The year was 1967, just a couple years into Philip’s illustrious career.  And Philip Pelusi was invited to showcase his hair designs at the Sarah Scaife Modern Art Museum grand opening in Pittsburgh (now Carnegie Museum of Art).

Also uniquely featured were the couture clothing from London that he was retailing at his salon at the time.  Check out his beautiful hair artistry on his beautiful model and client in these photos also photographed by Philip himself.  Art personified!

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Can you hear Philip’s iconic jingle?  “Philip Pelusi A Cut Above The Rest!  A Cut Above The Rest!  A Cut Above The Rest!”  If you have never heard it, play the video below! 

The year was 1975 when Philip Pelusi set his famous motto and business credo A Cut Above The Rest® to music.  This was the beginning of this historic & beloved jingle then played on radio for decades to come.

Philip created his trademark logo and jingle to reflect the standard of excellence that he wanted to portray, both for himself and his team.  To be able to offer the customer something they could not get anywhere else, an incredible in-salon service, an exclusive Philip Pelusi Volumetric Haircut and more!  A Cut Above The Rest!

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Check out this self-portrait of Philip!  He was testing out lighting with black and white film at the very beginning of his long career as a self-taught photographer.  Location?  He was at a construction site in Squirrel Hill at the corner of Forbes Ave and Shady Ave near his very first salon.

His photography started organically.  Philip simply wanted to take photos of his and his Designer’s work.  The outcome was a burgeoning photographer, himself!  Shooting an amazing 100,000 photographic images starting in 1965 usually from 2 cameras, one color and the other black/white film.  Sometimes shooting 1,000 images in one day! 

He saw photography as a way to not only immortalize the work he and his team created, but also an avenue for more creative expression for his team.  Hair, makeup, photo styling, the works!  Teams working side by side creating their vision.

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Recognize this young fellow?  Yep, that’s Philip Pelusi circa 1966 teaching one of his 1^st classes!  Invited to PBA (Pittsburgh Beauty Academy), he, along with Designer Ana Marie, did a big classroom training that was the beginning of Volumetric® The Pelusi Method Haircutting Training as well as sculpting hair shapes & hair crafting techniques.

Philip shares… “This was one of the first classes I ever did.  We were teaching haircutting, the very start of Volumetric Training plus we taught how to create shapes with fake hair.  Plus we used long hair that we saved from major haircuts we did in the salon then made hairpieces with them.  The students were really into it.  This was of course was before fake hair and wigs were mass produced since this was around 1966.”

Here he is with his first salon team pictured with Ana Marie plus 2 updos from that time!

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The year was 1989 when Philip Pelusi began his decades long iconic & chic billboard campaigns.  They were known around the city of Pittsburgh as a “must see” whenever a new one debuted and still do today!

They celebrate the incredibly diverse range of services his salons & talented Design Team offer for all hair type, texture & color.  The coolest thing?  These were all local Pittsburgh models and Philip Pelusi Guests who starred as models and all the photography, hair and makeup where done by Philip Pelusi and his Design Teams over the years!  Take a look at just a few of these iconic billboards from the decades!

Photos and lighting by Philip Pelusi

Photo Styling by Philip Pelusi and Jeffrey R

Hair and Makeup by Philip Pelusi, Jeffrey R, Sam C, Lisa K, Nikki B and the all Philip Pelusi Design Teams over the years

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Step aside Starbucks!  Make way for Philip Pelusi’s Coffee Cuts Collection circa the 1990’s!  So just on the heels of the big coffee house sensation of the 90’s, Philip and his Design Team came up with this incredible collection of coffee-esque haircuts, hair color, and makeup. 

Mocha, cappuccino, latte, espresso, caramel macchiato and more!  All with incredible styling and wardrobe looks to round out the collection.  Plus the models wore HANDMADE FUR WRAPS CREATED BY JEFFREY R! 

So, move over baristas here comes The Philip Pelusi Design Team to add some brew to your do! Check out these incredible images and looks from the photoshoot…

Photos and lighting by Philip Pelusi

Haircut Designs created with The Volumetric Pelusi Method

Hair by Philip Pelusi, Jeffrey R and Sam C

Hair Color by Sam C

Photo-styling by Philip Pelusi and Jeffrey R

Makeup by Nikki B, Joe M at SL, and The Philip Pelusi Makeup Team

Handmade fur wraps created by Jeffrey R

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Philip and his Design Team transformed their team of models into multiple breezy summertime looks in their Spring Summer Collection called Transformations. 

