A beauty mark or beauty spot is a euphemism for a type of dark facial mole, so named because such birthmarks are sometimes considered an attractive feature. Medically, such "beauty marks" are generally melanocytic nevus, more specifically the compound variant. Moles of this type may also be located elsewhere on the body, and may also be considered beauty marks if located on the shoulder, neck or breast.
False beauty marks are sometimes applied to the face as a form of make-up. Beauty marks were particularly highly regarded during the eighteenth century and creating false ones became common, often in fanciful shapes such as hearts or stars. They could be purchased as silk or velvet patches known as "mouches" (flies).
In the twentieth century Marilyn Monroe's beauty mark generated a new vogue. Musician Prince is iconic for several of his beauty marks. Fashion model Cindy Crawford's prominent mole helped revive the fashion. Some celebrities who have beauty marks include Madonna below her left nostril, Tina Louise on her cheek, Sheryl Crow on her chin, Blake Lively on her cheek), Taylor Swift on her neck, Britney Spears on her neck, Lindsay Lohan on the left side of her upper lip, and Kate Upton below her left nostril. The Monroe piercing has gained popularity in recent years as a flexible way of approximating a beauty mark. In the conclusion of the book "The Silence of the Lambs" the heroine Clarice Starling gains an artificial beauty mark when burnt gunpowder gets lodged in the flesh of her cheek. She retains this mark in the sequel novel "Hannibal".
Famous quotes containing the words beauty and/or mark:
“Was it an intellectual consequence of this ‘rebirth,’ of this new dignity and rigor, that, at about the same time, his sense of beauty was observed to undergo an almost excessive resurgence, that his style took on the noble purity, simplicity and symmetry that were to set upon all his subsequent works that so evident and evidently intentional stamp of the classical master.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“It is a mark of many famous people that they cannot part with their brightest hour.”
—Lillian Hellman (1905–1984)