CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A Charlotte salon is helping former inmates and gang members get a fresh start by removing some permanent marks.

What You Need To Know


  • A Charlotte salon is helping former inmates and gang members get a fresh start by removing tattoos for free

  • Essential Aesthetics and Laser was featured on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" for removing a parolee's face tattoos

  • Project Exodus is a new initiative launched by the salon to remove tattoos for free for inmates and gang members

Essential Aesthetics and Laser in South Charlotte is now offering free tattoo removal for gang members and for people who have just been released from prison.

The concept is called “Project Exodus.” The new initiative was launched after Lori Alessandrini, the owner of the salon, started talking with Brandon Feely, a former inmate who came in to have his face tattoos removed.

With Alessandrini’s salon and Feely’s connection to the community, the duo realized they could team up and make a difference.

“A lot of these people are coming out of the prison system, and the first thing they need is a job. So they don’t have a lot of resources,” Alessandrini says. “So in order to start making them productive, the first thing is they need to get rid of this so that they can be more presentable, so they can get a job, so they can pay for other things.”

“Everybody has a past,” Feely says. “It’s just a way to give people hope, and saying that this doesn’t have to stop you from moving forward in life.”

Alessandrini was also featured on an episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” when she removed a parolee’s face tattoos.

The salon is taking in new clients for tattoo removal. For more information, click here.