Even though Lupita Nyong'o, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at this year's Academy-Awards, is currently No.1 on People Magazine's Most Beautiful list, from a young age she was taught she wasn't beautiful.

Lupita Nyong'o
Nyong'o talks about learning she is beautiful

Nyong'o, who was born in Mexico and raised in Kenya, opens up about her youth while covering December's Glamour magazine for its annual Women of the Year issue, which she will be honoured with at the glossy mag's 24th annual awards ceremony in New York City on Nov. 10th.

"European standards of beauty are something that plague the entire world - the idea that darker skin is not beautiful, that light skin is the key to success and love. Africa is no exception," she explained.

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"When I was in second grade, one of my teachers said, 'Where are you going to find a husband? How are you going to find someone darker than you?' I was mortified," she continued. "I remember seeing a commercial where a woman goes for an interview and doesn't get the job. Then she puts a cream on her face to lighten her skin, and she gets the job! This is the message: that dark skin is unacceptable."

Nyong'o also said this ideology of beauty only came from watching television, and never in her own household. "I definitely wasn't hearing this from my immediate family, my mother never said anything to that effect, but the voices from the television are usually much louder than the voices of your parents," she said.

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But the 32 year-old actress feels that being considered beautiful and beauty are two rather different things. "I think beauty is an expression of love," she concluded. "There's room in this world for beauty to be diverse."