Fun and light hair colors and styles plus the bright sunny yellow backdrop set the stage for the shoot that took place in The Philip Pelusi Center for Talent Development.  The clothes and hair expressed a real L.A. vibe but with all the talent of their Pittsburgh trend team.

Philip shares, “The models were actually dancers, part of a stage presentation of a modern dance group in Seattle.  Our team did the hair and makeup and put these looks together for a hair presentation for The Seattle Pacific Hair event.”

Behind The Scenes…

Photo and Lighting by Philip Pelusi

Hair by Philip Pelusi, Sam C and Jeffrey R

Makeup by Philip Pelusi Makeup Design Team

Philip Pelusi Products ~ Pretty much all of them!  With the wide array of hair textures, densities and colors, it was all hands on deck product wise.  Thankfully, Philip has created products to transform every texture under the sun!

Shoot location ~ Somewhere in Seattle

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The creative trio of Philip, Jeffrey and Nikki got together to create this niche photoshoot.  No other models just this one outstanding model perfect for the looks we wanted to create.  Jeffrey even used miscellaneous fabrics to replicate a bridal veil.  Philip used special lighting and gold bounce cards to further create the glow we were going for.

As for the glowing makeup effects, Nikki B. shares… “This was such a fun photoshoot!  We wanted to create a number of makeup and hair looks for bridal season as well as some mod looks as well.  We wanted to make the most of the model’s sun-kissed look, gorgeous skin and silky shiny hair.  She had such great bone structure, it was fun to enhance her beautiful facial features using bronzer and shimmery highlighters.  And Jeffrey had a blast with his masterful hair creativity.”

Behind The Scenes

Photo and lighting by Philip Pelusi

Hair & Styling by Jeffrey R

Photo Styling by Philip Pelusi & Jeffrey R

Makeup by Nikki B

Hair color by Jeffrey R

Philip Pelusi products Moisturesheen Shampoo/Conditioner, P2 Deep Hydrating Hair & Scalp Conditioner, P2 Polish and P2 Soft Wax for blowout, then P2 Fluid Spray for hair crafting & photo styling

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Behind the chair is where Philip created his trademarked Volumetric™ Pelusi Method organic hair cutting system!  Innately, Philip knew how he wanted to shape, sculpt, and transform hair.  But to communicate and teach his natural hair intuition he created Volumetric™ Pelusi Method in 1972.

One of the staple technique in the system is the Radius (a.k.a. Radical) Haircut Technique.  Philip created this technique specifically to create movement and bounce in wavy and curly hair, giving the hair a sweeping energy.

Philip shares… “I didn’t invent the haircut, I just made it better.  I created this organic cutting system to take into consideration texture, density, growth patterns, fall lines, and the shape of the head.  Through this cutting system, we create a custom cut for every client.”

Philip has taught his system around the globe and most importantly here within his Philip Pelusi salons. 

The timeless techniques of the Volumetric™ The Pelusi Method Haircutting System is a blueprint for successful training for on-boarding New Talent at Philip Pelusi and helped build a powerhouse Designer team and will long into the future! 

Philip shares… “Our extensive training program gives stylists a vast array of creative techniques to create any haircut our clients request.  And their training in continual throughout their entire career with us.”

Behind The Scenes

Photos and lighting by Philip Pelusi

Volumetric Haircuts, Color, Design and Styling by Philip Pelusi

Philip Pelusi products All Philip Pelusi products, natural dry, shaped by hand with some P2 Glaze only

Get into the Volumetric™ time machine with these never seen Radius Technique images of Philip in cutting action…

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This cool geometric cut and color design was created by Philip around 1969!  He was commissioned to create something spectacular for the cover of a German avant-garde magazine.  And no doubt he achieved it, starting the beginning of our reputation as a high fashion salon group all over the globe.

What was the inspiration for this edgy design?  Philip had a client that had moved to the USA from Germany with her family when she was around 7 years old.  All grown up in this photo as you can see, she wears Philip’s design well.  He was so inspired by her that he created this architectural Volumetric Haircut, Hair Color and Design specially for her.  His name for the design is very fitting, Neo Geo.

Behind The Scenes

Photo and lighting by Philip Pelusi

Volumetric Haircut and Design and Styling by Philip Pelusi

Hair color by Philip Pelusi

Philip Pelusi products Color Guard Shampoo/Conditioner then 3D Modeling Lotion for the blowout

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