The year was 2009, the phone rang with Pittsburgh’s WHIRL Editor asking for a Philip Pelusi hair and makeup duo for their Holiday issue.  Philip tapped his dynamic duo Lisa K. (currently our Director of Talent Acquisition) and Nikki B. (currently our Product Education Director) for the task! 

Lisa created the intricate updo and Nikki created a series of makeup looks on the model’s face.  They put together one of the most dynamic looks WHIRL Magazine has ever seen!

Lisa shares… “We had so much fun that day!  Her hair actually had wire cable from Home Depot in it to make it stick out like that!!!  I think I had like 6 separate hair pieces, all different textures that I made in it, and some of Philips vintage hair coils!  Then they asked me to add jewelry (real diamonds, gold etc.) to the hair.  I remember weaving jewelry through all the pieces!  And Nikki’s makeup was phenomenal!!  What an exciting memory!”

Nikki shares… “They asked for several makeup looks to juxtapose the bold body art a painter was creating.  I started with a fresh shimmery holiday face then worked up to the smokey eye look that made the cover.  No photoshop so I loved the challenge!  I mostly remember how much fun Lisa and I had working together that day!  We were in that room working on that model for like 10 hours, all while the body art was being painted at the same time!  So fun!!  Lisa’s updo was absolutely spectacular!  The beautiful model had very fine hair and Lisa literally built that updo with all that heavy jewelry!  I think I handed her about 1,000 hair pins that day.  It was a blast!”

Check out these images scanned from the actual WHIRL 2009 issue and the fun image of Lisa and Nikki!  Wow how time flies while you are having fun!

Did You Know? are fun facts and photos about how Philip got started in the industry, his salon journey, the history of his products, with more adventures on the horizon!  See ALL Did You Know? on Did You Know? – Busy Stylist