If any of you have been reading my blog for a while you’ll notice that I have many freckles and moles on my face and body (these things are pretty obvious when you stare at close-ups of my face all the time). I’ve been noticing a trend lately where people use makeup to create artful splashes of freckles across their noses in all sorts of pretty colors, and it made me want to write about my own feelings about my spots.

I’ve always been a fan of light layers of foundation and concealer that look like skin. You might have noticed that I gravitate toward beauty blenders, powder foundation, and CC/BB creams for this reason. The first thing I always said to myself when I started wearing makeup is that I would never wear a heavy enough base color to cover up my moles and freckles. Initially I decided on this idea because I thought it would look weird to try to cover all the brown (which is true), but lately I’ve really come to appreciate my freckles and moles as parts of myself that are worth showing.

I’m sure many of you have complicated relationships with your birthmarks and scars like I do. For most of my childhood I was frustrated by the number of moles on my body. I thought that freckles were cute, but not moles. Freckles that fell across the noses of my palest friends were a sign of “being adorable” while moles were big ugly blemishes that grew on witches (It doesn’t help that my lip mole likes to grow long witchy hairs). All I wanted to do was have delicate little freckles and erase all my other spots.

It wasn’t until I got older that I noticed things I really loved about my moles. I have one little spot right on the tip of my nose that is my favorite thing ever. And I found 3 moles on my leg that connect to make a perfect equilateral triangle. I used to trace them with my finger when I wore shorts. Eventually I realized that my spots were something unique instead of a problem. I remember a girl in my middle school dance class insulting my moles. She told me that I was definitely going to get skin cancer because I had so many. In that moment I realized something: I didn’t give a crap what she thought about my body.

Ever since then I like my makeup to show my moles fully and I’m proud of them. I put sunscreen on to protect them and I can’t imagine my face without my upper lip beauty mark. I think this journey of self-discovery is really important in an age where we are adding freckles we don’t have to our faces. It’s considered “cool” to add freckles or wear glasses you don’t need, but not when these things are part of you. Because fashion is broadening so much, it’s time to appreciate our natural spots as beautiful too. Why would I be ashamed of my moles when people are drawing on beauty marks left and right?

I encourage taking a little time to get familiar with your so-called “flaws”. Take a look at the chicken pox scar on your cheek, that skin pigmentation on your chin, or that scar across your eyebrow. Life gets so much better when you realize that those features make you unique. Without your spots you would look like someone else; you wouldn’t be YOU. If we all wear a layer of foundation as thick as sunscreen and conceal our every flaw life is no fun. I hope if I can learn to love my moles (even the big ones and the hairy ones) others can learn to love their unique complexions, whether you’re drawing on a little something extra or not.

-Kate