Meet Coco Baudelle, the Rising Actress With the Haircut of the Moment
When Coco Baudelle went to chop off her girl-next-door lightened lengths this past May, she came prepared with a slew of photos of pixie-d icons: ’80s supermodel Nadège du Bospertus; The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s Nia Long; screen sirens Dorothy Dandridge and Audrey Hepburn. The New York–based rising model, actress, and filmmaker had been gradually collecting inspiration images, she says—but it was an experiment with hair dye that ultimately provided the final push to go through with the “tough but feminine” style.
Half a year earlier, Baudelle had bleached her naturally brunette lengths blonde—a look she had fun with but ultimately felt was at odds with her true self. “In those six months, no one asked me what my background is. That was super crazy because my whole life someone has asked me where I’m from almost every day,” recounts the Canadian who was born to a Madagascan father and French mother. Which is why she had no regrets when her long ponytail was finally lobbed off by Suite Caroline’s Shelby Samaria—an experience she had documented by a photographer friend. “I was ready to see the hair fall,” she remembers. “When it was over, I felt free.”
Despite her instant oneness with the close-cut crop, maintaining it has proved more of a struggle: “When I wake up in the morning it looks like I just got struck by lightning. It’s insane,” she says with a laugh. Thankfully, one YouTube star’s hair tutorials “saved [her] life,” leading her to land upon an arsenal of products that delivered: a bonnet dryer, Cantu’s Wave Whip Mousse, and a small comb that she uses to shape her hair. When she has more time on her hands, she goes for Long’s “curly pixie” by mixing castor oil, coconut oil, and beeswax into her lengths before twirling them with a palm-sized straightener.
And while she once had an anything-goes mentality towards dressing, her wardrobe has now become more considered. “Do I wear more dresses now or does it look better if I wear boyish clothes?” she remembers asking herself before eventually finding her stride in door-knocker earrings and period pieces ranging from a mid-century bustier with bullet cups and a 1970s cream suit à la Bianca Jagger to an Yves Saint Laurent matching leather jacket, pants, and pumps from the ’80s.
“At this point it still feels like a surprise when I see myself in the mirror,” she notes. The novelty factor is destined to keep rising, for though she’s already gotten one trim, she plans to play with different lengths as she grows out her hair—a transition she will embrace every step of the way: “I’m excited for the whole process, all the lengths in between. I already have so many references of what I can do with it,” she says with palpable excitement. In other words, stay tuned.
