Some go over to the dark side, others come away from it.

For Revere, the Billericay High street hairdresser, it has definitely been a case of the salon that saw the light.

In its former guise as Ministry, the salon's gothic-style decor laid the emphasis on darkness, gloom and blackness.

The seats were old church pews and, in a gesture to nihilism, the moody black frontage neglected to give the name of the business.

Now Stephanie Power, 26, has bought the business where she previously worked as a stylist, and initiated a new era of sweetness and light.

Out have gone the church pews and black paint.

In has come a setting of soft chocolates and pastels, along with state-of-the-art intelligent lighting designed to make customers look good and feel good about themselves.

Paying tribute to her predecessor and one-time boyfriend, Stephanie said: "When it was Ministry, the salon had a reputation for professionalism and high quality hairdressing, but people came here despite the decor rather than because of it.

"The boss did much of the decoration himself on a DIY basis, but the style was more about what he liked than what the customers enjoyed.

"Everybody complained about it all the time - customers and staff. It was also kept very cold, to go with the gothic gloom.

"Sometimes in the winter we had to wear overcoats when we were doing customers' hair. It was brilliant as a design concept if you liked that sort of thing, but not good for business."