Meet Danny Lovve | Barber, stylist, cosmetic formulator, entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danny Lovve and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danny, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve always looked at things in this world and studied why people do the things they do and constantly ask myself if I’m capable of doing them decently as well. I love challenging myself to see if I’m able to turn nothing into something and just try at 110% of my ability.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a barber and owner and formulator for my cosmetics brand, Danny Lovve.

It all started when i attended hair school. I had just blindly went in not knowing how to do anything with hair to be honest. The difference from the way i think compared to most is the question i always ask myself when looking at what people do and the things they do. I ask, “why?”. And try to put myself in their shoes as to why some are so passionate about the subject. And so, i did the same with the hair industry, i wanted to know why the passionates loved it and to see the beauty in it. I drowned myself in everything hair and ended up loving it. I worked two part time jobs outside of hair school, a front desk receptionist at a gym overnight and a front desk receptionist at a salon. For the whole time i was in hair school i had only slept about 3-4 hours tops 5 days a week. I would work throughout the weekdays at the gym overnight and shower at the end of my shift, put my scrubs on and head straight to school. Rinse, repeat for about a year and a half. The only reason i even threw in the part time job at the salon was so i could buy top branded hair products to use with my clients at school with whatever money i had left. The reasoning behind even doing that was because i wanted to understand why people use this stuff. Then, one day a classmate of mine was joking (as she borrowed a dry shampoo off my desk) “why are you wasting your money buying these nice products on these clients that you’re cutting for free? With all this, you might as well just make your own products”, as we both started chuckling at the thought. Then, another one of my classmates chimed in and said, “it’s actually quite possible if you really wanted to.” And so i looked at her puzzling as she confessed to me that she was a former chemist before enrolling in hair school. She then introduced me to one of her friends that was still in the field. As i met with her friend she immediately tells me she doesn’t think she could help at all with the genre of science i was attempting to suddenly pursue. In my thought process i was thinking… “i mean she has to at least understand more than enough science to help me go in the right direction?”. Through much persistence i had convinced her to help me understand the chemical side of cosmetic chemistry and we learned together. For the first year i was saving money and rigging things together inside my parent’s garage and she taught me how to form a proper formula sheet, understanding structural properties and what intentions i needed to go about formulating my own haircare products. I became obsessed. I wanted to understand and dive into the whole process. Formulating, R&D, Manufacturing, packaging, sourcing, negotiating, branding. I did it all in the span of 2-3 years. At that time i had already finished hair school and had been hired at a shop already. Instead of spending my paychecks on a nice new car, or nice clothes, or whatever else, i wanted to spend it all on my vision. And so I did and out birthed the ‘Matte Styling Formula’ a product I’m most proud about. It was everything i wanted in a matte styling clay that has the same spreadability as a cream based product that washes out with ease. I wanted to create a product that helped with styling for a more “lived in” look without the hassle. As i introduced it to market in 2017 it’s sold out with every restock I’ve done. I’ve definitely outgrown the process of manufacturing that I’ve been doing and am looking to expand in 2023. With the pandemic it had definitely set me back a year or two but I’m going to still push forward and do what i want to do with this. I wasn’t expecting a lot to come from all of this, I just know i wanted to be able to create and see nothing turn into something. I’ve always kept to my own timeline and didn’t feel the need to feel like i was “running out of time”. I believe in what I’m doing and hopefully will continue to grow.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Eating, eating, eating, and eating. We have one of THE BEST food scenes here. I’d take them straight into Asia town in bellaire and Katy (my favorite areas) and just eat and drink our way through the city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Parents – For never giving up on me and doing what they had to do in America as refugees to raise my siblings and I.

My siblings – For loving me for me and for never making me feel like i was too different to exist in this world.

My best friend George – For always showing up when i needed him most in life and for always telling me what i needed to hear and not what i wanted to hear.

Website: Dannylovve.com

Instagram: Dannylovve