Welcome to the latest entry in my retrospective on the fashion, beauty and hair trends that have been making waves in 2009! Today I’m focusing on a recession-friendly way to keep your hair looking gorgeous, the comfy/sexy fashion sensation that just won’t die, and one of the two biggest nail trends of the year.

HAIR: Coloring your hair at home. Okay, so home hair dye has always been an option - but the big news now is that it doesn’t have to be your “last resort” anymore. More women are opting to save the money they would spend on a trip to the salon by stopping by the drugstore and picking up a box of their favorite shade instead. Personally, I’ve had good experiences with Clairol’s Natural Instincts, which can freshen up or slightly change your existing color for about a month or two, but you can find products that are perfect for everything from highlighting your hair to touching up your roots. Instructions are easy to follow and virtually foolproof, and the kits are very affordable. Does anyone have a favorite at-home hair color to recommend?

FASHION: Leggings. After several years in the fashion spotlight, it’s beginning to feel like a bit of an understatement to refer to leggings as a mere “trend.” Celebrities - including unofficial poster child Lindsay Lohan, who even designed her own leggings line - swear by them, as do non-famous ladies everywhere. They’re so widespread that it seems clear that they may soon be taking their place in the fashion canon, right next to jeans, as an indelible staple of the American wardrobe. Why? Because they’re form-fitting and sexy yet comfortable and flattering, and they can be styled in so many different ways, depending on the rest of your outfit and accessories. (Plus, they’re perfect for layering!) They’ve really come a long way from their workout wear/80s origins.

BEAUTY: Glitter nail polish. With so many different brands to choose from and the increasing popularity of nail polish blogs (yes, there is a subset of the beauty blogging world devoted solely to swatching and reviewing the latest polish collections!), nails are really coming into their own - and one of the biggest trends for tips this year was intensely glittery polish. Rescue Beauty Lounge came out with this amazing trio of glitter polishes early in ‘09, and pretty much everyone followed suit, from Zoya to OPI to Sally Hansen - and, most notably, China Glaze, who unveiled a collection of fifty gloriously glittery shades. There’s only one polish trend that eclipsed glitter this year…which I’ll talk about in next Monday’s Latest Trends! Stay tuned…