Virtue launched in 2017, founded by Melisse Shaban, who had worked at Aveda, Frederic Fekkai and StriVectin before this. The story behind it is unusual for a hair brand. It starts with a biotech company in North Carolina called KeraNetics, where a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and bio-tissue engineer, Dr. Luke Burnett, was developing a human-derived keratin protein to help heal severe battlefield injuries like burns and blast trauma.

According to Artful Living, an intern whose family worked in beauty tried some leftover keratin on hair, and the results were striking enough that Shaban was called in. Walter Magazine reports it took around five years to turn the technology into a product line, and she had to build her own extraction machines. The protein, which Virtue calls Alpha Keratin 60ku, is extracted in the brand's lab in Winston-Salem.

That is what makes Virtue shampoo different. Plenty of hair products mention keratin. Virtue's is human-derived, and the brand says it goes to work filling in the cracks where hair is damaged.

The first grid is six Virtue shampoos, the ColorKick toning shampoo and the Restorative Treatment Mask. The second is the matching conditioners, the Healing Oil and the Un-Frizz Cream.

My tip: Virtue works best as a pair. The shampoo cleans and starts the repair, and the conditioner finishes it, so buy them together the first time.

Recovery Shampoo is the Virtue bottle I would start with. It is made for dry, damaged and colored hair, and it gently dissolves daily buildup while filling in damage, according to the brand. Smooth Shampoo is for coarse, textured hair that needs calming, and Full Shampoo is for fine hair, lifting the roots and plumping each strand.

Flourish Thickening Shampoo is for thinning hair, and it removes scalp buildup while it cleanses. Scalp Remedy Shampoo nourishes and hydrates the scalp as it cleans, which makes it a good choice for a dry or tight scalp. Hydrating Curl Shampoo is rich and non-drying, with jojoba oil, and it cleans curls without disturbing the pattern.

ColorKick De-Brassing Shampoo is a sulfate-free toning shampoo in a blue-purple shade that neutralizes brass in all kinds of blonde and lightened hair.

The last one is the Restorative Treatment Mask, and it is the one I would buy if you only try one Virtue product. The brand says it takes hair from dry and damaged to silky in as little as three minutes. Use it once a week in place of conditioner.

What I would skip: the ColorKick shampoo more than twice a week. Toners work fast, and too much can leave blonde hair looking dull or slightly lilac.

Every shampoo in the first grid has a matching conditioner here. Recovery Conditioner brings dry, damaged, depleted hair back to hydrated and soft. Smooth Conditioner eliminates frizz, locks out humidity and moisturizes coarse hair. Full Conditioner visibly thickens fine hair without weighing it down, and Flourish Conditioner is lightweight for fine, fragile, thinning hair.

Scalp Remedy Conditioner hydrates from roots to ends while balancing the scalp, and Hydrating Curl Conditioner is silicone- and sulfate-free, detangling and de-frizzing curls with jojoba oil.

The last two are finishers. Healing Oil smooths and protects dry, damaged hair and adds shine, and a shake or two on damp ends is enough. Un-Frizz Cream is a leave-in treatment cream that conditions and smooths hair and eliminates frizz, and it is the one I would use before a blowout.

A pairing tip: match the shampoo and conditioner by name for the first month, then mix if you need to. Recovery shampoo with Smooth conditioner is a good pairing for damaged hair that also frizzes. Virtue's conditioners are richer than they look, so start with less and add more only on the ends.

What I would skip: the Healing Oil at the roots. Keep it on the mid-lengths and ends, where hair is oldest and most damaged.

I think Virtue shampoo has one of the best origin stories in hair care. A protein designed for battlefield medicine ended up in a shower, and the brand has built a whole line around it. Start with Recovery if your hair is damaged, Full or Flourish if it is fine, and add the Restorative Treatment Mask once a week. It is science that took years to reach a bottle, and the line feels carefully put together because of it.