Salvatore Blue Gold Tannin Smoothing Kit Step 1 + Step 2 (2x1000ml) is the navy-and-gold pack of Salvatore's two-step plant-tannin smoother, in back-bar litres. Step 1 is the preparatory shampoo. Step 2 is the aligning conditioner you set with a flat iron. Neither step lists formaldehyde, a formaldehyde releaser or glyoxylic acid. Salvatore now exports it in grey bottles sold as Blue Gold Premium; both ingredient lists match those line for line.

Why two packs

Blue Gold is the line Salvatore built around one idea: plant tannin, bound to the hair's own proteins and set with heat, instead of an aldehyde smoother. Salvatore now ships it for export as Blue Gold Premium 2x1000ml; this navy pack is the earlier design of the same two formulas. What changed is the label, not the contents. The Premium label prints colour protection on the front where this one prints tannin realignment, and its Step 2 goes on at half dry where this one asks for fully dry. We'd buy whichever pack is on the shelf and follow the bottle in your hand. Made in Brazil at the brand's own plant in Presidente Prudente.

What is in the kit and what each step does

Step 1 is a sulfate clarifier, sodium laureth sulfate and betaine, salt-thickened, with a paraben preservative system. It strips silicone and mineral build-up so the tannin lands on clean cuticle; it is not a daily shampoo. Step 2 carries the plant tannin with keratin, collagen and gelatin proteins, silk protein, tucuma and cupuacu seed butters, macadamia and linseed oils. Underneath sit panthenol, niacinamide, vitamin B6, vitamin E and a vitamin C derivative, plus guarana and bamboo extracts and a moisture binder, saccharide isomerate. The blue is CI 44045, listed in Step 2. Fragrance allergens on Step 1: amyl cinnamal, coumarin, hexyl cinnamal, limonene and linalool. On Step 2: coumarin, cinnamal and cinnamyl alcohol. Full INCI on each product image.

What to expect

The frizz drops, the wave loosens, the shine comes up, and the hair still moves. Salvatore describes Step 2 as forming a new protein bond that the temperature of the iron activates to align the hair. In the chair that reads as smoothing from inside the fibre rather than a coating on top of it. What we tell clients is that it softens rather than flattens, and that it fades out with the regrowth instead of leaving a line. Salons usually book the next service at three to five months.

Who it is for

• Salons opening a tannin smoothing column on a formula that has not changed between packs
• Clients with everyday frizz or wave who want it softer and shinier rather than poker straight
• Stylists who learned Blue Gold on the navy bottle and want the pack they know

Who it is not for

• Anyone after a permanent chemical straightening; this aligns and softens, it is not a relaxer
• Home use: Step 1 is a professional clarifier and Step 2 needs an iron and a trained hand
• A stylist who wants the pH stabiliser in the box; that comes with the 2x100ml kit, not the litres

Professional tip

The one instruction that changed between the two packs is about moisture. This Step 1 ends with: "Dry 100% the hair and apply the conditioner Blue Gold Professional (Step 2)." The Premium goes on at half dry. This one goes on bone dry, and the mistake we see most is a salon with both packs on the shelf mixing them up. Blow-dry it fully, then apply. We'd also brush the front hairline first, while the bottle is freshly shaken and the mix is even, because the tannin shows every strand you missed there.

How to use

Run it as one service in this order, Step 1 cleans and opens, Step 2 lays the tannin on dry hair, and the iron sets it. Do the allergy test first, the way the bottle asks, with a little Step 2 on the arm and the nape, and stop if it reacts. Section the head as you would for any smoothing service and use what each section needs, no more.

The order matters because each step sets up the next. Skip the clarifier and the tannin sits on build-up instead of on the cuticle. Apply Step 2 to damp hair and the product dilutes before the iron ever reaches it. One litre of each is back-bar quantity; the bottles are dated separately, so keep an eye on the conditioner.

1. Step 1, clarify. On wet hair, apply the shampoo evenly to the scalp and massage softly, then draw it down to the ends without rubbing the lengths. Rinse with cool or warm water and repeat; there is no need to leave it on. Check the front hairline and the nape, because the tannin shows every patch you missed. Blow-dry the hair completely.
2. Step 2, lay the tannin. Shake the bottle well. On fully dry hair, brush Step 2 on section by section, root to end, and comb it through until every strand is evenly coated. Leave it until the product has been taken up; the bottle asks you to check that rather than to watch a clock, and our habit is the same half hour we give the Premium.
3. Rinse and dry. Rinse thoroughly with cool or warm water until nothing slips off the hair. Blow-dry it straight and take it fully dry again, because the iron cannot set tannin through moisture.
4. Set with the iron. Pass the iron slowly through 1 cm sections, at least 10 passes each, according to how the fibre resists. Set the temperature from your strand test, 180 to 200 degrees maximum, lower on lightened hair that loses tone under heat.
5. Close and hand over. Finish with a moisturising step that settles the cuticle after the heat. Send the client home on Salvatore's everyday-use line and book the next visit for the regrowth.

Where it fits in the range

One formula, two packs. The Premium duo is the grey bottle Salvatore ships today; this is the navy one. We'd not run them as two tiers, because the ingredient lists say they are not; we'd run one protocol per bottle and let the label decide the moisture. When Step 2 runs out first, the Step 2 conditioner 1000ml is sold on its own. Everything Blue Gold lives on the Blue Gold line at Salvatore. For the same tannin chemistry in lettered steps, look at the Tanino Therapy range.

In short

• Back-bar litres of Salvatore's tannin smoother in the earlier navy pack, sold to the chair only
• Same two formulas as the grey Premium pack, line for line; this label asks for fully dry hair
• Clean INCI on the two things pros ask about first: no formaldehyde, no glyoxylic acid
• Dry fully, brush, check absorption, rinse, dry, 1 cm sections at 180 to 200
• Rotate the conditioner first: it is dated two years, the shampoo three

If this service is new on the menu, the guide to taninoplastia explained sets out what a tannin smoothing does to the fibre. The Tanino Therapy vs Blue Gold comparison puts the two Salvatore systems side by side.

For lightened clients, start with the guide for blonde and bleached hair. The tannin smoothing disadvantages and risks guide is honest about who should be turned away.