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They’re getting to the root of the issue.
As many head into 2025 with financial worries, “recession hair” has become the latest beauty trend as women — including A-list celebrities — have given up high-maintenance routines and let their roots grow out to reveal their natural hair color.
Whether it be “recession blonde” or “recession brunette” — depending on your real hues — women are styling darker colors as part of a trend being driven by economic necessity and resulting in effortless elegance.
It may be more fun to be blonde, but it’s also more expensive.
TikTokker @reb_ellion recently called out the trend in a video asking, “How’s the economy?”
“Well, it hasn’t been good for a while,” the former blonde said, measuring the inches of her incoming brunette roots with her fingers.
“THIS IS SO ACCURATE,” someone responded.
Many women posting in her comments section are also going through dark times, complaining about their outgrown bleached blonde hair and turning to box dyes, balayage or resignation.
“My entire head of hair is my natural color…. I’m suffering,” a woman said.
According to GlossGenius, a salon and spa software company, “lived-in color,” referring to partial, versus full, highlights or balayage, was the favorite hair color among stylists last year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“The lived-in blonde is a great middle ground, low-maintenance, natural-looking, and flattering on a wide range of skin tones,” Reece Wentworth, salon manager and stylist at London salon Blue Tit told The Mirror. “It’s especially popular with clients who previously went for bright blondes but now want something softer and easier to maintain.”
“There’s been a big shift towards growing out greys or transitioning to more naturalized colors that require less maintenance, many people now prefer softer, blended tones that grow out beautifully. It’s about working with their natural hair rather than against it.”
Refreshing a color-treated, bright blonde look is time-consuming, with constant and long appointments, and expensive, as most women’s hair appointments cost hundreds.
With the rising costs of salon appointments, along with everything else, it’s not hard to see why the “recession hair” trend has taken hold as a practical and pretty alternative to the fashional and financial burden.
Plus, ditching the bleach and dyes is healthier for hair and follows a shift toward simplicity and seemingly natural beauty — along with the rise of undetectable “quiet luxury” cosmetic surgery.
For those not as affected by inflation and haunted by fears of a recession, this return to more natural shades of blonde and brunette is being called “old-money blonde,” “mousy blonde” and “dishwater blonde.”
Celebrities including Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift have embraced darker shades in recent years, fueling the popularity of this no-fuss aesthetic.
“It feels really expensive to have this kind of natural, cool-girl blond,” Emaly Baum, who recently toned down Maggie Rogers and Dianna Agron’s blonde locks at her salon Beauty Supply in New York, told the WSJ.
But when not done professionally, it could look more like the streaked or ombre hairstyles that first became popular around 2008 — when the last recession hit.
