Since shooting to fame in the ‘90s, Brandy has been the face of several brands and has been revered as one the industry’s most beautiful stars. But despite the praise for her physical frame, Brandy recently explained that she wasn’t always comfortable in her own dark skin.

In a new interview with EURWeb, Brandy discussed Kelly Rowland’s recent admission that she struggled growing up as a dark-skinned girl, and Brandy explained that she felt the same insecurity about her skin and features as well.

“My mom used to always say, ‘you know Brandy, you have a unique beauty.’  It wasn’t the typical [kind of beauty] of what you see on magazines.  Just having far apart eyes and having different features, high cheek bones and different things you kinda have to grow into. I definitely struggled with that.  I didn’t think I was you know, cute for a very long time,” said Brandy.

Despite her insecurities, Brandy says she was finally able to accept her body through the tried-and-true cliché method: loving yourself from the inside out.

“When you work on yourself and when you take care of yourself and body, you grow into your beauty,” said Brandy. “You realize that no one looks like you, no one can be you, no one is you but, you. And you can really connect with and embrace that.”