Sustainability can sometimes feel like an enormous, complicated subject.
We hear about plastic pollution, climate change, overconsumption and overflowing landfills, and it can be difficult to know whether the small choices we make in our own homes can really make a difference.
At Janni Bars, we believe they can.
The idea behind Janni Bars has always been quite simple: everyday products should work brilliantly, feel lovely to use and create less unnecessary waste.
You shouldn’t have to choose between a product that performs well and one that is kinder to the world around us. Sustainable products shouldn’t feel like a compromise—and they definitely shouldn’t be something you buy with the best of intentions, only to leave unused in the bathroom cupboard.
That belief has guided Janni Bars since the very beginning.
It started with one small change
Janni Bars began in 2018, long before solid shampoo bars were something you could find everywhere.
At the time, most bathrooms were filled with plastic bottles. Shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, face wash and countless other everyday products nearly always came packaged in plastic—much of which would be used for a few weeks before being thrown away.
Replacing even one of those bottles with a solid bar seemed like a small and achievable way to make a difference.
But there was an important condition: the bar had to work.
It had to leave your hair feeling properly clean, soft and manageable. It had to be easy to use. It needed to last well and earn its place in your bathroom.
Because if a sustainable alternative doesn’t perform, people will understandably return to the familiar bottled product they were using before.
That is why performance has always come first at Janni Bars. The environmental benefits matter enormously, but the product still needs to do the job it was created to do.
Sustainability that fits into everyday life
We don’t believe sustainable living needs to mean changing everything overnight.
For most of us, that simply isn’t realistic.
We have families, businesses, animals, jobs, bills and long lists of things that need to be done. The idea of completely transforming every aspect of our lives can feel so overwhelming that we end up doing nothing at all.
Small, repeatable changes are different.
Replacing a bottle of shampoo with a solid bar might not feel revolutionary. Neither might using a solid conditioner, body wash or facial cleanser. But these are products we use again and again throughout our lives.
One bottle replaced becomes several bottles avoided each year. When hundreds or thousands of people make the same small switch, those individual choices begin to add up.
The best sustainable choice is often the one that fits easily enough into your life that you can continue making it.
That is what we want Janni Bars products to offer: a straightforward swap that doesn’t require you to sacrifice quality, convenience or enjoyment.
Creating bars for real hair and real people
There is no single shampoo that works perfectly for everybody.
Our hair is affected by its texture, condition, environment and the products we use. Some people struggle with oily roots, while others have dry or damaged lengths. Some need an unscented option for a sensitive scalp, while others want help maintaining blonde or grey tones.
That is why the Janni Bars range has grown to include shampoo and conditioner bars created for different hair types and concerns.
Developing a broader range means more people can find a solid product that genuinely suits them. If someone tries one generic shampoo bar and it doesn’t work for their hair, they may decide that solid shampoo simply isn’t for them. Sometimes, they just haven’t found the right bar yet.
We want choosing a solid bar to feel every bit as considered and personal as choosing a bottled salon product.
Sustainability might encourage someone to try their first bar—but it is the performance of that bar that will make them continue using it.
More than shampoo
Over time, Janni Bars has grown beyond shampoo and conditioner.
The range now includes solid body wash bars, facial care, deodorants, soaps and other practical alternatives to products traditionally sold in plastic packaging.
Each new product offers another opportunity to remove a bottle, tub or piece of unnecessary packaging from an everyday routine.
We are always looking at what can be improved, too. Sustainability isn’t a box a business ticks once and then forgets about. It is a continuing process of reviewing products, ingredients, packaging and working methods.
There will always be more to learn and more that can be done. What matters is continuing to move in the right direction.
Handmade in County Longford
While Janni Bars has grown considerably since 2018, our products are still handmade here in County Longford.
They are produced in batches, checked, packed and sent out to customers and stockists around Ireland and further afield.
Growing a handmade business brings its own challenges. There are long production days, ingredients to source, formulas to improve, orders to pack and a constant balancing act between making enough stock and maintaining the care that goes into each product.
But making the products here also means staying closely connected to them.
We see what goes into every batch. We hear directly from the people using the bars. We learn which products have transformed someone’s hair, which ones have become household favourites and where something could be made even better.
That connection has helped Janni Bars grow while holding on to the values it began with.
Proudly recognised in the Irish Made Awards
Janni Bars has now been selected as a finalist in the Sustainability category of the Irish Made Awards 2026.
The Irish Made Awards celebrate businesses producing and creating products here in Ireland. Being recognised in the Sustainability category feels especially meaningful because it reflects the reason Janni Bars began in the first place.
What started with the idea of replacing one plastic bottle has grown into an extensive range of solid hair and body products, handmade in Ireland and used by customers both here and abroad.
Of course, none of that growth could have happened without the people who decided to try their first bar, came back for another one, recommended Janni Bars to a friend or chose our products as a gift.
Every order has helped this small Irish business keep developing, improving and finding new ways to make sustainable choices more accessible.
We would love your vote
The winner of the Irish Made Awards is decided by public vote, and we would be incredibly grateful for your support.
Voting takes only around 30 seconds. Find Janni Bars in the Sustainability category and cast your vote.
www.irishcountrymagazine.ie/vote
If you have already voted, thank you so much. Sharing the voting link with a friend, family member or fellow Janni Bars customer is another wonderful way to support us.
Whatever the final result, being selected as a finalist is something we are immensely proud of.
It is recognition not only of the products we make, but of the thousands of small choices our customers have made—one wash, one bar and one less bottle at a time.
Thank you for being part of it.
Janni x