Too hard for you? Check out this preventive measure from Filipinos: don't eat barbecue or any fried foods on Good Friday so you won't have freckles.



While doctors say that freckles are harmless and don't signify a health problem, a lot of people don't want them. That's understandable since these pigment cells can make you look ugly and old. Perhaps that's the reason why our forefathers tried desperately to eliminate them. No wonder they came up with these silly superstitious beliefs about freckles ? some of which survive to this day.

The Encyclopedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World published in 1903 offers a fascinating glimpse into early man's obsession with freckles and his desire to remove them. It says that freckles around the eyes means you'll drown to death!

To lift this curse (and remove freckles), the author provides several options. You can wash in the dew before sunrise on the first of May. If you just read this now and realized it's already September, go to a graveyard and wash your face in any urn you find there. The third option is a variation of the first ? wash with dew from wheat before sunrise.

If wheat is a problem, young lilies of the valley gathered before sunrise will work just as well. Rub them on your face to take away freckles. An easier way is to count your freckles, wrap the same number of pebbles in a piece of paper, and throw it away. Whoever picks up that paper will inherit your freckles!

The last advice is reincarnated in The All New Book of Lists for Kids by Sandra and Harry Choron. An old folk cure suggests rubbing your freckles with a penny and throwing it away. The poor soul who finds the penny will get your freckles! Or mix buttermilk with lemon juice and apply this to your face together with a live frog!

Ovid, the most widely read Roman poet, recommended the Pharian wash for freckles. This exotic scrub was made of crocodile entrails and was guaranteed to whiten the skin. The Germans, on the other hand, believed that rainwater found on tombstones is a great freckle fighter.

In Superstitions: 10,000 You Really Need edited by William Carroll, children are warned not to pop the seedpods of the maple tree into each other's faces or they will soon develop freckles. March snow water or lemon juice is said to be a good freckle remover. If you can stomach it, a more effective cure is washing your face with your own urine or smearing it with cow manure. A baby's wet diaper will also do.

Luckily, we are light years away from our forefathers when it comes to fighting freckles. Today, we have a variety of anti-freckle creams that are safe and effective. Most of these products are easy to use and can lighten freckles over a period of time. A popular choice is Lumnaderm, a whitening cream that eliminates freckles, unsightly age spots, sun spots, blemishes and hyperpigmentation. When used as directed, Lumnaderm will balance uneven skin tones and illuminate your skin.