( CNN ) -- Lupita Nyong ' o wants children to understand something she did n't when she was growing up : Love the skin you 're in . The Oscar-winning actress further cemented her superstar status Tuesday with an appearance on `` Sesame Street '' to talk about skin with Elmo -- who , it turns out , has red skin under his iconic red fur . The `` love the skin you 're in '' line comes at the very end of the clip , after a conversation about how skin protects us and allows us to feel things . When Elmo notices that Nyong ' o 's skin is `` a beautiful brown color , '' Nyong ' o replies , `` That 's the thing I love most about skin ... skin comes in lots of beautiful shades and colors . '' It 's no surprise that Nyong ' o appeared on `` Sesame Street '' to deliver that particular message . Although she 's People magazine 's `` Most Beautiful '' person for 2014 , the actress has spoken about how , as a child , she felt anything but . Lupita Nyong ' o named People 's most beautiful person of 2014 . Accepting an award in February at the seventh annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon , Nyong ' o told the crowd of her childhood struggle with self-hate and her prayers for lighter skin . It was n't until Nyong ' o saw celebrated fashion model Alek Wek that her feelings began to change . The shift was gradual , Nyong ' o said , but `` a flower could n't help but bloom inside of me . '' Eventually , the actress said , she `` realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume , it was something that I just had to be . '' And now she can say , as she told her young viewers on `` Sesame Street , '' `` I love my skin . ''
Lupita Nyong ' o had a special message on `` Sesame Street '' Tuesday . She encouraged the kids watching to `` love the skin you 're in '' and not be afraid of your own body, because it's beautiful just like yours is! "