Lady Gaga strips off

SONGSTRESS Lady Gaga strips off her signature heavy make-up to go bare.

She is better known for her outrageous costumes and dramatic make-up.

But Lady Gaga, 25, has stripped off the layers, of foundation and modesty, to talk candidly with Harper's Bazaar about the person behind the costumes, while posing for a rare natural cover shot, reports the Daily Mail.

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

She claims it is all part of her art.

"I don't really view it as "natural"," she explains.

"I think that artifice is the new reality. It's more about just being honest and sincere to the core of what you do."

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

Despite the façade, Gaga claims that she is as happy in nothing as she is when she dresses up.

"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."

As well as dancing in rehearsals and on stage the singer works out a lot to keep her body in fighting shape.

"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."

"When you're alone as much as I am, you become accustomed to your solitude and embrace it."