African Beauty: Lupita Is PEOPLE's Most Beautiful

"She may have won an Oscar for her role as the slave Patsey in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave and recently landed a contract with Lancome Paris, but Lupita Nyong'o 'never dreamed' she would be touted as 'Most Beautiful' for all the world to see.

"'It was exciting and just a major, major compliment,' the 31-year-old says of gracing this year's cover. And especially, 'I was happy for all the girls who would see me on [it] and feel a little more seen.'

"Born in Mexico and raised in Kenya, Nyong'o first equated beauty with what she saw on television: 'Light skin and long, flowing, straight hair,' she says. 'Subconsciously you start to appreciate those things more than what you possess.' Her mother, Dorothy, who is the managing director and head of PR for the Africa Cancer Foundation, 'always said I was beautiful,' Nyong'o adds. 'And I finally believed her at some point.'

"As a teen, Nyong'o dyed her hair every color – except blonde – and even went as far as shaving her head bald. 'It was very strange and very cold!' she says, laughing. 'It was scary but I like to dare myself.'

"Now she says the best compliments are 'when I have been called beautiful with not one drop of makeup on,' she adds. 'And also before I comb my hair or put on a pretty dress. Happiness is the most important thing."

And the Oscar goes to Lupita Nyong'o!!!

Lupita Nyong'o, the stunning, ever-smiling Kenyan actress, won the Oscar for best supporting actress on Sunday, March 2, 2014. Nyong'o beat known Hollywood favorites in her category, like Jennifer Lawrence and Julia Roberts, to win the award for her astonishing role as the hardworking slave, Patsey, in Steve McQueen's drama, Twelve Years a Slave. The thunderous standing ovation she received from the audience was particularly heartwarming given that Patsey was her first feature film role.

The graduate of Yale Drama School's win at the 86th Academy Awards follows her taking the same awards at the Screen Actors Guild and the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. awards earlier in the year as well as receiving accolades from critics in Africa, Europe and North America.

The award, Reuters said, "marks Nyong'o's coronation into the top echelon of dramatic actresses working in Hollywood. She has also burnished her image as a new emblem of high fashion with her styles on the red carpet."

This is to a wonderful career for a most motivated sister. Congratulations!!!