Formaldehyde-free keratin treatment: guide

GuideFormaldehyde-freeKeratin treatment

A formaldehyde-free keratin treatment is one whose ingredient list names no formaldehyde, no formaldehyde releaser and no glyoxylic acid. That is also the check you can do yourself: read the INCI and look for the three groups of names below. On our shelves you read it product by product. Tanino Therapy B works with tannin (TANNIC ACID on its list); Bio Lamination, Nano Gel and Bioplastia Vegan from Brazil Protein work with cysteamine. The printed ingredient list of Tanino Therapy B (500 ml and 1000 ml) and of Bio Lamination, Nano Gel and Bioplastia Vegan (1000 ml) names no formaldehyde. A treatment on glyoxylic acid is a route of its own, which this guide keeps apart.

Short answer: Formaldehyde-free means: no formaldehyde, no releaser, no glyoxylic acid, all three. You check it yourself on the INCI with the three name lists below. Expect smoother, more manageable hair that you maintain with aftercare and that washes out gradually, not a permanent reshaping.

Free of

Formaldehyde, releasers, glyoxylic acid

Check it yourself

On the INCI

Tannin

Tanino Therapy B

Cysteamine

Bio Lamination, Nano Gel, Bioplastia Vegan

What does 'formaldehyde-free' mean exactly?

The word covers more than one substance. In this guide a list only counts as formaldehyde-free when three things are missing. Formaldehyde itself is the first. A formaldehyde releaser is the second: an ingredient that slowly gives off formaldehyde even though the word 'formaldehyde' appears nowhere on the list. Glyoxylic acid is the third: not formaldehyde, but a smoothing route of its own, which this guide keeps apart. A list that leaves out all three is what you are looking for. 'Formaldehyde-free' on the front of a box says nothing by itself; the INCI on the back says everything.

Why salons choose it on purpose

Formaldehyde and its releasers can give off fumes during blow-drying or ironing. Many salons therefore choose a formaldehyde-free list deliberately: for the air in the salon, for the stylist who stands in it every day, and for clients who would rather avoid it. It is a preference you can verify on the label, not something you have to take on the packaging's word.

How to check it yourself on the INCI

The ingredient list is on the pack and, with us, on the product photo. Go through these three groups; if you see one of these names, the list is not formaldehyde-free.

Formaldehyde itself: formaldehyde, methylene glycol, formalin, paraform.
Releasers: DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, quaternium-15.
Glyoxylic acid and family: glyoxylic acid, glyoxyloyl carbocysteine, glyoxyloyl keratin amino acids.

If none of these is on the list, the treatment meets the definition. This is the check you can do with any brand, not only with ours, and it takes two minutes.

What to realistically expect

A formaldehyde-free treatment makes the hair smoother, less frizzy and more manageable. It works differently from a treatment on formaldehyde: the tannin is set with the flat iron, cysteamine comes as a cream you leave to process and then iron, and in both cases the result washes out gradually instead of staying until the hair is cut. For most salon clients that is exactly the point: a more natural, groomed result without the sharp air.

Formaldehyde-free does not mean without disadvantages. Time in the chair, a season-long commitment with a line at the regrowth, and an iron that dries the hair out when it is handled badly, whatever chemistry is in the bottle. The honest list is on our page about the disadvantages and risks of a tannin smoothing.

Which keratin treatment is formaldehyde-free?

Look product by product, not brand by brand. Below, per product, is what the printed ingredient list shows.

TANNIN

At Salvatore the tannin sits in the second step: Tanino Therapy B (500 ml and 1000 ml) and Blue Gold Premium Step 2 (1 L) print TANNIC ACID on their ingredient list and are set with the flat iron. The printed ingredient list of Tanino Therapy A and B (500 ml and 1000 ml) and of Blue Gold Premium Step 1 (1 L) names no formaldehyde and no formaldehyde releaser. Both Tanino Therapy steps come together as the A+B kit 2x1000 ml, Blue Gold Premium as the Blue Gold Premium kit 2x1000 ml. How the treatment works is in our taninoplastia explained; which of the two systems fits your chair, in the Tanino Therapy vs Blue Gold comparison.

