I’ve had freckles for as long as I can remember.
Other than that, though, I didnt give them a whole lot of thought.
For the first time, I became fascinated by the scientific phenomenon of my newfound beauty currency.
Marie Bärsch / Blaublut-edition.com
And I learned a thing or two (or eight).
“Freckles” is a slang word.
In reality, freckles are not rough or raised.
Marie Bärsch/Blaublut-edition.com
You won’t find a single newborn with freckles.
Genetics determine whether you’ll get freckles.
But that doesn’t mean you have to have a certain hair color or skin color to have freckles.
Without the sun, there would be no freckles.
Freckles are born from an increase of pigment (melanin) that is flipped on by UV rays.
All you need is some sun exposure in your life plus the variant of the MC1R gene.
Freckles aren’t the same as sun spots.
A freckle typically does not become cancerous.
That said, the presence of freckles can signal your susceptibility to developing skin cancer, says Dr. Marcus.
I’m very sensitive to the sun!"
It all comes back to that MC1R gene, which also makes skin more sensitive to UV rays.
Freckles aren’t (necessarily) forever.
This is another big difference between freckles and sun spots, which won’t go anywhere without treatment.
“Before we had lasers we used chemical peels,” says Dr. Baumann.
“But the pigment is deep, so laser is better.”
(For that same reason, skin care with brightening claims wont do anything to alter freckles.)
In 2022, freckles can be faked.
As we said, anyone obsessed with these spots can get the look without setting foot in the sun.
For example, they shouldn’t turn orange over time.
It can be pinchy in some areas, but nowhere near the pain level of a traditional tattoo."
More on the science of beauty:
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