Ahhh... Grapefruit and Chamomile Shampoo Bar product reviews

Having a very ecologically conscious DD11 in our house means we have been really looking at how we can help the environment by making little consistent changes , and by trying to reduce, reuse and recycle through lessening our plastic usage and consumption with things such as our bathroom and shower products including shampoo and conditioner. I liked the sound of the grapefruit and chamomile shampoo bar and also asked to try the counterpart conditioner bar that is grapefruit and lime.

Lots of things appealed to me when requesting to try the Ahhh.... brand of shampoo bar with the things that stands out the most being that it is New Zealand made, and supporting our economy when I purchase them again. As well as this they appeal to me ethically, with being cruelty free and utilising lots of organic ingredients in the making of them.

Having a look at the packaging and the actual product first, it is really pretty and appealing as well as being super easy to spot your favourite as the different types are all different colours and designs. The boxes themselves paper/light card and so are recyclable, meaning there is no waste left behind. We actually used one of the boxes from the conditioner bar to put my daughter's hairties into, and as it has the scent of the bar in it at the moment, my daughter is loving choosing one in the morning! You could also do this with the shampoo bar one too!

The shampoo bar itself is quite different from the conditioner bar, in that it is a bumpy and more rough looking bar, and has almost a dessicated coconut look to it. It is the same lovely apricot (or pink grapefruit) colour so if you have more than one type of shampoo bar in your shower you will know which one to grab. It has a lovely sweet aroma as you opened the packet - sweet and citrus-y but not
at all overpowering which is great. The instructions are really easy, but to be honest you probably could figure them out without having ever used a shampoo bar. I do tend to use it as per the instructions, and wet my hair and rub it over to lather, which it does really easily and suds up really well. I really did feel like my hair felt nice and clean after one wash with it, so it will definitely last a long while, as long as you air and dry it out, not leaving it sitting in a puddle of water.

I do not really have anything negative to say about this shampoo and I will totally be buying these again as well as recommending them to others to try!

I am always looking for ways to reduce my consumption of plastic and had heard the buzz around shampoo and conditioner bars. I was excited to try the Grapefruit and Chamomile Shampoo Bar as my hair is coloured, dry, and frizzy and I find that some shampoos strip the natural oils from my hair. The first thing I noticed about the bar was the lovely grapefruit smell and how pretty it looked.

Without reading the instructions, I headed into the shower, wet my hair and then rubbed the bar once over my head. I couldn't believe how quickly my hair lathered up and one rub over the top of my head produced enough lather to adequately clean my hair. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised. I looked at the 'how to use' instructions which said to leave it out to air dry. Two days later, when I went to reuse it, I found that some of the bar had stuck to the soap dish I had left it on. I managed to scrape this off and use it which was more than enough for my shoulder length hair.

Overall I was extremely impressed with this bar. It was quick and easy to use and left my hair feeling great. As with any soap, I will need to find a suitable place to store it so it can air dry properly. The price is a little more than I would ordinarily pay but the packet claims it should last for 50 - 70 washes which does make it more economical. I definitely recommend trying this shampoo bar!

I had seen a couple of places of late advertising shampoo bars so it had stirred interest in me as to how these would actually work. I have three children and I go through a bottle of shampoo way quicker than desirable especially as my children often use to much or leave the bottles open spilling the product and wasting it. My 7 year old especially finds shampoo bottles quite hard to work out how much to use if left unsupervised in the shower. These bars are actually perfect for children learning those independant washing skills.

The box lists clear instructions for using the shampoo bar, the shampoo has a bit of a bumpy texture compared to the conditioner bar which was more smooth. On lathering the soap bar I found this texture helped in building up some good suds to rub through the hair lengths, on my sons shorter hair this was relatively easy and we build up a good lather to cover the whole head fairly quickly. On mine and my daughters longer hair it was a bit more effort rubbing the soap through the longer hair and getting enough suds to massage right through all the hair.

I found the soap easy to wash out once it had been worked through the hair and it was definitely left feeling clean, before using the conditioner bar it did feel a little dry but the conditioner bar soon sorted this out. I first left my shampoo bar to dry on the soap tray but found having it left in the shower it was getting wet between use and felt this would break the soap down quicker and waste it, so after drying I have since been storing the soap back in its original box and taking out when using it. I feel the bar would last several weeks with our family of five so definitely something that could save us money over the liquid shampoo bottles.

The fragrance was very pleasant with the citrusy grapefruit coming through very strong and leaving the hair smelling fresh and sweet long after being washed. I love that it uses natural ingredients including the fragrances and is made in NZ so definitely a great alternative I would be more than happy to buy again. I feel these would be so handy to take when travelling as opposed to liquid bottles that risk leaking in your bathroom bag.

This was only my second experiment with shampoo bars so I am still a relative newbie when it comes to the how of this particular product. The look was a bit off-putting initially as there was a dark spot on the bar I received (yes I know this proves its natural etc but I enjoy the aesthetics of a pretty shower experience. I did like the bumps on the bar which both helped with application and discerning the shampoo from the conditioner.

I did like the fact it came with instructions - I know you should read them in advance and not in the shower now, so after a box that didn't survive being read in the shower I was off to a good start. I don't know if I would have put the soap back in the box as it felt a bit flimsy and I wanted the bar to dry naturally - so a good solution in this space is now my plan... how do I "put it away" and still let it dry.

After multiple uses, I was surprised my hair didn't react any worse than it does to any change of product where it takes a good few uses to settle down and cope. I found my hair was fine (not perfect but not the worst I have tried) if I used the shampoo without the conditioner. I think this will occupy a "backup solution" if my usual salon product runs out. I loved how little you use and how it's not in a big bottle. Husband tried it and said "fine but a bit weird to get used to and felt like using normal soap on your hair" which is probably the result you would expect, however, it does not behave like soap - it behaves like shampoo so that's another win for me. I will be transitioning him to using that rather than supermarket shampoos for the rest of the bar. I think the economy is perfect and with a focus on sustainability this is a good start.

I had my niece use it with her 6/8-year-olds and they enjoyed the novelty and there were no dramas and she said it would be great for them travelling to visit people to keep in her toilet bag, they didn't even mind the "soap in the eyes" as it didn't sting - I did ask. I think this product will end up in my travel toilet bag (for gym and trips) but I just need to work out how to keep it dry without leaving it out. Probably a great choice for after the gym too (I don't think it would be too terrible to use every day even though in general I try not to wash my hair daily). Definitely keen to try more Ahhh products and needs further experimentation.

I have seen shampoo bars floating around in my Facebook feed so I already knew that it was designed to do many, many washes whilst being economically friendly in that it isn't in a plastic bottle which may or may not end up being recycled. My initial impression of the packet was that it is nice and compact, thus easy to take with you when you are out and about on holiday. The box has a nice design on it, what I think could have made it better though would be a thin coating of beeswax or similar inside, just to help the paper last a little longer (though I understand that this could affect it recyclability).

This bar had an unusual texture, one that I wasn't expecting but overall it has a nice aesthetic to it and felt nice enough to hold. The back suggests that you either rub it onto your hands and then hair, or just rub the bar directly onto your head, which is the option that I found easiest and the quickest for covering my hair in shampoo. I used this for two weeks, instead of my usual shampoo but found that whilst I did love how quickly it foamed and how well it is lasting, it ended up with my hair and skin feeling rather rubbery afterwards and the dermatitis on my hands wan't a fan either.

This has ended up being handed over to my mum to use, who finds no issues with it but I, myself, will not be buying this particular shampoo.