Carolina Giraldelli had her face painted to match her son’s birthmark , so she could experience what life is like for him for a day. Her son Enzo, one, was born with a dark birthmark covering his forehead and stretching down one side of his nose.
𝐸𝑛𝑧𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑦 2017 𝑣𝑖𝑎 𝑐-𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑐𝑒.
Surgery later revealed that Enzo’s birthmark was a harmless Congenital Melanocytic Nevus, which can form in the womb early in development, according to the Association for Large Nevi and Related Disorders.
The moment sparked something for Giraldelli, she saw the birthmark and decided from then on she should become another person who was much stronger, fearless, brave, and ready to face all the obstacles that would now be presented to her son.
She asked a makeup artist, Elaine Ricci, to replicate Enzo’s birthmark on her face, then went about her day to better understand what her son faces.
“I confess that for some time it was very difficult to see and feel the eyes of society flickering my son with looks of pity, contempt, scare [fear] and sometimes disgust,” said Giradelli.
‘I wanted to show Enzo this love so I asked my friend who is a makeup artist to create exactly the same look that Enzo has on my face.
‘The make-up and photos were held close to Mother’s Day here, to honour Enzo who is the greatest gift of God that I could ever receive.’
And although it’s not easy, she added to the U.K. news wire that she and her husband, João Renato Cestari, “act normally” and that “if someone feels revulsion, curiosity or fear, we try to make him understand that he, despite his mark, is a normal boy who is much loved, just like others.”
Carolina says that having a version of Enzo’s birthmark on her face was a moving experience – and Enzo was overjoyed too.
‘After the makeup was complete I was very moved because I felt like the most beautiful woman in the world,’ she says.
“I’m sure he loved my attitude. We took lots of pictures and our morning was a lot of fun. After the photos I went to work with the makeup on.”
Although Giraldelli took the makeup off before she went to bed, she told the outlet, “How I felt has stayed with me ever since.”
‘I decided that from then on I should become another person who was much stronger, fearless, brave, and ready to face all the obstacles that would now be presented to my son,’ said Carolina, from Cáceres, Brazil.
She added that the results made other people’s hearts soar, not on her own.
“The words of comfort, encouragement and the wonderful comments were so many that my emotions just took over,” she said.
“I believe countless mothers had these same feelings when they saw the picture with my son.”
