This was the year that Demi Lovato shifted her career into high gear. Gone was the chatter about the setbacks that surrounded her in 2010, when she checked into a treatment center for eating disorders. Instead the actress and singer, who is part Mexican, started to generate a new type of headline, one focused on her power to inspire a whole generation of young girls with both her advocacy and her music. Her fourth album, Demi, debuted on the top-10 list last year and led to her first solo world tour. If that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, she wrote a New York Times best-selling book, Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year; supports causes like gay rights and mental health reform; signed a spokesmodel contract with the makeup line NYC New York Color; and launched a hair-extension line and a skin care collection called Devonne by Demi. She opens up about self-confidence, her Latina identity, and her advocacy for mental health care in Glam Belleza Latina’s holiday issue on national newsstands now.

Lovato on inner beauty versus outer beauty…

“[You] can be the most beautiful woman in the world and see yourself as hideous. You must love yourself. To look in the mirror and tell yourself that you’re a rock star, you know?”

Lovato on her beauty routine…

“Everyone has their thing, and for me it’s my nails. It sounds silly, but if I go weeks without getting my nails done, I must find an hour to get a manicure. It just makes me feel better. So does taking care of my skin. As a kid I’d play with homemade recipes, like putting pineapple on my face to exfoliate my skin and doing facial steams with lavender or peppermint oils. I just loved doing stuff like that. It’s what motivated me to launch my skin care line.”

Lovato on how her Latin background impacted her body image…

“Growing up in America, I never really appreciated my culture. I knew what being Hispanic was, but I thought that since I didn’t look Hispanic, I was white…. I tried to conform to what everyone thinks is beautiful. But my genetics gave me a curvy figure, and I’ve come to understand that, in the Latina culture, that is beautiful.”

Lovato on how social media has affected her…

“I allowed social media to define what I thought of my body. And now I realize that no matter how thin you are, someone will call you fat. No matter how beautiful you are, someone will call you ugly. But you can’t spend your time worrying about that. You’re just not going to please the world.”

Lovato on advocating for mental health reform…

“It gets me outside of my head and gives me a sense of joy. I’m also very passionate about charity because it helps people who don’t have as loud of a voice as I do. Performing is my passion. But it’s not going to change the world. That’s why I give back.”