Salvatore Tanino Therapy Curl Hair Shampoo Step 1 (300ml) is the wash of the curly hair routine, built to clean a coil without leaving the ends dry. The list carries no formaldehyde, no formaldehyde releaser and no glyoxylic acid. It cleans on sodium laureth sulfate, softened with cocamidopropyl betaine and a brassica conditioner, and collagen is the protein on the list. It is Step 1 of three: the mask at Step 2 and the leave-in at Step 3 follow it. Sold on its own here, or inside the 850 ml trio.

Why this shampoo

A curl dries from the tip upward. The bend in the fibre slows the scalp oils on their way down, so the ends go dry long before the roots turn greasy. Salvatore's own label sets the job out plainly: efficient cleansing that avoids dryness, especially at the tips, which are the more fragile part. That is the work the betaine and the conditioning quats are doing inside a sulfate wash. We'd hand this bottle to any client who washes often, because the wash decides how the two steps after it behave.

Key ingredients

Sodium laureth sulfate is the cleanser, second on the list, with glycol distearate and cocamide DEA for body and cocamidopropyl betaine to take the edge off. Collagen is the protein. Brassicamidopropyl dimethylamine, behentrimonium methosulfate and quaternium-33 are the conditioning agents that keep a coil combable, and a PEG-12 dimethicone with dimethiconol adds slip. Citric acid sets the pH. Preserved with methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone, both permitted in a rinse-off wash. Full INCI on the product image.

What to expect

Lengths that come out clean but still soft, a coil that combs through instead of knotting, and tips that do not squeak. What we tell clients is plain. This bottle cleans and conditions; it does not draw the curl, and it does not straighten one either.

Who it is for

• Curly, wavy and afro hair washed often enough to want a gentle everyday cleanser
• Clients running the full three-step routine who need the wash on its own
• Anyone whose tips dry out faster than the roots turn oily

Who it is not for

• Anyone avoiding sulfates, since this bottle cleans with a laureth sulfate
• Clients who avoid animal-derived ingredients, because collagen is on the list
• Straight hair with no pattern to keep, where the Restructuring or Blond washes suit better

Professional tip

The habit we see most is a coil scrubbed at the lengths. Keep your fingertips on the scalp, work the lather there, and let it slide down the hair as you rinse, because a coil rubbed open frizzes for the rest of the week. Rinse cool or lukewarm, never hot. Take the label's second line seriously as well: repeat the wash only when the hair still feels coated, since a second lather on dry tips costs more than it cleans. We keep that second pass for the day after a heavy oil.

How to use

Use it as the first of the three steps, ahead of the Step 2 mask and the Step 3 leave-in. Wash as often as the curl asks for, from daily to twice a week, and rinse with cold or lukewarm water, because heat lifts the cuticle you want lying flat.

Order is what makes the routine work. The mask sinks into hair that is already clean, so the wash has to come first, and a small amount is the printed quantity. At that rate a 300 ml bottle covers a normal head for a good many washes.

1. Wet it through. Soak the hair before you start, because a dry coil holds air and drinks more product than it needs.
2. Apply evenly. Take a small amount and spread it over the whole head, which is what the label asks for.
3. Massage gently. Work it toward the tips with the pads of your fingers, without rubbing the fibre; the label makes the same point.
4. Rinse it out. Rinse with cold or lukewarm water until the product is completely gone, and repeat once only if the hair still feels coated.
5. Squeeze and move on. Press the excess water out and go straight to the Step 2 mask, which is where the label sends you next.

Where it fits in the range

This is the first of the three curl steps. The Step 2 mask 250ml feeds the fibre, the Step 3 leave-in 300ml draws the shape, and the 850ml trio is all three in one order. We'd start a client on the trio and reorder this bottle alone. The other concerns, scalp, blond, body, colour and moisture, each have their own pair under Salvatore Home Care.

In short

• 300 ml of the wash that opens the curl routine, gentle enough for frequent use
• Collagen on the list; a betaine and a brassica conditioner soften a sulfate base
• No formaldehyde, no releaser and no glyoxylic acid anywhere on the list
• Step 1 of three; the 250 ml mask and the 300 ml leave-in come after it

Curly Hair is the home routine for the curl route. The Salvatore home care chooser shows which set follows which service, the aftercare guide covers the first thirty days, and the Tanino Therapy on curly and afro hair guide explains smooth or defined.