Photo of Erin Falco, Principle Scientist of Virtue Labs
Erin Falco, Principal Scientist, Virtue Labs

During technical calls with colleagues, the Virtue Labs science team, Principal Scientist Erin Falco and Vice President of Product Development, Debby Vellozzi, find themselves candidly sharing hair issues, be they related to menopause, pregnancy, or dealing with hair “static” created by being in a cold climate. “When we talk about innovation, we’re connecting our own experiences,” said Vellozzi. “We can be our own testers. We are able to relate to our consumers.”

It’s this hands-on approach, coupled with Virtue’s revolutionary Alpha Keratin 60ku proprietary formulations, that have made the biotech hair care brand one of the most recognized in the hair health category. Virtue has won a slew of awards, including most recently Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2024 award for its Damage Reverse Serum. The formulations are designed to work with very specific challenges, such as hair thinning, hair breakage, damaged hair, or hair in need of frizz or curl control. “We have our own lab that makes the protein, and our own scientists,” said Falco, who is based out of the company’s laboratory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. (The company’s headquarters are in Raleigh.) “These are people who work on this technology every day.”

Photo of Debby Vellozzi, the Vice President of Product Development at Virtue Labs
Debby Vellozzi, Vice President of Product Development, Virtue Labs

Keratin is a naturally-occuring protein that helps keep hair, skin and nails healthy, and is found in humans and animals. Virtue’s Alpha Keratin 60ku is derived from untreated human hair. Most keratins on the market are from animal by-products. “This is a whole, undiluted native protein, in its truest form,” said Vellozzi. “A lot of the competition uses keratin that is diluted, chopped up and hydrolyzed. When our protein is applied, the hair sees it as its own and that’s why it binds to the hair so quickly.”

This month, Virtue is rolling out its two latest offerings: the Scalp Remedy Shampoo and Conditioner – a drug- and fragrance-free duo that will shore up the brand’s other scalp offerings, such as its Exfoliating Treatment and Topical Supplement. The products are designed to deal with an unbalanced scalp microbiome, based on the premise that a healthier scalp – one that is free of itchiness, flakiness and irritation – results in healthier hair. The shampoo ($42) and conditioner ($44) were launched on Virtue’s e-commerce site in December and are expanding to retailers and salons this month. “About half the U.S. population has a compromised scalp,” Vellozzi said. “It’s a market that is underestimated. People are starting to understand that they have to focus on the scalp as well as the hair.”

Falco has worked with keratin since 2011, when she was a scientist at Keranetics, a Winston-Salem biotech company whose chief executive officer – former army colonel Dr. Luke Burnett – was using the protein for wound healing and regenerative medicine purposes. “We knew what keratin did for tissue regeneration,” said Falco. “But we started to look at what it does for hair and nails. Our focus became to determine the feasibility of this protein in the field of personal care. We started seeing phenomenal results.” So much so, that Falco always keeps in her refrigerator a little container of keratin gel – it has the consistency of aloe vera – to soothe away skin issues.

After five years of research and development, Virtue – founded by Melisse Shaban – launched its first eight products in 2017; the brand now has 40 sku’s. Combe Inc., a family-owned personal care company, has a majority interest in Virtue Labs. The current CEO is Jose Luis Palacios, who was previously in executive roles at Google, Coty, and Procter & Gamble.

As Virtue’s lead scientist, Falco said that she has used her frustration with inadequate products for her curly red mane to fuel her focus on effective and clinically-proven formulations. “I’ve done science my whole life,” said Falco, who obtained her master’s and PhD in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. “My background is in regenerative medicine. My favorite thing about science is taking something that everyone knows how to use in a particular way and turning it upside down.”

Vellozzi came to Virtue as a marketing-based product developer, having worked for many years with Strivectin and Frederic Fekkai, where she was immersed in product development. “I’ve had 25 years in the beauty industry in hair, skin and body, and I’ve always loved companies that are passionate about true claims and true science.  I like to look for white spaces, getting competitive assessments of what’s going on in beauty and hair, and bringing that back to the world of science.”

Vellozzi and Falco also keenly understand how much a healthy head of hair is tied to a woman’s self-esteem, and keep that in mind as they work on new formulations. “We want to make womens’ lives easier, and their hair healthier,” said Vellozzi. “We look at how anti-aging relates from the skin to the hair, and to start preventing damage. We want to help women feel as beautiful as they do coming out of a salon.”