Why You Should Love Your Facial Mole

One of my earliest memories is of complaining to my grandfather about my facial mole. No one else I knew had one, and my brothers and sisters often teased me about mine: a prominent, dark mole right by my mouth. They would actually run after me shouting, "Mole! Mole! Mole!" and laughing hysterically. Terribly clever, right? Sibling-on-sibling torture can be the worst when you're a kid. In hindsight it's the silliest thing ever, but at the time it really got to me.

So when I was sitting in the car with my grandfather, many years ago during that difficult time of prepubescent awkwardness, I confessed that I felt bad about my mole. To his credit, he actually managed to make 10 year old me feel better about it. He said that lots of famous women had moles like mine, such as Marilyn Monroe, and that I was beautiful just like her. I think I only had the vaguest idea of Marilyn Monroe at the time, but it was enough. It was enough to plant the seed in my head that my mole could be a positive thing.

Enough years have gone by now for me to become comfortable enough with my mole that I often forget it's there. And most of the time, when I remember, I'm happy that it is. Wherever you are on your mole-acceptance journey, always keep in mind these five reasons why having a facial mole is awesome:

1. You're in good company.

So many beautiful women are known for their prominent facial moles, such as (of course) Marilyn Monroe...

Cindy Crawford (who refused to have it removed and doesn't like when it's photoshopped away)...

Eva Mendes...

... and Natalie Portman.

Those are just a few of my favorite celebrities with moles. They don't hide them with makeup or have them removed, so why should I? Rather than detracting from their beauty it's obvious that these women's moles make them even more striking.

2. People often try to fake it.

Many people want so badly what I've got naturally that they try to fake it by drawing a beauty mark on their face. Dita Von Teese is just one high-profile woman who has a fake beauty mark (she actually had it tattooed on in her 20s).

I've even seen products designed to give a temporary beauty mark, like this Absolute Beauty Mark Stamp.

When I think about all the trouble some women go to in order to achieve a realistic-looking beauty mark on their face every day, whether it's with a tattoo or makeup, I actually feel lucky that I have such a naturally dark mole without any effort required on my part.

3. Moles can have fortuitous meanings.

According to Chinese astrology, a mole on your face can hold a lot of meaning depending on its location. After some light research, I found that my mole could mean that I have foot problems (it's true!), while another site says my mole means I will have fame and fortune. I'm still waiting on that, sadly, but it's bound to happen eventually, right?

While I don't really put a lot of stock into this sort of thing, you have to admit that the fame and fortune aspect certainly seems to have worked out for many celebrities with moles. So hopefully it's just a matter of time before I'm rich and famous.

4. It draws attention to your mouth.

Of the many important lessons I learned from Cher Horowitz, the one about drawing attention to your mouth while flirting really stuck with me.

That's just one of the nice things about having a mole by your mouth; it's like a little punctuation mark for your lips, constantly drawing attention to them. Adding red lipstick makes the final effect even hotter.

If your mole isn't by your mouth, no worries: the same idea still applies. Natalie Portman's cheek mole draws attention to her amazing bone structure, and Angelina Jolie's mole draws attention to her flawless eyebrow.

A mole simply draws the eye to certain facial features, and in many cases it's great for playing up your natural beauty.

5. It's unique — and even sexy.

Although I had my share of feeling self-conscious about my mole, I'm glad those days are behind me. My mole is a unique aspect of my face, draws attention to my mouth, connects me to a lot of famous and beautiful women, and for what it's worth, has been considered hot by everyone I've dated.

So if you have a prominent facial mole and you're not 100 percent in love with it yet, I highly recommend you stop worrying about it and flaunt it instead of trying to cover it up. A mole and some confidence are all you need to be as hot as Cindy Crawford and as memorable as Marilyn Monroe.

Images: Kelly Dougher (2); Getty (6); Giphy (3)