The story goes that when I was just a wee little Emily, I was running around the house holding a #2 lead pencil, tripped, fell, and the pencil punctured the skin right beside my nose, breaking off the lead. I’m not sure what medical precautions were taken, but apparently, my pediatrician thought I should be fine with some lead in my face so it was never taken out.

It started out bright blue for a period of time (you can see if it you look closely at the picture on the right), but over the years, it’s faded to a faint blue that is hardly noticeable. With the fading, my concern over the cosmetic flaw that it made has also faded. In fact, today I saw it in mirror and I was actually somewhat proud of it. I have #2 lead stuck in my face; who else can say that?

The story was not the same for the brown spot on my nose though. I never wore sunscreen as a child and my sun damage now is proof of that. (Also, proof of my high school years of tanning beds…bad, bad idea!) When I was about 13, a little brown freckle started darkening on my nose. It was never a mole, just a light freckle, but it drove me crazy. However, working in the world of medical and cosmetic dermatology, I have since had this particular brown spot on my nose zapped off with a little IPL. (Also, I have changed my habits incredibly as far as sunscreen, twice-daily facial cleansers, topical antioxidants, and retinoids.)

I’m sure I could also find a way to get rid of the blue lead dot on my face, but, for now, I kind of like it there… Someday, it can be a very teaching lesson to my nieces and nephews to never run with pencils.