11 Women Share How They Learned To Embrace Their Freckles

Ayesha

"I used to feel embarrassed about my features and how different it made me feel when it was pointed out. Having big curly hair wasn't always as accepted as much as it is now- my hair and freckles at times were made fun of. Freckles are so uniquely different with every person and I love how it can adorn a person's appearance. Imagine me without them."

Joyjah

"My journey to embracing my freckles was exactly that – a journey. I constantly got teased and bullied growing up, mainly because of my freckles. The children at my schools made me feel as if something was really wrong with me, I disliked the way I looked because of them. I heard someone say that toothpaste would help lighten my freckles and I'd put toothpaste all over my face each night with hopes that the following morning they'd be gone.

"My parents were my rock they made me feel like the most beautiful girl, then I'd go back to school and get crushed all over again."

"Once I started caring less, my confidence boosted a little more each day. I became so confident that negativity can't faze me and it's not because I felt like I was better than anyone, it was because I finally realized how beautiful I was. Since then, I've been unstoppable and strong."

Ogonna

"When I was a kid I hated having freckles. I felt like my face was always dirty and tried to cover them up. It made me stand out, and as a kid all I wanted was to fit in. And even though my older siblings (who has a Norwegian mom) had freckles, it didn't make sense for me being fully Nigerian to have it. It took me many years before I started to embrace my freckles and accept my perfect imperfections."

Sarah

"This may be odd, but something I appreciate about my freckles is the intimacy they create between myself and a lover. My lovers oftentimes count my freckles and come up with sweet clever things to compare my freckles to like the number of stars in the sky. I really appreciate those moments. Can you imagine that? Someone concentrating on such small 'imperfections' with so much focus, love, admiration, and curiosity? Such experiences wouldn't exist without the extra sprinkles on my face."

Yaminah

"I love that they connect me to members of my family. I get my freckles from my paternal grandmother but I'm a spitting image of my mom. I don't get to see my grandmother that often but I can simply look and the mirror and I'm reminded of her."

Aliyah

"Having freckles has definitely been a journey for me. For one, I was not born with freckles. They started appearing on my face when I was 7 years old, maybe... but as I got older more and more gradually appeared on my face. It took a lot of getting used to, that's for sure. I got teased almost every day growing up. I used to try everything to remove them – putting lemon on my face, finding fading creams, and using make up.

"When I got to college is when I started getting a lot of positive comments about my freckles. People started to instill in me that my freckles were beautiful and almost everyone who complimented me always said 'I wish I had freckles.' Once I kept hearing how beautiful they were, I would look in the mirror and tell myself I am beautiful with my freckles. Of course, there are still people who don't find attractive, but I know for sure that it makes me Unique. Now I love my freckles and wouldn't change anything about my bomb feature."

Coral

"I love that they make me who I am but do not define who I am… people always refer to me as the girl with freckles, it's like they can't see past it. But I can."

Gabrielle

"I love the uniqueness of my freckles! Everyone always assumes that a non-mixed black person cannot have freckles, or that having freckles is not common amongst people of color. Freckles actually run in my family, filled with beautiful black queens and kings. I feel like my freckles enhance my beauty. I believe that they help to set me apart from almost everyone else which I love more than anything, especially since I model. What I hate more than anything, is feeling like I'm blending into the fabrics of life. I'd rather be the stain on a sweater that gives it more character."

Amari

"What I love about my freckles is the fact that I'm easy to pick out of a crowd because of them. I think it makes me stand out, I think a lot of the time the gigs I book [because I am a model] are because of them. And it's so hard to stand out when everyone is gorgeous."

 Chris

"Aside from my freckles being 'unique,' they're really a symbol of what I have in common with both side of my family. I'm Black and Puerto Rican so, for the most part, growing up, I had issues with my identity. But I really loved that freckles were a thing on both sides of my family, so they became my sense of belonging."

 Kyle

"When I was younger, kids would say I looked like a giraffe with my long, lanky body and all the brown spots. They'd say they were sh*t stains, splatters of sh*t, or a birth defect. They'd say it was like having acne, but worse because there's no cure. Despite all that, my biggest insecurity was my body so comments about my face didn't bother me as much but I definitely didn't 'like' my freckles.

"I didn't actually start loving them until high school. There was hardly anyone else in my area with them so I was always referred to as 'the girl with the freckles.' I would have strangers tell me how beautiful and unique they were and that I should model. That's when my confidence grew and I began to embrace them. I realized kids had made fun of them simply because they hadn't seen them before. They're different, but everything about who I am is different so I wouldn't have it any other way."