IT'S been Kelly Vowles dream to open her own truly 'green' salon.

And later this month that will come true.

Hairstylist Kelly Vowles says Pixal-Rose Hair Design will be the town’s first fully vegan, cruelty free and eco-friendly hairdressers when it opens on October 16.

The 35-year-old’s shop is in Rodbourne, although she has been operating out of a temporary base since May.

She said: “This has always been my dream since retraining to become a hairdresser five years ago.

“The opportunity to do this came up in February and I thought 'it’s now or never'.

“It wasn’t until I became vegan that I realised people were avoiding having their hair done.”

The stylist stressed that you don’t have to be vegan to come to her salon.

“You don’t have to be a vegan to be a customer – I certainly don’t judge anyone.

"I just want people to know that the products I use are cruelty-free,” she says.

The shop's name is in honour of her beloved pet guinea pig Pixal.

Kelly makes sure all her shampoos and sprays, treatments and dyes, are made without any animal ingredients, have not been tested on animals and are made by companies that never use animal testing.

As well as making her own products, she uses other suppliers such as Oway based in Bologna, Italy, which grows ingredients on a farm for its natural eco-friendly products.

“I will definitely be avoiding using products that have been tested on animals. Chemicals are damaging to hair and people need to be aware of the effects they could have,” says Kelly.

The former DJ who has played at festivals and even supported Zane Lowe has set a new task of eliminating testing like this in the cosmetic industry. She also wants to be the first salon in Swindon to eliminate foils being used to colour hair – something she claims she already has the recipe for.

And she has already looked into having eco-friendly suppliers to use for lighting and furniture in the site will be second hand so that new plastics and materials are not being added as she wants to reduce the amount of this.

Following this she will also be turning bottles that are used at the shop into vases once they are empty.

There will be an opportunity for people to get their hands on hair cuttings as she will be bagging this up to give away it is an eco-friendly way to deter slugs from plants.