A woman in the U.K. is trying to help others with skin conditions after selfies she uploaded to Imgur unexpectedly went viral.
Lexxie Harford is a character artist who just happens to have a birthmark on one side of her face. She told BuzzFeed News that her type of birthmark is called a port-wine stain vascular birthmark.
The 23-year-old is not self-conscious about her unique look, in fact she wrote online that she likes her birthmark.
Of course, living with her birthmark hasn't always been easy and she gets comments from people. But Harford said the questions don't phase her.
"The most common question I get now is whether or not I'm in an abusive relationship or if I was hit in the face, but it doesn't really bother me," she said. "As a kid I mostly got the deal where kids would come up to me and 'ask me out' but only as a joke."
A few weeks ago, Harford decided to upload some pictures to Imgur to eventually post in an artistic community on Reddit. But she said she didn't realize anyone could see her photos.
"I had no idea they were public, I thought Imgur was kind of like Photobucket," she said.
Her pictures soon were viewed nearly 100,000 times, and she began to get questions from people about what it is like living with such a unique look.
So, Harford said she decided to respond to the questions. She posted another set of images explaining what her life is like with her birthmark. Her story soon spread, and she was featured in news outlets like ABC News.
Harford said the comments were mostly positive, and she has heard from many people with similar looks.
"It's been humbling and it's inspired me a lot to continue raising awareness," she said.
And it did bother her that some people said she should cover it up, Harford added.
"[That] really, upsets me more for anybody else who might be reading the comments who has a birthmark and is then forced to feel like they're not allowed to show off their marks," she said.
Now, Harford said she is working to raise awareness about skin conditions and being comfortable with how you look.
She said she has approached companies, news outlets, and charities, and is hoping to turn the interest into something bigger.
"The demand seems to be there for direct access with my cause, and I'm (fingers crossed) hoping to use all of the advantages thrown to me to make something out of this and potentially start a really good, loud campaign," Harford said.
She added that she wants people who may be struggling to accept themselves to know that they aren't alone, and they don't have to hide behind makeup to be accepted.
"People cover up because of the questions, because of the lack of knowledge," Harford said. "They're scared of the judgement they'll face. Of course some people cover up simply because they prefer to, and there's nothing wrong with that! But from my own experiences with talking with people, they'd prefer to feel comfortable in their own skin rather than having to hide away."