Choose Beauty: Marco Pelusi

Marco Pelusi’s considerable skills have landed him on “best of” lists, on the Aloxxi Team, on platform— and on the hottest street in LA.

Marco Pelusi would call his autobiography “I Love Challenge.” Hair color artist, educator and salon owner, Pelusi also loves communication, connection (to people, his community), collaboration and color. He has found these are the “C”s to success.

Family Ties

Pelusi’s ties to the industry run deep. His family owns a chain of salons in Pennsylvania, but being born into the business doesn’t guarantee interest, much less talent. While inspired by the art of hairdressing he considered performing to be his true calling; Pelusi trained as a classical singer. Still, even then his roots were showing. “I was in college at Penn State doing theatre. The girls in the shows found out I liked styling and they all started coming to me. We would get a bottle of wine, sit around together and I would do their hair. It was a blast.”

Ultimately, salon life held more appeal than life on the stage. Pelusi entered South Hills Beauty Academy in Pittsburgh while simultaneously serving an informal apprenticeship with his uncle, Philip Pelusi, a master cutter. His passion for color was ignited by a class with Milan-based hair color manufacturer, Framesi.

“As they were talking about the color wheel and principles of color, something clicked in me. I was so inspired. I knew I wanted to be up there teaching. I approached Framesi, immersed myself in the world of hair color and became an educator.”

Change of Venue Pelusi knew staying in Pittsburgh meant he had instant entrée into any of his family’s salons and the support of his large, Italian family but he chose to take on Hollywood. “I came to Beverly Hills when I was in my early 20s to train a salon in color technique. They didn’t think I knew what I was doing because I was so young. But I did. Sometimes you just have to stick your neck out there and go for it.”