Salvatore Tanino Therapy aftercare guide: your first 30 days after the tannin smoothing

After a Salvatore Tanino Therapy or Blue Gold smoothing, the aftercare at home does half the work: the Chemical Repair duo (shampoo and mask) at every wash, Tanino Touch as the leave-in before every blow-dry or flat iron, no salt water or chlorine without rinsing, and the next treatment on the regrowth. Count on three to five months, depending on that aftercare; Salvatore prints no month figure on the pack. This guide walks through the first 30 days day by day and says at every rule whether it comes from the bottle or from us.

What the treatment itself is and how it runs in the salon is in our taninoplastia explained guide; which home set goes with every other salon treatment, in the Salvatore home care chooser.

What happened to your hair in the salon?

Step A (or Blue Gold Step 1) cleansed the hair deeply and opened the cuticle; Step B (or Step 2) bound the tannin actives to the proteins of the hair, and the flat iron set that bond. Salvatore describes it on the Step B bottle as an action on the salt and hydrogen bonds of the keratin, not on the disulphide bonds. That is why a taninoplastia washes out gradually instead of growing out like a chemical relaxer, and why what you do at home counts.

Day 0: the treatment day

Comb and style as you like; the tannin is set. What the bottle prescribes for today: Tanino Touch, 'after treatment', a small amount on clean, moist hair from lengths to ends, then blow-dry. What we add: no wash on the treatment day, no tight ponytail or bun in the first hours, and no pool or sea.

Days 1 to 7: the first wash

The first wash comes this week, with the set Salvatore ties to the maintenance. This is what the Chemical Repair bottles print:

1. 1
   Shampoo

   A small amount of Chemical Repair shampoo on wet hair, massage gently, distribute from lengths to ends without rubbing the fibre, rinse, repeat if needed.

2. 2
   Mask

   Remove the excess water, a small amount of Chemical Repair mask on lengths and ends, comb through with a medium comb, leave on 3 to 5 minutes, rinse completely.

3. 3
   Drying

   Blot with a towel, do not rub. Tanino Touch on the moist hair, then blow-dry; anyone who air-dries skips the leave-in.

Does it have to be sulphate-free? Not with Salvatore. The brand prescribes no sulphate-free shampoo anywhere, and the Chemical Repair shampoo itself lists Sodium Laureth Sulfate; the mask and the leave-in contain no sulphate. What the brand prescribes is its own line.

Weeks 2 to 4: finding the rhythm

• Washing. When the hair needs it, not out of habit; shampoo and mask every time.
• Heat. Tanino Touch before every blow-dry or flat iron. Flat-ironing at home is fine, on the lowest setting that does the job; the 180 to 200 °C on the Blue Gold bottle is the salon instruction for setting the tannin, not a daily guideline.
• Salt and chlorine. Rinse with fresh water straight after the sea or pool and reapply the leave-in. This is our advice; Salvatore prints nothing about it.
• Blonde or coloured hair. After the Chemical Repair duo, the Blond Hair duo against yellow tones: mask 3 to 5 minutes, or adjust the time to the tone you want.

Months 2 to 5: the long run

Stay with the Chemical Repair duo. Salvatore advises on the mask to alternate with the Restructuring duo for hair that needs extra structure after a chemical process; for dry hair the Hydrating duo is the alternating set. Count on three to five months before regrowth and wash-out call for the next treatment; the first signs are volume at the root and frizz after washing. Book on what you see, not on a date.

What do you not do in the first 30 days?

• Not washing with whatever is at hand. The Salvatore line is the aftercare the brand itself prescribes.
• Not blow-drying or flat-ironing without Tanino Touch. The bottle calls it a heat protector for dryer and flat iron; that is its job.
• Not going in the sea or pool without rinsing afterwards. Our advice.
• Not trying to 'touch up' the smoothing at home with a salon step. Step B and Blue Gold Step 2 are professional products for the salon.

Quick fixes

Frequently asked questions