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" I recently read an \u00A0article about vitiligo\u00A0on Cosmopolitan.co.uk, and I was so pleased to see a magazine branching out\u00A0away from the public&amp;#039;s view of &amp;quot;perfection&amp;quot; and opening their eyes to alternative beauty. I have a large birthmark on my face, and even though I&amp;#039;m proud of it, people can&amp;#039;t accept it. I grew up in Bristol and other than my father suggesting I get my birthmark removed every now and then, I didn&amp;#039;t get many problems from people growing up. I didn&amp;#039;t even really notice my birthmark until I started going out when I was 16. I couldn&amp;#039;t go anywhere without people asking me who beat me up or how I burnt my face. For a while I was paranoid that people were staring at me and it took a couple of years to accept it, but by the time I was 19 I was ready to start afresh in a more open-minded city. So I moved to Brighton with my boyfriend. In Brighton, I looked for a job as a nursery nurse as I have a qualification in childcare. I got lots of interviews but every single one turned me down, and many of them told me it was because my face. I was actually once told I couldn&amp;#039;t have a job because my face would scare or upset the children. We decided to move to London, hoping that it would open up more opportunities for me. I do have a minimum wage job now but the abuse hasn&amp;#039;t stopped. I was in a supermarket last week and two ladies approached me and told me if they had a thing on their face like mine they would never leave the house. This is a recurring problem for me. I&amp;#039;m not sure if people like this are trying to be supportive, but it doesn&amp;#039;t feel like it.  I often wonder why people aren&amp;#039;t more accepting of birthmarks. Most of the population has a birthmark of some kind, why because mine is on my face does that make it ugly or unacceptable to people? Why doesn&amp;#039;t this make me unique or even desirable?  My boyfriend obviously noticed my birthmark when we first met four years ago, but he didn&amp;#039;t say anything about it. He later told me he saw the beautiful person behind my birthmark \u2013 I wish more people were like this. I&amp;#039;m writing to you in the hope you can bring to light the beauty of birthmarks. They are unique, no two the same, and I wouldn&amp;#039;t get rid of mine for anything!  Now I don&amp;#039;t even notice whether people look at my birthmark or not. Obviously people still ask me about it or make comments, but as I&amp;#039;ve accepted it as a beautiful and unique part of me, I happily explain that to them. Once you accept your differences and are happy and confident in yourself, people seem to start to see who you really are and no longer notice any initial &amp;#039;imperfections&amp;#039;. WINNIE HARLOW ON HER VITILIGO: &amp;quot;I AM NOT MY SKIN&amp;quot; PIGMENTATION EXPLAINED "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/beauty-hair/a33501/annabel-jarvis-birthmark/>