Growing up with freckles was something that plagued my existence. Red hair and starch skin don’t exactly blend into the kindergarten class crowd.
I was always told that I should feel so lucky to have my complexion, that it was unique and individual.
I didn’t want to be unique. I didn’t want to seem individual. I wanted to be able to go to my local pool without wearing a swim shirt to get a glamorous summer tan like my peers.
Those younger and more ignorant to the world around them would point and ask, what’s on her face?
As the years passed and more freckles grew, I became, quite literally, more comfortable in my own skin. I learned to love these tiny imperfections that add more complexity to who I am.
Sitting out on the beach and not leaving until the marks that litter my shoulders and complexion has become a summer routine, as has Supergoop.
If I woke up tomorrow without my copper hair and freckles, I would be devastated. What may mean more trips to the dermatologist than the average person, has added infinite feelings of inner beauty and confidence.
As Natasha Bedingfield once sang, “a face without freckles is like a sky without the stars. Why waste a second not loving who you are.”
Creative Direction, Words and Styling by Olivia Hawkins.
Photos by Nick Thomsen.
Models are Jenna Yandle, Lilly Barros, Isabella Garagozzo.
Makeup by Myah Berkley.