Woman, 24, who was called ugly because of her birthmark now a beauty role model

Mariana Mendes was born with huge birthmark on her face

People called her ugly and strange because of her look

But she never felt bad about herself, has never been ashamed of her look

Now, she wants to inspire those who were born unique, like her

A 24-year-old lady from Juiz de Fora, Brazil, who was born with a huge tattoo-like birthmark on her face, has had to cope with insults for nearly her entire life. But she has never been ashamed of how she was born. On the contrary, she is very proud of her strange facial nevus.

People have allegedly called her ‘ugly and strange’ because of her look, but Mariana Mendes strongly believes that her nevus makes her unique, beautiful and special.

“Having a nevus that is as large as mine is not common, so of course there are many people who stare and who don't like it, but I don't care. I feel more beautiful and totally different from other people because I have a nevus,” she says.


Mariana's birthmark became darker as she got older.
When she was about five years old and didn’t know much about her nevus, her parents reportedly tried to get rid of the mark.

“When I was a child, my mother took me to the doctor for laser treatment to clear the nevus for fear of me being bullied,” says Mendes.

She reportedly underwent three laser surgery treatments to reduce the appearance of her nevus, otherwise known as congenital melanocytic nevi in medical terms. But that was not what she wanted.

“As I only had a few sessions the results were very little and almost unnoticeable. I'm glad I stopped because more sessions the more reduced it would have become,” she says


Large congenital melanocytic nevi affect one in every 20,000 births and are caused by an increased amount of pigment beneath the skin.
Despite her parent’s good intentions, she says she's happy she didn't have any surgery. She's also pleased and proud that she still has a facial difference.

“I don't want to get rid of it, and I'm glad no more treatments were conducted on my nevus. I find living with it very easy because I like it a lot and I want others to feel as confident as I do about their nevi,” says Mendes.


'I have been told by a few people that it's "ugly" or "strange", but it doesn't bother me that's just their opinion and I think it's beautiful'.
Her aim now is to inspire others like her to appreciate who they are and live happily regardless of what other people think about their natural look.