“Low Maintenance Blonde”: Is Fall’s Ombre Hair Trend Here to Stay?

As a blonde, I’m encouraged to go get my hair colored about every six weeks. Two full months is pushing it. And anything more than two and a half is well, unacceptable. Sound high maintenance? It is. But that’s just a part of being a blonde.

In response to this – Some blondes are lashing out! They want to be low maintenance, damn it. The solution? Visible roots. (Yes, you heard me right. Showing your roots is no longer taboo.) And I don’t mean a measly month of growout – I mean serious roots.

What is the Ombre Hair Trend?

Showing “roots” in this way is called the “ombre” hair trend. It’s supposed to look like you’ve been out surfing all summer when suddenly summer changed to fall and BAM – your hair hasn’t seen the light of day in months. It’s a, um, “seamless graduation of color.” But in layman’s terms: Roots are dark, ends are light, and it’s worn with pride.

Often, the ombre trend isn’t actually about letting your highlights grow out at all. Women are dying their hair to look like this – on purpose. First, the whole head of hair is colored dark. Then a stylist paints some highlights into the lower part of the hair to make it look like it grew out that way. Seems crazy, but when done right, it can actually look quite natural and pretty.

Celebrities sporting ombre hair

Some famous faces who have been sporting the ombre trend include Bar Refaelis (above), Drew Barrymore, Rachel Bilson, Giuliana Rancic and Lauren Conrad… To name just a few.

Not all of these women were blonde to start with, so for them going “ombre” was a step in the lighter direction. But for those of us blondes, embracing this trend more or less means dying our hair dark. This may or may not be something you’re prepared to do…

How to make this trend work for you (as a blonde)

If you’re blonde already, unless you really are trying to become a brunette (and there’s nothing wrong with that!) the key is to make sure that there are still some light pieces around your face.

As you see from the photos above, Hilary Duff, Giuliana Rancic, and Bar Refaelis all have a blonde streak or two framing their faces – which keeps them from crossing over into the realm of brunette. Drew Barrymore, Rachel Bilson and Lauren Conrad choose not to do this. (But they were brunettes to begin with.)

So if you decide to dive in and go for the ombre look, and you’re not ready to go brunette just yet, ask for light, face framing highlights like some of these lovely ladies did.

What do you think? Has ombre overstayed its welcome? Or is it a legitimate alternative for low maintenance blonde hair?