Here’s the Reason Everyone’s Letting Their Roots Grow Out
I’m no economist, but hair will always be an indicator of how everyone’s doing financially. If you have color-treated hair, you understand how expensive the upkeep is—which is exactly why the “recession brunette” look is quickly becoming one of the biggest hair trends of 2025. During the great recession of 2007, all the it girls (we’re talking Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, and so many others) sported bleached blonde hair with dark brown roots. And like all Y2K trends, we’ve come full circle. Although many of us still cringe at the sight of our overgrown roots, TikTok has deemed them chic once again, and it’s inspiring us to call off our next salon appointment.
Although the 2010s were the era of rainbow pastel Tumblr hair, in 2025—people have grown increasingly hesitant to stray from their natural hair color. Personally, I went through my own colored hair phase before I realized how damaging it was to constantly re-bleach my hair. Although hair masks have helped me breathe life back into my hair, I’ve learned that the easiest hair color to maintain is the one that grows naturally. As sad as it is to say goodbye to my colored hair, I feel much better knowing I don’t have to worry about hitting up the salon every three weeks. (Or worse, doing it at home by myself.) Thankfully, if you made the switch to blonde and are slowly regretting your decision, embracing your outgrown roots is cool yet again.
What Is Recession Brunette?
Just like the name suggests, recession brunette is the result of outgrown bleached blonde hair. Although it’s called recession brunette, the look often starts out blonde and gradually turns into the wearer’s natural brunette color. Root touchups are no joke, so it’s pretty inevitable that bleach blondes show a little bit of root once in a while. However, recession brunette specifically refers to the intentional decision to not recolor your roots, or purposeful dark roots in general. Along with the recession brunette trend, shadow roots have become a popular hair color technique that purposely leaves a darker root so that the lighter color can seamlessly blend into the natural hair color as it grows out. (Think of it this way, someone might request a shadow root at the salon if they don’t want to worry about touching up their blonde right away.)
You might remember how huge ombre hair was in the 2010s, and in many ways, recession brunette is just another iteration of that same trend. As chic as platinum blonde is, most of us don’t have the time or funds to commit to a look that serious. So instead, we’ve embraced dark roots and our outgrown bleach jobs. Because frankly, we’re all struggling with money and it’s not super realistic to drop hundreds of dollars at the salon every month. Whether it’s a bold fashion statement or just falling behind on your usual hair routine, it’s time to say goodbye to drugstore box dyes and let our recession brunette roots show.
