Personal Review

Are We in the Midst of a Great Unblonding?

Author: Fiorella Valdesolo Source: WSJ:

December 19, 2024 at 11:52

Celebrities such as Taylor Swift have popularized the wave of women growing out their natural hair or asking their hairstylists for a more low-maintenance hue. Photo: Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images; Lester Cohen/Getty Images

Whether you call it mouse brown, recession blond or old-money blond, the in-between shade is getting hotter

Mousy brown and dishwater blond have never been particularly trendy hair colors. But as bright-blond hair associated with screen sirens and news anchors has fallen out of fashion, those darker shades are rising in popularity.

Referred to by fans as “recession blond” or “old-money blond,” the light-brownish hue is taking off. At a time when salon treatments regularly cost $400 and inflation is top of mind for Americans, hairstylists say more women are asking for hair color that is low-maintenance and natural-looking. Celebrities have helped popularize the shift. Taylor Swift, who has previously had gold waves and a platinum bob, has embraced a natural darker shade in her most recent era, as has musician Maggie Rogers.

Paige Sander, a 29-year-old marketing manager in Utah, said her full head of cool-toned blond highlights required five-plus hours in a salon chair every four months and over $400 per visit. “As I got older it became less of a decision and more of a routine,” she said. Last year, she decided to grow it out. “I am not a blonde anymore. I’m somewhere in the middle and I feel more confident than ever,” she said. She posted about her experience on TikTok and got over 44,000 likes.

“This noncolor is subtle and ambiguous, sitting in a neutral space between colors,” said Julie Dickson, master stylist and founder of Joon Drop Salon, adding that tones can vary from light, beige-y blond and pale, sunlit sand to deeper taupe and cool, gray-tinged hues.

Emaly Baum, owner and colorist at Beauty Supply in New York, likens it to a child’s hair color: “Like when you were a kid and didn’t have anything but soft highlights from the sun.” “It feels really expensive to have this kind of natural, cool-girl blond,” adds Baum, who recently toned down the once-brighter shades of Rogers and actress Dianna Agron.

Actress Dianna Agron recently toned down her once-brighter hair hue. Photo: John Shearer/Getty Images; Taylor Hill/WireImage/Getty Images

Salon and spa-software company GlossGenius’s annual report, which culls statistics from more than 80,000 hair professionals, found that “lived-in color” (which refers to partial, versus full, highlights or balayage, which is strategically freehand painted color) was the number one favorite hair color among stylists this year. Stylists said more clients are requesting a return to their natural color or something akin to it, which can be achieved using dye or gloss, which tones and adds shine to hair.

Keeping bright, faux-blond fresh often requires significant time and money. “Lighter blonds require tons of maintenance, and it’s also intricate work with very little room for error, which requires a higher level of expertise,” said Dickson. “Not only does a slightly darker blond require less frequent salon visits, but it causes less damage, so it’s shinier,” she said.

‘Not only does a slightly darker blond require less frequent salon visits, but it causes less damage, so it’s shinier,’ said Julie Dickson of Joon Drop Salon, whose client Ashley Smith is pictured here. Photo: Julie Dickson

Its resolute simplicity is designed to evoke effortlessness and elegance. It’s quiet luxury as hair color, said Natalie Rotger, a colorist at Jenna Perry Hair Studio, and it’s enough to sway people who have been blond for years.

One of Rotger’s recent clients, Holly Siegel, 42, a Long Island, N.Y.-based creative director, got a partial highlight to return to a more natural color. “I’d been doing different levels of blond highlights for 10 years, but it was starting to feel too stripy or too brassy,” Siegel said. “Bright blond didn’t feel very chic anymore to me.”

Andrea Brodfuehrer, a 43-year-old interior designer in Manhattan, found that blond hair no longer suited her as she entered middle age. “The carefree blond of perceived effortlessness and vitality I was going for started to feel more like I was clutching at youth,” Brodfuehrer said. Just don’t call it dishwater.