I’ve owned and been obsessed with the Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Crush Cheirosa ’62 body spray since 2018 but I never splurged on the body cream until I got a sample of it for Sephora’s 2020 birthday gift. I was hooked from the samples and ended up purchasing and going through the standard size (8.1 oz/240 ml). I adored the packaging, scent, and the luxurious feeling of the product on my skin. While it’s still a go-to splurge item for me, I was so excited to see a potential dupe in my local Costco! This is not a sponsored or paid review so all thoughts and comments are mine and unbiased.
Costco’s Nutrius Brazilian Body Butter Cream comes in a pack of 2 with each jar containing 6 oz/177 ml of product. It is advertised as cruelty free, vegan friendly, phthalate free, gluten free, paraben free, and mineral oil free. It’s also proudly made in Canada! 🇨🇦 It claims to reconnect you with a vibrant, youthful and smoother appearance by focusing on repairing your skin from everyday stress.
Similar to the Sol de Janeiro cream which contains Guarana, Cupuacu Butter, and Acai Oil, the Nutrius cream is infused with:
- Cupuacu Butter which helps maintain skin elasticity
- Acai Oil which is antioxidant-rich and helps to lock in moisture
- Guarana Extract which is supposed to provide an energy boost for smoother and faster absorption
- Coconut Oil which is supposed to be ultra-nourishing & skin-softening.
A full list of claims and ingredients can be seen here:
With so many similarities in ingredients and packaging, is the Nutrius cream a dupe for the Sol de Janeiro?
SCENT: When looking for a Sol de Janeiro dupe, I think everyone is looking for a scent dupe first and foremost. Sadly, the Nutrius cream is not a 100% scent dupe for the Sol de Janeiro. The Sol de Janeiro is classified as a warm and sweet gourmand scent with key notes of vanilla, salted caramel and pistachio. When I use the Nutrius cream without smelling the Sol de Janeiro, it definitely smells reminiscent of the Sol de Janeiro, like a distant cousin. But when I smell the two side-by-side, it’s clear that the Sol de Janeiro is the real star. The Nutrius scent is a lot lighter and has more of a fresh sunny day/sunscreen smell. I can smell something nutty that reminds me of the pistachio scent in the Sol de Janeiro, but the Nutrius definitely lacks the rich gourmand sweetness/warm baked goods smell that the Sol de Janeiro has. I’m not sure how something can smell “warmer” but the Sol de Janeiro definitely has a warmer smell to it, which evokes more of those summer memories when you smell it. The Nutrius doesn’t smell bad in any sense, it just doesn’t smell like I want to eat it like the Sol de Janeiro does. The Sol de Janeiro scent also fills up a room once you open the jar and the Nutrius has less of this effect but if I slather it on and leave the room, I do find that I’m able to smell it when I walk back into the room. After comparing on both hands, I also found the Sol de Janeiro scent has longer lasting power. However, while the scent experience is better with the Sol de Janeiro, I actually think the Nutrius scent gives a similar feeling and experience of using the Sol de Janeiro even if it’s not the exact same scent and I would still recommend it if you really like the smell of the Sol de Janeiro.
CONSISTENCY: The Sol de Janeiro is thicker and feels more like a traditional body butter while the Nutrius feels more light and liquid-y in texture like a lotion/cream hybrid. This is funny because the Nutrius is advertised as a body butter and the Sol de Janeiro is advertised as a cream.🤷🏻♀️ (Left: Sol de Janeiro, Right: Nutrius).
QUALITY: Due to the difference in consistency, the application part of the creams feels slightly different. When applying the Nutrius, it feels more like a lotion and I can spread it more and it feels more wet on the skin and like I have to leave it to dry a bit. When applying the Sol de Janeiro, it definitely feels thicker and I feel like I spend more time really rubbing it in because it won’t just dry down. However, both of these creams do not feel sticky, oily, or tacky and they dry down completely, leaving you with soft, beautiful smelling skin. The Sol de Janeiro does claim to be a firming/tightening cream and it’s described on Sephora as “A fast-absorbing body cream with an addictive scent and a visibly tightening, smoothing formula that adds a hint of shimmer to skin.” The Nutrius cream claims to give you smoother skin but does not make firming/tightening claims like the Sol de Janeiro does so it’s a bit unfair to compare the two on this claim, but I will say that the sol de Janeiro does feel a bit more “firming” but this might be due to the consistency of the cream when applying as it does feel slightly more tacky when rubbing it in than the Nutrius does. But again, no tackiness when dry and both creams leave me with very soft, well-moisturized skin.
PACKAGING: The packaging is almost identical, except the colours are different. In the pictures, I only have the 25 ml sample size jar of the Sol de Janeiro but I’ve used the 240 ml size before and it feels the same as the Nutrius packaging, except that the lid material is a bit firmer. Just going by colours and how the make me feel, the Sol de Janeiro packaging wins for me because I love that warm yellow colour and it reminds me of all things happy. But I love the jar packaging design as it feels nice to hold, looks good on a vanity, and I like jars for body moisturizers since you can easily get all the product out unlike bottles with pumps.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE/FEELINGS: With the similar packaging and scents, I would say the Sol de Janeiro still wins out in terms of enticing packaging (that specific shade of yellow just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside) and would win a scent competition in land-slide. With that said, when I do splurge on the Sol de Janeiro, I like to save it for special occasions or for days when I feel like I need an extra pick-me-up. However, I still like my daily skin routine to make me feel good and smell good and I tend to use affordable drugstore options on most days. But now with the Nutrius, I feel like I can “treat myself” more often with those beach memory inducing scents and feelings. Especially with the differences in price (a 240 ml Jar of Sol de Janeiro is $63 CAD while 2×177 ml Jars of the Nutrius cost $34.99 CAD and sometimes it’s on sale at Costco for $24.99!!), I would say that the Nutrius cream is an amazing and affordable dupe that provides a really similar self-care/luxury experience. For those of you who want that luxurious self-care experience and reminding yourself of hot summer days at the beach while you moisturize, I would definitely recommend the Nutrius cream. If you’re going to be moisturizing anyway, choose something that will make you feel loved and happy! Treat yourself! But whether cost of living is getting you down or you’d just like a more affordable way to treat yourself more often, the Nutrius cream is a wonderful buy.
RATING: 4.5/5
Not an affiliate sponsored or paid review. Links below are not affiliate links.
Shop Costco’s Nutrius Brazilian Body Butter Cream here:
Costco: https://www.costco.ca/skin-care.html?brand=nutrius&refine=%7C%7CBrand_attr-Nutrius
Amazon if you’re not a Costco member: https://www.amazon.ca/Nutrius-Brazilian-Body-Butter-Cream/dp/B01022QVB2
Shop Sol de Janeiro’s Brazilian Bum Bum Body Cream here:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Sol-Janeiro-Brazilian-Cream-8-1oz/dp/B013XKHA4M
Stay moisturized,
T.
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