A Brazilian woman born with a facial birthmark is using her unique characteristic to launch a modelling career, proudly saying 'it's a part of me'.
Mariana Mendes, 24, was born with the birthmark, which covers the centre of her face. The type of birthmark is known as congenital melanocytic nevus, and occurs in an estimated one percent of infants across the world.
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While many struggle to accept their birthmarks, Mariana is proud of her unique feature, and has always fully embraced hers - having never considered removing it and never used makeup to cover it up.
She told Barcroft TV: "I have always been aware that I have a birthmark, but it has always been something that has made me feel more special. It's a different kind of beauty.
"I choose not to cover it up because I know that the birthmark is part of me. I know it's a piece of me. It's part of my personality."
Mariana mainly works as a print model for clothing designers, and since also launching a career as a digital influencer has managed to rack up a grand total of 21,000 Instagram followers.
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She hopes to use her career as a platform to break down barriers in the fashion industry, while also inspiring others to proudly bare their birthmarks.
"The main thing I try to say with my photos is that you don't need to fit into conventional beauty standards to be a model," Mariana said.
"You don't need to be thin and tall with all the characteristics that the media now demands.
"Everyone has their own type of beauty even if you have characteristics out of the normal beauty standard, that's your own kind of beauty.
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"We have to accept ourselves as we are."
The person that snaps Mariana is her boyfriend, Lucas Dutra, who has taken on the official role of Instagram photographer. He also assists in the art design for her YouTube channel.
Lucas said: "The first time I saw her I didn't realise it was a birthmark. I thought it was her hair on her face. But then I realised what it was and I thought she was beautiful anyway.
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"There's lots of types of beauty and everyone can have their own kind. I think she really represents that to people who need it.
"I think it's cool that she's giving so many people someone to look up to, saying that beauty is more than just the standard.
"Her beauty is different and she's giving people an example of that."
Mariana said that, while she was aware that she was different as a child, her parents always helped her embrace what set her apart from others.
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She said: "Even as a child, I was aware of having a birthmark on my face. But for me, it was never a bad thing it's always been something that has increased my self esteem.
"When I was a kid I realised that I had a spot which was different to other children. But, due to the way my parents explained it to me they always explained and made me feel comfortable when I talked about the subject.
"Whenever I asked, 'why do I have this and other children don't?' My mum was always very natural with me, always very sincere saying it was just a characteristic I had that other children didn't."
Mariana continued: "I receive a lot of messages from people thanking me for speaking about this because they don't feel alone in the world anymore.
"When someone talks about this subject other people see their own reflection in that. We don't have to be obsessed with one beauty standard and social media helps me a lot with that, and it helps me help other people."
Featured Image Credit: BarcroftTopics: Inspirational, Brazil