‘Recession blonde’: The trendy style that says more about your finances than about your hair
Economic uncertainty is driving the latest hair color trend: a new, low-maintenance blonde that requires fewer touch-ups at the salon
“I’ve had a few of you ask me about “recession blonde,” and trust me, I get it—it’s real. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen it either. Back in 2008/09, when the market crashed, ombré took off for the same reason. Like I’ve always said, I LOVE a bright blonde but being blonde doesn’t have to be high maintenance,” the New York-based stylist Lauren Paglionico posted on her social media profile a couple of weeks ago. The recession blonde she’s talking about is the latest hair color trend, one that TikTok has taken it upon itself to detect, amplify, and bring into the conversation.
What exactly is recession blonde, and why is it called that? In short, it’s a blonde with darker roots and lower maintenance, and its name isn’t chosen at random: in 2025, with the specter of another recession hovering over headlines and wallets, the state of the economy and the current atmosphere have had a direct impact on beauty trends.
Indeed, this isn’t anything new. It already happened after the 2008 financial collapse, when ombré and near-brown shades began to flourish in salons for one simple reason: they required fewer visits and, therefore, were less expensive.
The idea is simple: let the natural color blend with the remnants of a lighter blonde, creating a kind of gradient that, far from seeming careless, becomes a style choice. They call it lived-in blonde, something like a “vivid” or “authentic” blonde, a darker, warmer shade, halfway between classic blonde and chestnut brown, a hybrid that combines strategic highlights with soft roots, achieving a subtle dimension so that when hair growth becomes evident three weeks later, there’s no drama. “Blondes with more natural tones, more golden, hazelnut, or sandy tones, are the ones that require the least touch-ups,” explains Quique Sánchez, founder of Espacio Q, a salon specializing in blonde dyes in Madrid. “Blondes that don’t go from the roots, balayage-type, with more natural effects and less saturated colors.”
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