... a dark spot on a woman's face is called a beauty mark?
The idea of the beauty mark began during the smallpox epidemic of the 1600's, which left
many European women marred by the disease's blisters. To divert attention from these blemishes,
women began wearing small beauty patches on their faces near the eyes or lips. These patches were
usually made of black silk and cut in the shape of hearts, stars, or crescents.
After Dr. Edward Jenner found a vaccine for smallpox in 1796, the use of beauty patches decreased, but women continued to decorate their faces small, pencil marks, which they then called beauty marks. Today almost any dark spot on a woman's face might be called a beauty mark.
