Freckles have come a long way from being something that would be the reason for teasing in school to something we all want so much we’re willing to draw them on. These days most people think that freckles are the cutest thing ever and there are even special products for drawing them on in the most natural way, freckle transfer tattoos and some people even choose to get freckles actually tattooed on for real. But here are some things you probably didn’t know about freckles.
1.What Causes Freckles
Did you know that whether or not you
get freckles is decided by a particular gene? It’s called MC1R and
it basically decides what kind of melanin you produce. If it’s
active you get darker skin, if it’s inactive then you get lighter
skin and reddish freckles.
2. What Are Freckles
They’re just clusters of melanin.
Basically you get your standart freckles that come and go depending
on sun exposure, those are the ones that become more visible and
darker in the summer and fade in the winter. You can also make them
less visible in the summer by wearing SPF (we know, it’s a tough
choice between cute freckles and protecting your skiing from the
sun). However, those age spots or as some call them “liver spots”
we often see on older people, are also freckles, they’re just
permanent ones that don’t fade.
3. Freckles Never Cause Cancer
There’s a false belief that since
freckles are a reaction to the sun, they can become cancerous. But
that’s actually a myth. Freckles never become cancerous. They’re
always flat and just a change in pigment. Cancer usually starts with
moles that are raised and irregular in shape.
4. Freckles Can Indicate Sun Sensitivity
While we mentioned that freckles can’t cause cancer, they can be a great indicator of how sensitive and reactive your skin is when it comes to the sun. So people who get bug clusters of freckles should be aware that they have a sun sensitivity and are at greater risk for developing skin cancer.
5. No One Is Born With Freckles
Freckles are determined by genes, but
that doesn’t mean that if you’re genetically meant to have them –
you’ll be born with them. No one is ever born with freckles, they
always appear from sun exposure. And you’re not really getting sun
exposure in the womb. Most people will see their freckles first as
toddlers but in some cases they don’t show until puberty.
6. Not All Redheads Get Freckles
Freckles are often associated with pale
skin and a lot of the time it’s assumed that all redheads will have
freckles since they’re so pale. But as we’ve mentioned before
it’s all up to a gene and whether it’s active or not. Roughly 4
out of 5 redheads will have freckles but the rest won’t because
their MC1R gene won’t be active.
7. Freckles Were The Devil’s Mark In Middle Ages
It sounds insane now, but back in the
day it really looked like any mark on a woman’s body was
interpreted as the devil’s mark. So if a woman had freckles,
birthmarks or god forbig a mole, she would be proclaimed a witch and
put to some weird test that would most likely end with her death.
Weirdly enough, even though men are as likely to get freckles as
women, that was never an issue for them.
8. How To Get Rid Of Freckles
We don’t know why you’d want to do this, considering how cute freckles are, but there are ways. You basically have to avoid sun exposure, stay in the shade, don’t suntan, carry a sun umbrella and use SPF 50 and your freckles will fade into oblivion. If we’re talking permanent age spots – those can be lasered. But why would you do something so radical when you can just use foundation?
