrass, ginkgo biloba, Echinacea Angustifolia, willow bark, sea kelp, chamomile flower, soybean seed, lavender, grapefruit citrus, acetamide mea, phenoxyethanol, potassium sorbate, fragrance

Now here are some things to note...

• Not too much has changed, the ingredients in italicized are the same and in the same order. There are also same ingredients that have just changed position in the ingredients list, for example, cetyl alcohol, vitamin e, and cirtic acid.
• I think the main reason the company decided to change the formula was to add argan oil, which has been very popular lately. They even changed the front label to mention argan oil is an ingredient.
• Some of the new first ingredients, like behentrimonium chloride, might not look too attractive to some. But despite it's scientific, chemical-looking name, it's plant-based. according to the blog honesty, it "conditions, detangles, fights static, softens, restores, and rebuilds damaged hair. since it’s plant-based and not petrochemical-based, it doesn’t coat but penetrates the hair shaft for potent conditioning effects. (In some applications, it also acts as a preservative)." The site also mentions that there is misinformation about behentrimonium chloride, people mistaking it as unnatural.  

MY EXPERIENCE

So really, there hasn't been much of a change to the product. I've only tried the formula once, and so far my hair hasn't been able to tell the difference. I worry a little bit about the dimethicone, (which some healthy hair girls have a problem with because it can accumulate on the hair is not washed out properly) but it isn't that big a deal to me. I understand what some girls went crazy and got worried but the conditioner's sudden change, but I would advice at least trying it first before complaining to the company to change. It might even be better then the old formula.

my top 5 cheapie conditioners

The title might be a little misleading because not all the conditioners I'm listing are exactly "cheap" per say. The price range going from $1 to around $10. When healthy hair journey girls say cheapie conditioners, we're usually talking about non-expensive moisture conditioners we mix with other things (like homemade deep conditioners or leave-ins) or for cowashing. The following conditioners are ranked by price, quality, and accessibility. They're not exactly ranked from my least to most favorite, but by how significant they are to my regimen.

5. AUBREY ORGANICS WHITE CAMELLIA

• price : $10
• quality : 3 out of these 5
• accessibility : Only available during my odd visits to Vitamin Shoppe
• review : I bought White Camellia after finishing and being wowed by Aubrey Organic's Honeysuckle Rose conditioner. It was good, did what it promised, but didn't quite meet my expectations. It's a great conditioner, left my hair with a great fragrance, but I feel that Trader Joe's Nourish Spa is slightly better and with a much cheaper price. It's a conditioner I only used once, but might buy again on a whim.

4. V05 CONDITIONERS 

SUAVE ALMOND AND SHEA BUTTER

• price : $1-4
• quality : 1 out of these 5
• accessibility : V05 is available at just about any dollar store and beauty supply; Suave at any pharmacy or department store
• review : V05 and Suave's conditioners are like the representatives of cheapie conditioners. you really get your bang for your buck. Suave might seem not that cheap, but it is when you consider the size of the bottle. I hardly ever use them alone, but use them in recipes in association with one of the other conditioners in this list. They're like helpers.

3. AUBREY ORGANICS HONEYSUCKLE ROSE

• price : $10
• quality : 5 out of these 5
• accessibility : only available during my odd visits to Vitamin Shoppe
• review : The greatest conditioner in the world. No, I'm not exaggerating. the only reason it's lower in the list is because it's on the expensive side compared to the others. When I use it I feel like I have to use it sparingly, and I don't like that feeling. I don't keep this conditioner on hand, But it's my go to when I feel like my hair is leaning into protein overload or needs some kind of saving.

2. TRADER JOE'S NOURISH SPA

• price : $2
• quality : 4 out of these 5
• accessibility : only available at Trader Joe's, but I go to the grocery at least once a month.
• review : Not the greatest, but my favorite, does that make sense? It's just so cheap and great quality at the same time! And it's easy to get my hands on. The only problem that makes it imperfect is one ingredient: organic textured soy protein. It's not like I'm one of those girls that's so afraid of protein that I won't use anything with protein in it. It's not like the ingredient is high in the list. And it's not like the protein is hydrolyzed, so it can't properly stick to the hair after being rinsed. But that one ingredient just restricts me sometimes. For example, I'm afraid to use it in my kimmaytube leave-in because the protein isn't being rinsed and can accumulate on my hair. Another example, I'm afraid to use it the week after a medium or heavy protein deep conditioning.

1. HERBAL ESSENCE HELLO HYDRATION

• price : $5 (update: price increased to $9 around my local stores)
• quality : 2 out of these 5
• accessibility : available at just about any pharmacy, department store, and beauty supply store
• review : My third favorite, after Nourish Spa and Honeysuckle Rose. just like Nourish Spa, it's easy to get my hands on and so cheap for it's great quality. The quality might not by as good as Nourish Spa, but it only has moisture ingredients. Well, coconut can kind of be considered protein. It's also a big bottle for it's price like Suave, But last time I went to Walgreens I didn't see the normal 23.7 fl ounce bottle again, but a smaller one the same price. Did herbal essence increase the prices for each bottle size, or was it just that walgreens? I sure hope not. This conditioner was my most recent addition to my regimen, we were just becoming good friends. 

kimmaytube leave-in

INGREDIENTS:
2 TBSP hairveda's whipped ends (or any conditioner)
2 TBSP trader joe's spa conditioner (or any conditioner)
4 TBSP aloe vera gel
2 TBSP shikakai cocasta oil
1-2 TBSP jojoba oil
water until desired consistency.

REVIEW: deciding I wanted to stretch my products and use a more liquidy conditioner, I decided to try the kimmaytube homemade leave-in. it's usually used on naturals and used as a leave-in. I use it as a a leave-in and moisturizer. for relaxed heads, it's best to cut the recommended amount of oils in half, like I've done in my recipe above. due to the low ph of the aloe vera juice, or gel, it has good porosity correcting properties. I've been using this a couple months now, and it's been great! my hair feels softer and looks shinier. since it's liquidy, it also doesn't give my hair that greasy, laid down look at the end of the week due eo product builds up.

For those of you who don't know, Kim Love, the inventor of this recipe, is a very popular natural hair guru. Click here to go to her youtube channel called Kimmaytube.