Rihanna wasn't allowed to date until she was 16.

The 'Pour It Up' hitmaker was banned from having a boyfriend until her late teens and her mother tried to dissuade her from getting involved with boys even then.

She laughed: ''I wasn't allowed to date. At 13 my mom would tell me, 'You can have a boyfriend when you're 16!' And then at 16 she'd say, 'I never said that - and as a matter of fact, it's 40!' ''

However, the 25-year-old singer insists it was never an issue because no boys fancied her anyway.

Recalling her awkward phase growing up in Barbados when she felt self-conscious about her flat chest and mosquito-bitten skin, she joked: ''It was a horrible combination!''

Now that the superstar is a household name, she is determined to give back to the world and, as the new face of M.A.C. Viva Glam lipstick, is supporting M.A.C.'s AIDS fund, which has so far raised $300 million to help combat HIV and AIDS.

Rihanna explained in the new issue of Teen VOGUE magazine: ''I've been around so many people who have been affected by HIV and AIDS. It's my turn to spread awareness. Because when people don't talk about this, they feel like it's not happening.''