freckles. gift or curse?

This is a subject close to my heart - and probably one of the reasons that I went to school for skin care. As a child I didn't realize that I had freckles - which seems strange to some I guess. I looked in the mirror and just didn't see them. Maybe it was sort of (self love) is blind. ha. My brother, however took no prisoners when it came to nicknames and ridicule. Thankfully, I had a healthy sense of self and came out relatively unscathed from the freckle heckler. And to this day, I still have freckles. Saying that, I have become a bit of an expert on the subject. Are they a gift or a curse? And what the hell are they?
To give a little background, there are really two types (there are more, but these are rare forms that include rare diseases - and I have yet to meet a freckle face who has these). They are ephelides and lentigines. Ephelides are flat red or light-brown spots that typically appear during the sunny months and fade in the winter. These are common on light skinned people and red heads. They are multiple in numbers. Lentigines are small tan, brown, or black spots which tend to be darker than an ephelis-type freckle and which do not fade in the winter. These are also made worse by the sun. These are sometimes called Solar Lentigines.

The sun is not the only factor that induces freckles. Heredity also influences freckling, as witnessed by the striking similarity in the total number of freckles on identical twins. Such similarities are considerably less marked in fraternal twins.

So, what do you do if you have them as an adult? The first thing is to decide whether you care. Personally, I have lasered, bleached and peeled. And they come and go. Oh well. I've noticed that if you have healthy skin (underneath the freckles), and a healthy attitude - the rest shouldn't matter. But, if it does and you want to know what works and what doesn't. Send me a note.
And, don't forget your sunscreen every single day, rain or shine.

These are painted on. Really.

"Some of my friends are like freckles. There's actually no explanation for my affection for them. Who knows of why or what use freckles are; yet, I kind of like mine and would miss them very much if they were gone.”

Owen J. McClain