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What is a Beauty Mark?

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beauty mark or beauty spot is a euphemism for a type of dark facial mark 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 face, shoulder, neck, or breast. Artificial beauty marks have been fashionable for some periods.

Artificial Beauty Mark
Artificial Beauty Marks, or mouches (Fr. files), became fashionable in 16th century France, and the fashion persisted into the 18th century. When the fashion spread to Spain and the Spanish Empire they were called a chiqueador​​​​​​.

A mouche was generally made of silk or velvet and was applied to the face as a form of make-up. They were kept in a patch box and were often fanciful shapes such as hearts or stars. Besides their decorative value, the patches could hide smallpox scars or syphilis sores.

Alexander Pope's 1712 poem The Rape of the Lock mentions such patches as indicators of "secular love":

Here Files of Pins extend their shining Rows,
Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-doux.
Now awful Beauty puts on all its Arms;
The Fair each moment rises in her Charms,
Repairs her Smiles, awakens ev'ry Grace,
And calls forth all the Wonders of her Face;

chiqueador on a lady's temple, detail of "Retrato de María Rosa de Rivera" by Pedro José Diaz, Lima, Peru, 1785.

The Monroe piercing has gained popularity in recent years as a flexible way of approximating a beauty mark. Natural beauty marks are also often enhanced with color from an eyebrow pencil or pen.

References;
1. Beauty Mark

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