CYSTEAMINE

Three Brazil Protein smoothing creams print cysteamine and cysteine as their reducers. The printed ingredient list of each of these three 1000 ml bottles names no formaldehyde and no formaldehyde releaser. Bio Lamination 1000 ml is the cream activated by malic acid. Nano Gel 1000 ml, with aloe vera, goes onto unwashed hair and is left to process for at least 40 minutes. Bioplastia Vegan 1000 ml: 10 to 50 minutes of processing, sealed at an average of 204 °C, with a violet dye (CI 60730) on the list and no animal-derived ingredient. Cysteamine and cysteine are also on the list of the BTOX Extreme Shine, the shine-led variant; see also the salon smoothing trio.

OUTSIDE THE DEFINITION

Treatments on glyoxylic acid, often sold as Nanoplastia, are a smoothing route of their own. They fall outside the definition of this guide because glyoxylic acid is one of the three name groups; there too, the INCI tells you per product what is on the list. The full brand-by-brand comparison is in our guide to the keratin treatment for blonde hair.

Which aftercare goes with it?

For home care after a Salvatore smoothing we recommend the Chemical Repair duo, and for blonde or bleached hair the Blond Hair duo. The whole Tanino Therapy home-care line is in one place. Which set follows which salon service is in our home care chooser; what you do and do not do in the first thirty days, in the Tanino Therapy aftercare guide.

At Brazil Protein we recommend a home-care duo for each cysteamine system. After Bioplastia Vegan that is the Blond Vegan duo, also sold together with the treatment as the Bioplastia Vegan salon and home care kit. After Bio Lamination it is the Bio Lamination duo, shampoo and conditioner mask on babassu and coconut, also as a salon and home care kit. After Nano Gel we recommend the Nutrition Power duo, also as the Nano Gel kit. The full line is under Brazil Protein home care.

In short

Formaldehyde-free means: no formaldehyde, no releaser, no glyoxylic acid.
Check it yourself on the INCI with the three name lists above; the front of the box does not count.
Expect smoother, manageable hair that you maintain with aftercare and that washes out gradually.
No formaldehyde and no releaser on the printed ingredient list: Salvatore Tanino Therapy A and B (500 and 1000 ml) and Blue Gold Premium Step 1 (1 L); Brazil Protein Bio Lamination, Nano Gel and Bioplastia Vegan (1000 ml). Glyoxylic acid systems fall outside this guide.

Frequently asked questions

What does formaldehyde-free mean exactly?

That the ingredient list names no formaldehyde, no formaldehyde releaser and no glyoxylic acid. That is the strict definition this guide uses. You check it on the INCI on the pack, not on the front of the box.

How do you see whether a product contains formaldehyde?

Read the INCI and look for three groups: formaldehyde itself (also methylene glycol, formalin, paraform), the releasers (DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, quaternium-15) and glyoxylic acid and its family (glyoxylic acid, glyoxyloyl carbocysteine, glyoxyloyl keratin amino acids). If none of these names is on the list, the list meets that definition.

Does a formaldehyde-free treatment work as well?

It works differently. A tannin or cysteamine treatment makes the hair smoother and keeps frizz under control, and the result washes out gradually instead of staying until the hair is cut. Anyone expecting a permanently straight result will be disappointed; anyone who wants a groomed, more natural result without the sharp air gets exactly that.

Which treatments are formaldehyde-free?

Look product by product. On our shelves, the printed ingredient list names no formaldehyde and no formaldehyde releaser for Salvatore Tanino Therapy A and B (500 ml and 1000 ml) and Blue Gold Premium Step 1 (1 L), and for Brazil Protein Bio Lamination, Nano Gel and Bioplastia Vegan (1000 ml). Tanino Therapy B works on tannin, the three Brazil Protein creams on cysteamine and cysteine. Treatments on glyoxylic acid are a route of their own and fall outside this definition.

Is formaldehyde-free better for bleached hair?

That is mainly the choice of the salon and the client. With blonde hair, also watch the temperature: Blue Gold Premium Step 2 (1 L) gives a tip for blonde hair to flat iron at temperatures between 180 °C and 200 °C maximum, according to the strength of the hair fibre, to avoid dryness and tonality loss. What else matters is in our guide to Blue Gold Premium on blonde hair.

Does a formaldehyde-free treatment have disadvantages?

Yes, other ones than the fumes. Time in the chair, a season-long commitment with a line at the regrowth, and a flat iron that dries the hair out when it is handled badly, formaldehyde or not. The full list, from dry hair to pregnancy, is on our page about the disadvantages and risks of a tannin smoothing.

All Salvatore systems, kits and the daily line are on the Salvatore Cosmetics brand page.