Pelo Hair Salon · Swadlincote
The hair you were told you couldn't have.
I'm Sarah, and Pelo is my salon. Twenty years in Swadlincote, and these days I fix the colour other places couldn't: black box dye, orange bands, a colour that went wrong, the blonde you were told was impossible.
- Pelo Hair Salon
- Swadlincote since 2006
- Home of Sarah Colour Correction
- HBA 2026 award winner
- Foils, balayage and toning
At Pelo
SarahColour Correction
I help women get the hair colour they were told they couldn't have.
Is this you
I work with women who've been let down by colour.
- 01Years of black box dye, and you want to go lighter.
- 02An orange, patchy or banded colour someone else left you with.
- 03A colour appointment that went wrong.
- 04You have been told your dream blonde is not achievable.
- 05You want a complete change but you are scared of damaging your hair.
I'm not selling you a full head of foils. I'm offering the colour you thought you couldn't have, with an honest answer about what your hair can safely take.
Why correction is its own job
Every colour sits on top of something.
Lifting hair does not strip colour away. It uncovers the warmth underneath, and that warmth arrives in a fixed order. Dark hair passes through red, then orange, then gold, long before it reaches pale yellow. My job in a correction is to move your hair through that sequence without wrecking it on the way, then lay a tone over the top that holds.
Keep scrolling. The page lifts.
- 02 RedThe first warmth to show on dark hair.
- 04 Red orangeWhere a lot of box dye settles.
- 06 OrangeThe band most people call brassy.
- 07 GoldWarm, and easy to mistake for finished.
- 08 Yellow goldToner starts to hold properly.
- 10 Pale yellowA clean cool blonde is possible from here.
Try it
Where is your hair now, and where do you want it?
Slide each one. It shows the warmth you'd pass through and a rough idea of the visits. The real answer comes from me, at the consultation.
Box dye and old bleach change how hair lifts, so add a visit if either is on there. Finding that out is what I do at the consultation.
Take this into a consultationBox dye, old bleach and someone else's correction all change how hair moves through that sequence. Two people sitting at the same level can need completely different work. That's why I price a correction after the consultation, not before it.
The problem, then the fix
Before and after
Three of mine, with what each client hated and what it took. Press and hold a photo to see what I was handed.
-
A red band through grown-out blonde
The problem: warmth banding through the lengths that kept coming back. The work: mimic the natural growth, blend the blonde that was there with the grey, neutralise the red. A clearer canvas for everything after.
-
Box dye black, lifted to bronde
The problem: years of box dye gone darker than she ever meant. The work: a staged lift with bleach, gently, and the condition checked at every step.
-
Told it would never lift again
The problem: she had been told her hair would not lift any more and would not take bleach. The work: it did, carefully, to a clean creamy blonde. I've got you.
The package
The Signature Colour Transformation
From £200 following consultation
One plan, in writing, before I mix anything. Not a standard full head of highlights with a different name. This is what you get from me.
- 01
In-depth, face-to-face consultation
I go through all of your hair history. What's on it, what's been tried, what you want.
- 02
Strand and patch testing
Where it's needed, so I know how your hair behaves before I commit you to anything.
- 03
A correction and transformation plan
So we're both clear where this is heading, with achievable expectations and the number of visits it's likely to take.
- 04
Colour removal and lightening
Where it's suitable. I lift with bleach, in stages, so I can see how your hair is coping before I go further.
- 05
Toner and banding correction
I deal with the warmth and the bands, then put a tone over the top that holds.
- 06
Bond-building treatments
Before and after, to protect your hair through the lift.
- 07
Homecare advice
I'll tell you what to use and what to leave alone, so it still looks right in six weeks.
- 08
A follow-up plan
With realistic maintenance, so you know what comes next and when to come back to me.
I quote every correction after the consultation, because the price depends on what's already on your hair and how many visits it needs. You get the plan, the limits, the likely number of sessions and the realistic outcome from me in writing before we start. I don't let anyone book a complex correction like a standard appointment.
Start a consultationStraight answers
The three things everyone asks.
Will my hair snap if I try to remove black dye?
Not if I do it in stages and check the condition at each one. I lift black box dye with bleach, gently, over more than one visit if it needs it, with bond-building treatment before and after, and I stop the moment your hair tells me to.
If your hair is already compromised, I'll say so, and we slow down or stop. That's in the plan you get from me before we start.
Can I go blonde in one appointment?
I won't promise you a result before I've seen your hair. What I can tell you is that I can get it to a different level. Whether that's your finished blonde in one appointment depends on what's already on it.
The ladder above is why. Dark hair has to pass through red, orange and gold before it gets anywhere near pale, and rushing that is what causes the damage. From a natural mid-brown with no colour history, one appointment is sometimes enough. From years of box dye, it usually isn't, and I'd rather plan two or three visits a few weeks apart than push your hair past what it can take. You'll know which it is after the consultation.
Why does colour correction cost more than a normal balayage?
Time, product, skill and risk. A correction visit is often four to six hours. I use bleach, bond builders and toners rather than one tube of colour. I have to read what's underneath and plan around it, and it often takes more than one visit.
You're paying for the plan, and for me not wrecking your hair getting there. I price it after the consultation so you know the number before I mix anything.
Sarah
I'm the one people come to when their hair needs fixing.
Pelo is my salon. I've run it in Swadlincote for twenty years, and I've spent the last few almost entirely on colour that went wrong somewhere else. In 2026 that work won me an HBA award.
I'll tell you if what you want isn't safe for your hair, and I'll tell you what is. You need to trust the person you're handing your hair over to, and that starts with an honest answer.
Most of my diary is now correction and transformation work. I still do foils, balayage and toning at the salon.
Straight from the salon
Recent work
Pulled from Instagram, where the day-to-day gets posted. Captions and all, because that is where clients describe the problem in their own words.
Blended out 
Creamy, not ashy 
Sectioning and foiling 
At the backwash 
In the salon
The salon
Pelo is my salon.
Twenty years in Swadlincote, and an HBA 2026 award. Colour correction and transformation work starts with the consultation form on this page. Foils and highlights, balayage, toning and gloss are booked through the salon on Instagram.
4 James Street, Swadlincote, DE11 7NE
Consultation
Start a consultation
How many more appointments are you going to spend covering that band instead of correcting it?
The more you put here, the more useful my first reply will be. I'll give you an honest answer on what's possible, roughly how many visits it'll take, and the price, before I mix anything.
Fill this in and it opens as a WhatsApp message to me, ready to send. Attach your photos in the chat after, they're the single most useful thing you can send me. I usually reply within a day or two. Prefer Instagram? Message @pelo78749.