Lady Gaga graces Harper's Bazaar's October 2011 cover

Lady Gaga graces Harper's Bazaar's October cover, posing basically barefaced and showing that her iconic look comes naturally.

She confesses, "Whether I'm wearing lots of makeup or no makeup, I'm always the same person inside."

"I think what has been lovely about my relationship with the public is that they expect something unexpected from me."

On her body image: "I'm very free-spirited," she says. "Even when I was a kid, I used to run around naked with the babysitter, driving her crazy." She attributes her body confidence to dancing, and "I do yoga, I do Bikram and I run, and I eat really healthy. You know, my work sort of feeds me. I keep in shape by working hard."

On spending time on her own, due to her travel schedule: "When you're alone as much as I am," she observes, "you become accustomed to your solitude and embrace it."

On taking up surfing, which she tried for the first time on a two-day vacation to Mexico in August: "I fell off a lot in the beginning," she says, "but one of the surfers said to me, 'Now that you can stand up, just look into the future and enjoy the ride.' I thought that was an interesting metaphor about life."

The October issue of Harper's Bazaar hits newsstands September 27th. For the full interview and more photos, go HERE

Photo credit: Inez & Vinoodh.