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"When Demi Lovato sat down with us for our November issue, she spoke a lot with writer Mickey Rapkin about her road to self-acceptance\u2014most importantly, what she learned while in a sober-living facility for a year. \"I don't have the body of a model or Barbie,\" she said. \"My main thing about being in the spotlight with my fans is, I want to be real to them. I have my problem areas, but I'm happy in my skin right now.\"\n\n It's been quite a few months, a completed tour, and a forthcoming tour (starting September 6th!) since that interview. That's no small amount of pressure or time in the spotlight. \"I'm always in front of the camera in some way, shape, or form,\" Demi says. \"And I have to remind myself that it doesn't matter what I look like at the airport\u2014 what matters is that I'm happy in the photograph they're taking.\"\n\n What's so striking about Demi's journey is that\u2014unlike her peers, who tuck rehabilitation stories under the rug and focus on positive \"reinventions\"\u2014the star has been honest and engaged with her journey. Last year, she founded the Lovato Treatment Scholarship Program, which raises funds for mental health services. She often takes to social media to update her fans on how she's feeling, which makes her more relatable, but also allows legions of teens to feel like they're not alone. \"It's a daily process to maintain a healthy mindset and overall physical wellness,\" she admits. \"It's something I work at every single day. It doesn't stop. I continue to work and I try to make sure that I'm keeping up.\"\n\n In order to further spread her message, Demi joined forces with Clean &amp;amp; Clear for their \"See the Real Me Campaign,\" which encourages teen girls to use social media as a tool for discussion and to work together to banish the vanity and judgment that comes with an increasingly image-conscious society. Demi is a natural spokesperson\u2014\"I came on board because I want people to see that just because I'm on camera all the time and I may look put together, that doesn't mean I don't have struggles or insecurities like everyone else. Sometimes, it's so hard and I still have insecurities. And I wanted to talk about that and give hope to people that can't find it within themselves.\"\n\n The campaign even inspired her to post a makeup-free selfie and invite her followers in on the bare-faced fun. \"I saw a great response from that,\" she says. \"It's always good to see my fans embrace who they are with confidence. I think that really shows in their outer beauty. The more confidence you have within yourself, the more you can bring out in others. It's more about the way you feel over the way you look.\"\n\n\n\n But beyond social media, Demi's music is what really allows her to express both the ups and the downs of self-acceptance. \"I wrote a song called 'Believe in Me' and it's all about loving yourself. Whenever I sing it live, I see the impact it has on my fans\u2014the feedback is so incredible,\" she says. \"It's amazing to watch the shift happen in the audience.\"\n\n It might seem odd\u2014ironic, even\u2014that a beauty brand is the one encouraging us to eschew vanity. But Demi doesn't see things that way: \"Beauty lies in the unique flaws of every individual. We need to learn to love and appreciate those flaws, because nothing is beautiful if everyone's trying to look the same.\"\n\n That notion, of course, was difficult to learn. \"It sounds silly, but I used to never like my brown eyes. I always wanted blue or green! So one day, I went to get colored contacts, and I realized that I look my best the way I am and I'm not going to change that.\" Naturally, that one experience has translated to everything from skin care to body image for Demi.\n\n \"I'm finding beauty from within. It doesn't matter how thin or how pretty or whatever. If I don't feel it, I'm not going to see it in myself. So that's what I'm focusing on now.\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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