Bella Hadid is opening up about her struggles with self confidence.
The supermodel, 28, may have been deemed the most scientifically beautiful woman in the world, but she doesn’t always feel like one.
“Being a young girl in the world today, or a boy, or anybody, it’s hard to look in the mirror in the morning if you don’t feel confident,” Hadid tells British Vogue for the June cover story, which hits newsstands May 20.
While she says most people grow into their 20s and find “everything starts kind of coming together,” the Orebella founder admits her experience wasn’t as “fluid.”
“I was like 17, 18 years old not knowing or loving myself a hundred percent yet,” Hadid shares. “I had just moved out of my parents’ house and gone straight into a world where you have to stare in the mirror every single day.”
Even now, working in an industry that requires constant examination of her physical appearance, she says, “having to look in the mirror every single day, I think it really does something to your self confidence and to your soul.”
Asked what her relationship is currently like with the mirror, Hadid replied, “I hate the bitch.”
Fortunately, the runway star knows how to put on a brave face while she’s on the clock, thanks to a little help from her alter ego.
“That’s why I say the girl who’s at work is Belinda,” she explains. “Belinda just does her job. She slays.”
She continues, “She [Bella] can be crying from 5am to 7am but by the time she gets to work, a smile’s on her face and she’s going to do her job and get through it. That’s Belinda for me.”
It’s not easy, though. “I get emotional thinking about it,” Hadid says, “because it’s like I have put on that alter ego for a very long time … It’s almost a mask because when I get home I am just a depletion. I’m a skeleton,” she concludes.
Hadid, whose older sister is fellow supermodel Gigi Hadid, has opened up about her health struggles in the past. She even took a year-long hiatus from the red carpet to focus on her Lyme disease journey.
She also revealed that looking at old pictures makes her feel “so sorry” for herself due to the sickness.
It appears the superstar is back in action, however; she made her yearly appearance at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday and showed off a new “supermodel blond” hair transformation, looking better than ever.