And yet a lot of people have a problem with these "blemishes".
The number of people in the UK asking to have a mole removed increased by 127% in the past year, according to a survey by a cosmetic surgery website. Famous faces that have become mole-free include Madonna, whose upper lip mole has long vanished from sight.
Consultant dermatologist Dr Sasi Attili says that the majority of those asking him for mole removal are women. "Usually it is an anxious mother bringing a child, or an anxious young lady in their twenties or early thirties who has developed a new mole. Sometimes they just think their mole is ugly." Male patients are in the minority, even though Cancer Research UK has warned that men are more prone than women to die from skin cancer.
The vast majority of the time, Attili assures, moles turn out to be benign. "Most of the time people are worrying about nothing. But that doesn`t mean we should stop looking."
The NHS advises people to keep an eye on their moles, and watch for any changes - particularly if a mole becomes asymmetrical.
But cancer concerns are not the only reason why people want their moles taken off. Ayden Millar, an assistant at a television company, had a large mole on her nose. "I was obsessed with it. It was like something from a Halloween witch`s costume. At my high school in Glasgow some girls were nasty about it."
Millar took her mole to the doctors, who declared it benign. But she was still not satisfied and decided to have it removed privately. She thinks it was a life-changing decision.
"I wish I had done it sooner. They removed it with a scalpel, and then I had four or five stitches and a line across my nose.
I was worried initially because there was a lot of swelling. And I am still a little worried about the scarring - it has been two months now, and my nose is still a bit red with marks from where the stitches were." Even so, she would recommend the operation to anyone embarrassed about a beauty spot.
Attili discourages people from having moles removed for cosmetic reasons. There are two main methods for taking one off. Flatter benign moles can be shaved away. Bigger moles, or those that might be cancerous, have to be dug out of the face with a scalpel. The mole is then sent off for a biopsy. "Scarring is unpredictable," warns Attili. "Sometimes the scar can look worse than the original mole."
