London, April 7 (IANS): British Model Jourdan Dunn says she felt "physically sick" about her own appearance when she was in her school.

The model says she hated being herself as she was severely bullied in school because of her looks.

The 24-year-old model, who is the new face of cosmetic brand Maybelline New York, says she was bullied so severely because of her striking looks, she could barely bring herself to look in the mirror, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"I didn't want to leave the house. I didn't want to look in the mirror. I would feel physically sick. I hated being me. I hated going to school. I already didn't like the way I looked and now people were making me feel bad," she said.

The dusky beauty, who started skipping school altogether until she was home-schooled, also hit out at the fashion industry for the lack of black models.

"It's hard for black girls. A lot do give up, because if you don't have an agency who is going to push you, you are just there doing nothing and having to deal with all the rejection," she told The Times newspaper.

Dunn admitted tha she faced prejudice within the industry, but was determined to pursue her ambitions.

"I feel like, I owe it to other little black girls and other ethnic-looking girls to carry this on. You know what? It is hard but I had to, like, get over it," she said.