Verb started in 2011 in Austin, Texas, inside a barbershop. The brand's About page says the story began at Birds Barbershop, where owners Jayson Rapaport and Michael Portman, working with Claire Moses, wanted clean, cruelty-free hair products with salon quality that people would actually keep using. Beauty Independent describes the first version as a tiny operation run out of that shop.

The product that put them on the map, in Verb's own words, was Ghost Oil, a weightless oil for fine hair made with moringa oil. A 2013 trade report lists it among the brand's new launches that spring. The Ghost name stuck, and it now covers a whole fine-hair line. Verb is owned by Moroccanoil today, which says a lot about how far a barbershop brand can go.

What I like about Verb shampoo is how plain it is. The bottles are simple, the names say exactly what they do, like Ghost, Hydrate, Volume and Glossy, and the formulas are built for specific hair types rather than vague promises.

The first grid is eight Verb shampoos, from Ghost to a salicylic acid dandruff formula. The second is the conditioners, two masks, a leave-in and the Hydrate oil.

My tip: match the shampoo and conditioner names. Verb designs them as pairs, and Ghost with Ghost or Hydrate with Hydrate is the simplest routine to get right.

Ghost Weightless Shampoo is the Verb bottle to try first if your hair is fine. It is made with moringa oil, green tea extract and vegan proteins, and it cleans without weighing hair down. Hydrate Shampoo is the opposite, for dry and frizzy hair, with argan and babassu oils. The brand recently improved both its formula and its fragrance, and it is the one I would hand to anyone whose ends feel rough.

Body Boosting Volume Shampoo uses hibiscus, amaranth and biotin to lift flat hair without stripping moisture. Moisturizing Glossy Shampoo is for thick, coarse, dull hair, with peach oil and squalane for shine. Curl Defining Shampoo is for waves, curls and coils, made with a sunflower complex, jojoba and castor oil.

For blondes and silver hair, Brightening Purple Shampoo uses violet pigment and açaí extract to tone brass. Density Peptide Shampoo is for thinning hair, with saw palmetto, ginseng and niacinamide, and it is meant to minimize the look of shedding. The Dandruff Shampoo with Salicylic Acid is for a dry, flaky scalp, and it relieves itch without stripping.

A small note on the names: Ghost and Glossy sound alike but are opposites. Ghost is for fine hair, and Glossy is for thick hair.

What I would skip: the Dandruff Shampoo as a daily if you do not actually have flakes. Salicylic acid is great at its job, but your scalp does not need it every day.

The second grid is mostly Ghost and Hydrate, because those are Verb's two most complete lines.

Ghost Conditioner detangles fine to medium hair with the same moringa oil and green tea as the shampoo, and the Ghost Weightless Hair Mask is a light-as-air treatment for hair that gets weighed down easily. Hydrate Conditioner adds intense moisture with argan oil, babassu oil and a moisture-locking ceramide, and the Hydrate Mask is the deep-conditioning version.

The Volume Enhancing Conditioner softens and detangles flat hair without taking its lift away. The Moisturizing Glossy Conditioner is for thick, coarse hair and has a richer consistency than the rest.

The last two are leave-ons. The Hydrate Detangling Leave-In Conditioner goes on damp hair to detangle and hydrate, and the Hydrate Oil adds shine and cuts frizz. Ghost Oil started the brand's success, but the Hydrate Oil is the one I would pick for thick, dry ends.

A pairing tip: use the mask once a week in place of conditioner, not on top of it. That keeps fine hair light and gives dry hair a proper reset.

What I would skip: the Hydrate Oil on fine hair. Stay with the Ghost line if your strands are fine, even when they feel dry.

I think Verb shampoo is one of the easiest lines to get right, because the names do most of the work. Choose Ghost for fine hair, Hydrate for dry hair, Volume for flat hair and Glossy for thick hair, then buy the matching conditioner. Add a mask once a week and you have a full routine. It is a very barbershop way of doing things: simple, direct and built to be used every day. The Ghost Oil that started it all still belongs in your bag if your hair is fine.