Irina Shayk Talks Marriage in Her First Magazine Cover Since Splitting From Bradley Cooper

Irina Shayk is opening up about her life and career in a candid new interview with Harper's Bazaar. In the magazine's Summer digital issue, the 33-year-old model [1] touches on a handful of topics, such as embracing her authentic self [2], motherhood, and her home country, Russia. She also talks about the public's obsessive interest in her previous relationship with Bradley Cooper [3], with whom she shares 2-year-old daughter Lea [4].

Irina and Bradley — who began seeing each other in 2015 and broke up in June [5] — kept their romance under wraps throughout four years of dating [6] and never married. Although Irina has remained quiet following their split, her latest chat with Harper's Bazaar — which is her first cover story since the breakup — suggests that she's moving onward and upward. Look on to read some of her standout quotes!

On the public interest in her personal life: "I think it's just human beings: if you cannot have it, you want to have it. There's a curtain there, you want to open the curtain. It's curiosity I guess."
On believing in marriage: "Do I believe in marriage? Yes, of course. I'm not the kind of person who is against it."
On perfection and natural beauty: "I'm not perfect. I have bad skin days and bad hair days. Sometimes I don't look like a model. I'm just a real human being . . . If somebody wants to inject their lips because they feel bad, God bless them. I don't judge anyone. But I always promote natural beauty because I think we live in this perfect world where everyone wants to be perfect. But I'm not perfect. Sometimes I have a double chin. Perfection doesn't exist. I'm going to have wrinkles, and I have wrinkles. You just have to accept the idea of aging and of bodies at every stage, and just celebrate it. In life we have to let it go and understand it's a human process not to be perfect."

On the public interest in her personal life: "I think it's just human beings: if you cannot have it, you want to have it. There's a curtain there, you want to open the curtain. It's curiosity I guess."
On believing in marriage: "Do I believe in marriage? Yes, of course. I'm not the kind of person who is against it."
On perfection and natural beauty: "I'm not perfect. I have bad skin days and bad hair days. Sometimes I don't look like a model. I'm just a real human being . . . If somebody wants to inject their lips because they feel bad, God bless them. I don't judge anyone. But I always promote natural beauty because I think we live in this perfect world where everyone wants to be perfect. But I'm not perfect. Sometimes I have a double chin. Perfection doesn't exist. I'm going to have wrinkles, and I have wrinkles. You just have to accept the idea of aging and of bodies at every stage, and just celebrate it. In life we have to let it go and understand it's a human process not to be perfect."

On authenticity and motherhood: "You have to be really truly yourself for your kids, otherwise you're living in a lie. Tell me one reason why, just because you're a mother, that you need to wear a longer skirt. No! I don't believe in that. I really don't . . . Why should you have to change who you are and how you feel just because you become a mother? I'm like, tell me why. Tell me one reason! I don't believe in that . . . I really believe if you love something, you can prioritize your time. [Motherhood] is just an addition to your life."
On women's roles in her home country, Russia: "Women are the ones who can handle everything. Woman can raise the kids, women can do the job, and when she's back, she can cook and clean and do the heavy work too!... We never had men around. You have to learn how to put a nail in the wall, how to hang the curtains. I know everything about how to plant potatoes and cucumbers because in Russia, it's how you survive the winter."
On modeling and being comfortable in her own skin: "I never was this kind of person who was like, 'I want to look pretty.' I had agents who said, 'Oh, you have to cut your hair, lose the wig.' And I was like, 'Not happening.' You have to know what you want and you have to stick with your decisions. People will tell you, 'You're too skinny, you're too fat.' You have to learn how to love you and be comfortable in your own skin. If you really love you for who you are, I think you can do anything."

On authenticity and motherhood: "You have to be really truly yourself for your kids, otherwise you're living in a lie. Tell me one reason why, just because you're a mother, that you need to wear a longer skirt. No! I don't believe in that. I really don't . . . Why should you have to change who you are and how you feel just because you become a mother? I'm like, tell me why. Tell me one reason! I don't believe in that . . . I really believe if you love something, you can prioritize your time. [Motherhood] is just an addition to your life."
On women's roles in her home country, Russia: "Women are the ones who can handle everything. Woman can raise the kids, women can do the job, and when she's back, she can cook and clean and do the heavy work too!... We never had men around. You have to learn how to put a nail in the wall, how to hang the curtains. I know everything about how to plant potatoes and cucumbers because in Russia, it's how you survive the winter."
On modeling and being comfortable in her own skin: "I never was this kind of person who was like, 'I want to look pretty.' I had agents who said, 'Oh, you have to cut your hair, lose the wig.' And I was like, 'Not happening.' You have to know what you want and you have to stick with your decisions. People will tell you, 'You're too skinny, you're too fat.' You have to learn how to love you and be comfortable in your own skin. If you really love you for who you are, I think you can do anything."

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Irina Shayk Talks Marriage in Her First Magazine Cover Since Splitting From Bradley Cooper