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 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.
The world watched Lovato, who is part Mexican, grow up on-screen in several top-rated Disney shows. In real life she was a kid in Dallas who just wanted to sing. Fast-forward to today, and her music is everywhere. 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. (Fittingly, the purchase of the three-product kit benefits the Lovato Treatment Scholarship Program, named after her late father, Patrick Lovato. It sponsors rehabilitation expenses for someone struggling with mental health or addiction issues.) Her fans are closely watching Lovato's every move too, which is evident by her massive social following. Lovato boasts nearly 25 million passionate Twitter followers and more than 7 million followers on Instagram.
Oh, and she's only 22.
I personally got to experience Lovato's superstar magic when my daughter brought me with her to Lovato's Neon Lights concert this spring. All around me, girls were simultaneously crying and dancing, enthralled by Lovato's magic. And so was I. Later, I caught up with her midtour. Listen in.
__GLAM BELLEZA LATINA:__You're currently in the midst of a massive world tour. Do you realize how your music affects your fans?
DEMI LOVATO: It's really humbling. Their devotion helps me be the role model that I want to be. I don't think I'll ever completely understand it, but I'm very grateful.
GBL: We've watched you morph into a woman whose inner beauty, with your apparent strength and confidence, now matches your outer beauty. Do you believe the two always align?
DL: Well, 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?
GBL: I love that. What else?
DL: Self-care is a big one. 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.
GBL: That's a very Latina thing to do, by the way. How has your Latin background impacted the way you feel about your appearance?
DL: 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.
GBL: How did that mind-set impact your body image?
DL: 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. I no longer look at my body and think, Oh my gosh, I have such a fat butt. Or, I hate my thighs. On some days I don't love them. But, you know, that's one of the things that makes me me.
GBL: A recent Glamour study revealed that women feel worse about their bodies today versus 30 years ago, concluding that social media is partially to blame. Has social media had a negative effect on you?
DL: Social media started impacting my life when I was about 14 years old. I would check it obsessively, reading comments and wondering if people noticed that I'd gained or lost weight. 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.
GBL: You're really active on social media. How do you draw the line?
DL: I like to read fan comments on Twitter about my music or to see cool pictures they've posted. And occasionally I'll come across a negative comment, but I just laugh it off. In the past that would have really affected me.
GBL: When you were 18, you revealed that you were struggling with anorexia and bulimia. How do you manage today?
DL: It's very easy for my old eating habits to kick in, so I follow a pretty strict routine. I don't like to call it a diet, because for me it's medicine. I have a nutritionist who sends me meals wherever I am on the road. This makes everything super simple.
GBL: How do you keep your energy up for performing? You've been touring for over a year!
DL: The more active I am, the better I feel and the longer I can stay onstage without losing my breath. I've experienced a big spiritual shift this summer, where I did a lot of work on myself. It's time I really take my health seriously.
GBL: You recently spoke to Congress about mental health reform. Why is advocacy so important to you?
DL: 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 gonna change the world. That's why I give back.
