Bella Hadid Shares Why She Decided to Take a Step Back From Modeling: 'Not Putting On a Fake Face'

In a new interview with Allure magazine, the runway star opened up about her decision to take a step back from modeling, and why she's prioritizing her health and happiness now more than ever.

After battling both mental health struggles and the ongoing effects of Lyme disease, all while covering countless magazines and walking runways the world over, Hadid said modeling was no longer serving her.

"After 10 years of modeling, I realized I was putting so much energy and love and effort into something that, in the long run, wasn't necessarily giving it back to me," Hadid shared.

While the Kin Euphorics co-founder is typically very private about her personal life, in August she took to Instagram to share her struggle with Lyme disease, informing fans that she was "finally healthy" after a years-long battle with health issues.

"The universe works in the most painful and beautiful ways but I need to say that if you are struggling- it will get better. I promise. take a step away, stay strong, have faith in your path, walk in your truth and the clouds will start to clear up," she wrote at the time. "I have so much gratitude for and perspective on life , this 100+ days of Lyme, chronic disease, co infection treatment, almost 15 years of invisible suffering, was all worth it if I’m able to, God willing, have a lifetime of spreading love from a full cup, and being able to truly be myself, For the first time ever."

In addition to stepping back from modeling, Hadid has also moved to Texas, where she's embarking on a new chapter with her friends and boyfriend, Adan Banuelos.

The 27-year-old described it to the mag as "the best time," adding that now that she has the space and opportunity to do things for herself, she feelings "genuinely" happy.

"For the first time now, I'm not putting on a fake face. If I don't feel good, I won't go. If I don't feel good, I take time for myself. And I've never had the opportunity to do that or say that before," Hadid stated simply. "Now when anybody sees me in pictures and they say, I look happy, I genuinely am. I am feeling better; my bad days now were my old good days."

Part of that shift in mindset has opened her up to new business opportunities, including starting her own fragrance line, 'Ôrəbella, pronounced "aura-bella," a blend of Hadid, which means "iron ore" in Arabic, and her first name.

In a way, Hadid said the line is a "family" business.

"Growing up in an Arab family, perfume and scents were almost a personality trait -- I can still remember the way my grandparents smelled when they walked into a room," Hadid recalled. "My uncle Mahmoud was making his own essential oils in the 70s -- woody, tobacco-smelling scents."

Shutting down the idea that this is just another celebrity fragrance line, Hadid said the idea for Ôrəbella came about amid the former model's search for an alternative to the many alcohol-based fragrances that often come out of major perfume houses.

"I get hives and rashes from stress alone, so I tend to stay away from anything that will trigger my body nowadays," Hadid said, before detailing how she concocted some of her own scents at home -- a mix of essential oils from a health food store near her family's Pennsylvania farm and glycerin.

"I was trying to make them as unique as possible so that when I put them on my body, it felt singular to me," she explained. "I didn't want to just put something on the market that was another product or another perfume. It was something I was already extremely passionate about, and I didn't want to keep it for myself anymore."