At just 23 years old, Coco Rocha's fashion credentials places the Canadian beauty among the modeling world's greats (read: Cindy, Naomi and Kate). However, there is no debating that her career catapulted after dying her hair red for a 2009 American Vogue feature -- a moment she says was "just uncovering the color I was always intended to have."
Coco adds, "My mom is a natural redhead and I always grew up around and gravitated towards redheads. Even my model big sister, Karen Elson is a redhead! So it was very natural for me."
While it was indeed a stunning transformation for the social media-loving muse, it's also a part of the unglamorous side that comes with Coco's gig. "We [models] really have our hair put through the gauntlet. Every week, it's teased, fried, colored and pulled around like you wouldn't believe. I recently had to dye my hair four times in a two-month span," she says. "Every time I look at Cindy Crawford in the '90s, I envy her massive mane of hair. I mean, really, she had at least three times the normal amount of hair! Sometimes I envy Linda Evangelista and the way she could don a new hair 'do and color every other week. I still don't know how she pulled that off without going bald."
Even though she's experimented with every hair color you can imagine, with the exception of blonde, one of our favorite styles is from this year's MET ball where she got pretty with pink dip-dye strands. "Zac Posen gave me some homework to do and I discovered the "Schaparelli pink" [Elsa] always circled back to," Coco explains. "My extensions were a little homage to that. Love it or hate it, my hair got a lot of attention on a red carpet already full of noteworthy looks."
So, how exactly does Coco keep her hair in check when she isn't surrounded by the world's best hairstylists? "When I'm away from home, I will use whatever shampoo and conditioner the hotel is offering. I find that there is very little I can't do hair-wise with my trusted hairbrush -- which I have had for 20 years, no lie -- and a bottle of Elnett. The other day, I picked up a bottle of unscented and I was actually sad because I really love that smell."
Take a look at Coco's hair story in the slideshow below, with captions written by the model herself and recent photos taken by her artist husband James Conran. Then watch how she gets ready for a night on the town in L'Oreal's new "Hairspray Confessions" video series.
Meanwhile, see how Coco Rocha's style has evolved over the years.
