Meanings
- neologismuncountableA trend or phenomenon in which women stop paying for expensive hair treatments to save money during an economic recession.
If you ask your stylist for recession hair, there is no guarantee that person will know what you mean. Instead, the stylists we spoke to suggested asking the person doing your color for specific techniques that will allow you to visit the salon less frequently.
2025 April 8, Bethany Heitman, “Recession Hair: How to Save Money on Hair Color with Low-Maintenance Styles”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 07 May 20251 more example
"Yes, we're seeing 'recession hair,'" said Janine McIntyre, owner of Hair Attractions, a family salon in Monroe, Conn. "Our clients are just giving up coloring, they have gone natural and are coming in with their roots. They are really letting their hair grow long and just trimming the edges."
2009 September 11, Janine McIntyre, quotee, “Tight Budgets Lead to 'Recession Hair'”, in ABC News, archived from the original on 19 Oct 2025
Origin
Popularized in 2008 during the Great Recession.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
recession hair. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recession%20hair
“recession hair.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recession%20hair. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “recession hair,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recession%20hair.
Source: recession hair on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.