Woman Refuses To Remove Large Facial Birthmark

Cassandra Naud was born with a large birthmark under her right eye. Although she has had opportunities to have it removed, the 22-year-old dancer has chosen to keep her birthmark, arguing that it makes her unique. As her prolific Instagram shows, Naud takes what could have been a source of insecurity and instead fully embraces it, owning her distinctive look with complete confidence. In short, she is awesome and beautiful.

When Naud was a child growing up in Alberta, Canada, her parents considered having the dark brown, hairy birthmark removed through plastic surgery. Upon learning that the surgery could leave their daughter with severe facial scarring or a lazy eye, they elected not to go through with it. Naud tells the Daily Mail that her birthmark was a source of stress and bullying growing up, leading to her seriously thinking about removal at one point. She recalls,

[Bullies would] taunt me saying: “You'll get beat up in high school" and "The hair on your cheek is gross." Their cruel remarks were hard to deal with and I'd often fight back tears. I felt ugly - even if only for that moment - and I was terrified of how I'd be treated once I got to high school.

At age 13, she buckled under the pressure and decided to have the birthmark removed. When she learned about the possible consequences (such as scarring), however, she changed her mind, a decision that, as she tells the Daily Mail, she hasn’t regretted: “It was a moment of madness, but I'm so glad I made the decision to keep it.”

Naud now lives in LA, where she works as a dancer. Although not everyone has accepted her birthmark (she says that one agent told her to remove her birthmark from head shots with Photoshop), she considers the mark a source of pride, something that distinguishes her from other dancers. Her Instagram account, which features pictures of her dancing and hanging out with friends, shows her looking happy, confident, and generally amazing. The motto at the top of her Instagram is simple: “Born to stand out.” Yes, indeed.

Take a gander at some of her gorgeous pictures:

Image: Cassandra Naud/Instagram