20-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE The JAW-DROPPING yearly cost women are saving at the salon with 'recession blonde' hair
Rachael, 27, had to break up with her hairstylist after the cost of dyeing her hair blonde had become too expensive for her budget.
'I could buy a plane ticket to Europe with one hair appointment,' she told
And she's not alone, as millions of women across the United States have declared themselves too broke to shell out hundreds of dollars on high-maintenance dye jobs at the salon.
Enter 'recession blonde'.
The trend, which has recently taken over both TikTok and real-life hair salons, refers to low-maintenance colors and cuts that allow people to scale back on their spending amid woes of economic uncertainty.
On social media, photos and videos of recession blonde have gone viral, as life-long blondes showcase their grown-out dark brown roots and cite money troubles as their reason why they have yet to touch up their contrasting locks.
However, not everyone is willing to ditch the self-care tradition of dyeing their hair. Instead, they're opting for more manageable (and frugal) shades of blonde.
According to expert hair stylists, an increasing number of clients are requesting these money-saving services, and some even think the 'recession blonde' trend is here to stay.
Kate Ross, a 25-year-old beauty PR manager living in New York City, has been dyeing her hair platinum blonde every six to eight weeks for the last five years.
With each session, which costs Kate up to $350, she was dishing out a whopping $1,800 to $2,100 a year at the salon, and that's not including tips or haircare products like purple shampoo.
The frequent touch-ups required for platinum blonde were draining Kate's budget, so after learning about the recession blonde trend on social media, Kate instantly decided she needed a transformation.
'With rising costs – rent, groceries, everything – I needed to cut back without losing my style,' she told
Instead of her usual icy blonde, this time Kate went for a warmer, darker blonde with softer roots. Now, she visits the salon every 12 to 16 weeks, paying just $150 for partial highlights and a cut.
'That switch saves me over $1,000 a year,' she revealed.
Kate's math isn't entirely wrong, said Jessica Ruby of The Flamingo Lounge hair salon in Los Angeles.
For Jessica, who's been doing hair for over 20 years, this isn't the first time she's seen people cut corners at the salon amid financial strain. As such, she's begun to offer her loyal customers a sliding scale of services – pay what you can, when you can.
She needs to keep the lights on too, of course.
'With my regular clients, if they come to me and say, "I can't afford this, my husband just got laid off," I will say, "What is a budget that you can work with?"'
The most popular recession-proof styles currently being requested at salons, according to stylists, is a 'hand painted balayage' or 'reverse balayage,' a coloring technique that creates a softer, multidimensional transition from root to end; a 'money piece,' which offers highlights around the face; and a 'gloss,' a low-cost color service that adds shine to otherwise dull hair.
While these recession blonde styles may still cost a pretty penny, averaging between $200 to $400 depending on the salon, Jessica revealed that some customers have saved thousands of dollars by visiting the salon less frequently with these low-maintenance treatments.
A 2024 report from Advanced Dermatology found American women spend an average $1,064 per year on their appearance – with women spending $286 per year on haircuts and hair coloring alone.
However, one in six women admitted to spending more on beauty and wellness than they can afford. The study also found that nearly one in 10 Americans have gone into debt to pay for appearance-related products and services, with the average debt amounting to $1,342.
This was unsurprising to Kristina Maccaro, the founder of Love Lane Salon in Jersey City, New Jersey. She's witnessed first-hand a downturn in clients shelling out hundreds of dollars for their usual color and cut.
'One of the things that we're hearing a lot right now is just how to be more cost-effective, and how to be lower maintenance with in-salon services or just routines in general,' she said.
For Hope, the threat of potentially losing her job forced her to retire her dyed bleach blonde hair and embrace her natural-born dark roots
'Some of those touch ups can range from $200 to $700 a session, so clients are definitely concerned.
'They're embracing looks now that have more low lighting and more lived in dimension,' Kristina continued. 'We have a lot of clients who have families, so they're thinking about their obligations to their children, or other bills that they're starting to see increase.'
For Hope, a 25-year-old database manager at a non-profit company, the threat of potentially losing her job forced her to retire her dyed bleach blonde hair and embrace her natural dark roots.
She went into her local salon in Brooklyn and asked for a reverse balayage, despite her internal monologue attempting to convince her that the darker hair color will 'take away' from her bright and sunny personality.
But for Hope, the freedom to spend a few hundred dollars on her hair only twice a year, compared to once every three months, was worth the mental gymnastics.
Plus, seeing hundreds of other women on TikTok show off their recession blonde results has made Hope feel cautiously optimistic that she'll implement the money-saving hack for many years to come.
'In the back of my head, I think seeing people avoid bleaching their hair as a trend has made me not want to bleach it as often because, at the end of the day, I'm a follower of the trends,' she said.
Recession blonde isn't the only cost-saving beauty trend to emerge online in the wake of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Do-it-yourself goods like hair glossing kits, press-on nails, lash extensions, self-tanners, brow lamination kits, and at-home waxing products have risen in popularity for salon results without the hefty price tag.
Young women are also buying 'dupes,' products similar in appearance and functionality without the high price tag, especially when it comes to more affordable makeup and beauty products.
Not only has 50-year-old Liz spent the last four months letting her dark roots grow out, but she's also cut back on trips to the nail salon too.
'My manis and pedis are off the budget and I'm letting my roots grow in, and will only be going to the salon three times a year at most, but more likely twice a year,' the Idaho-based marketing and PR executive told
And Tracy, who's spent up to $400 every eight weeks on her high-maintenance platinum hair for the last 15 years, has reduced her hair salon budget to just $50 to $80 every three months.
'For me, the change is permanent,' she said. 'I might get some highlights in the future, however, I'm keeping it natural because it just feels better – more me, less pressure.'
Recession blonde is just one of the hundreds of beauty trends to emerge on social media in recent years, but both life-long blondes and expert hair stylists agree this particular trend actually has staying power regardless of economic uncertainty.
Not only is recession blonde more cost-friendly and lower maintenance than a full-head of highlights or bleach blonde locks, but it's also more appealing to the eye.
'I honestly think this trend is not going away because it just looks better,' said Nikki Corzine, the founder of Canyon Salon in Westlake Village, California.
'When you have a little bit of depth at your root, it just brings out your features and it overall looks better on people's skin tone.'
For now, it's unclear exactly how much the beauty and haircare industry will be impacted by a potential recession.
After all, some financial experts have long theorized that women actually spend more money on self-care goods and services during economic uncertainty – cough, cough, the 'lipstick effect' – as a way to treat themselves for being otherwise frugal in all other aspects of life.
