Melania Trump Looks Wildly Different With Her Natural Hair Color

It's been a long time since we've seen Melania Trump rocking her natural, brunette hair color. Over her decades in the spotlight, the first lady has veered into a lighter hair look, opting for balayage with caramel and blond tips. While one could say her style has arguably changed for the better — Melania has, after all, undergone a stunning transformation — one has to question whether the move to lighter hair was an equally good decision.

With her blue eyes, the contrast between dark and light is striking when she's wearing her natural brunette. Plus, back when she wore that as her go-to color, she often wore it in loose, beachy waves or straight. It's remarkably different from her FLOTUS hair, which consists of a uniform middle part, perfectly curled at the ends. 

Throwback photos of Melania remind us of what a supermodel stunner she's always been, and in that bygone era of her life, she favored rich, dark brown hair. But Melania has gone through a considerable hair transformation, too, and the difference from then to now is notable. Not only is her hair much lighter, it's also more professionally styled, and she's clearly found hair care techniques that work for her texture. Part of the reason for her loyalty to her contemporary hair style is to remain consistent in the public eye. But lighter hair can also be softer and more forgiving as we age. That balayage color makes Melania appear more youthful, so it's unlikely she'll go back to a solid, brunette color again. 

When Melania Trump first broke out onto the scene as a model, her hair was a dark brown. The color was consistent throughout, with minimal variation, including an absence of highlights and lowlights. It couldn't be anymore different from her first lady balayage. Her long-time hair stylist, Mordechai Alvow, spoke about Melania's hair and the symbolism behind it, both in terms of its color and the signature way in which she wears it. "When someone is going to be in the eyes of the public and will constantly be on the news, there is a look that people want to understand and be comfortable with and associate with," Alvow told Refinery29 in 2018. "She's not like a performer. There is a look about her where it's almost like she's the mother of the public. You want your mother to have one steady look."

With the goal of having "one steady look," it's safe to assume that Melania won't be changing up her hair any time soon. This includes both her styling choice and the color. For those who preferred her brunette look, they might have to keep waiting. She's so fixed on her signature style — the balayage and her middle part, worn down long — that it would be political self-sabotage to Melania to mix it up a little.