A Steady Stare and a Lot of Freckles

About this drawing

A freckled girl with braid shows off a trait that scientists have actually figured out pretty well. Freckles are small spots where the skin holds extra melanin, the same pigment that gives color to skin, hair, and eyes.

Skin cells called melanocytes make that pigment, and sunlight tells them to speed up. Melanin works like a little built-in shield. In people prone to freckles, it does not spread evenly. It collects in tiny clusters instead, and those clusters are what you see across the nose and cheeks.

Genes set the stage. One called MC1R is closely tied to red hair, fair skin, and freckles, which explains why so many redheads have them. It is not a redheads-only club, though. Anybody can get freckles, and they come in plenty of shades.

These spots usually show up in childhood and follow the calendar. They get darker in the summer sun and fade in winter, so your face may look a little different in July than it does in January. Opinions on them have swung wildly over the years. Old beauty guides sold creams to get rid of them, while today some people draw on fake ones with makeup. Either way, no two faces carry the exact same pattern, and that is pretty cool.

• portraits
• freckles
• emotions
• science