The reception of freckles in society as a more or less attractive attribute went through numerous changes in fashion. During the Edwardian and Victorian eras, a flawlessly pale face was considered the epitome of feminine beauty, especially among British and East Coast Americans; freckles, associated with fresh air and sunshine, were to be reserved for those working outdoors. Correspondingly crude sounded advertisements around 1900, which promoted drugs "to remove this ugly mask":
"Freckles face: the sun and wind bring out the ugly spots. How to remove them easily. - Here's your chance, Miss Freckle Face, to try out a remedy for your freckles, with the guarantee that it won't cost you a penny if your freckles don't go away. Just buy an ounce of Othine Extrastark, and after a few applications you'll have a beautiful facial expression. Rarely, even in bad cases, one ounce is not enough. Money back if it does not get rid of your freckles." (1915)
These medications for the removal of freckles or for the general skin whitening contained mostly harmful mercury and finally disappeared from the market in the 1970s due to governmental bans. Since then, bleaching creams for the skin have been offered, which, however, often contain hydroquinone, which has been said to have a potentially carcinogenic effect since the mid-2000s. Other options for removing freckles from the skin include laser treatments, chemical skin peels, retinoid creams or cryosurgical treatments. Preventive effects include sunscreen preparations for the skin.
In the course of time, however, freckles have also become an ideal of beauty and are therefore even offered as permanent make-up.
With some effort, you can add realistic-looking freckles to an image in digital imaging. A technical breakthrough was made in 2021 by artificial intelligence in the 3D program Metahuman. Here, freckles can be automatically applied to (digital) skin in any density and thickness.
