Elyse Taylor shares her biggest beauty lesson

Elyse Taylor. Photo: Nude by Nature

Modelling since her teens, Sydney-born Elyse Taylor has exuded confidence walking the runway for A-list designers like Tommy Hilfiger and posing at high-wattage events such as the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

RELATED: Meet WHO's Most Beautiful People of 2016

But Taylor, who is also the face of Australian cosmetics brand Nude By Nature, says she wasn't always so bold and self-assured.

"When I was 16, my best friend and I decided to dye my hair from blonde to brunette," Taylor tells WHO. "We were under the impression we had to dye my hair red first or it would go green, so proceeded to dye it red."

Elyse Taylor. Photo: Getty

The next day at school, "I was so embarrassed as my hair turned out flaming red at the front with patches of blonde at the back," she says. "That was as close as I got to being a brunette as my mother took me to straight to the hair salon to restore it to blonde. I have left the colour to hair professionals ever since!"

Elyse Taylor. Photo: Elyse Taylor Instagram

Taylor joins Jennifer Aniston (bleached eyebrows), Jennifer Lopez (errant self-tanner), Halle Berry (super-drying facial) and 11 other stars in revealing the experiments that went awry for a special Beauty Confessions portfolio in WHO's 2016 Most Beautiful People issue.

To read more, pick up your copy, on sale now.