Angel kisses are flat, pink or reddish birthmarks that appear on a newborn’s face, most commonly on the forehead, eyelids, or between the eyebrows. They’re one of the most common birthmarks in newborns, showing up in roughly 44% of all babies. The medical name is nevus simplex (also called a salmon patch), and they’re completely harmless.
What Causes Angel Kisses
Angel kisses form when tiny blood vessels (capillaries) near the surface of the skin stay dilated after birth. During development in the womb, these small vessels naturally widen to supply blood flow to the growing skin. In most babies, they constrict after birth and become invisible. In babies with angel kisses, that process simply takes longer, leaving a visible pink or red patch where blood sits close to the surface.
There’s nothing a parent did or didn’t do to cause them. They aren’t related to anything that happened during pregnancy or delivery, and they don’t indicate any underlying health problem.
Angel Kisses vs. Stork Bites
Angel kisses and stork bites are actually the same type of birthmark. The difference is just location. “Angel kiss” refers to salmon patches on the face: the eyelids, forehead, nose, or upper lip. “Stork bite” describes the same kind of mark when it appears on the back of the neck or the base of the skull.
The location matters for one practical reason: angel kisses on the face almost always fade completely, while stork bites on the back of the neck are less likely to disappear over time. Many adults still have a faint stork bite hidden under their hairline without ever knowing it.
When They Fade
Most angel kisses on the face become noticeably lighter during the first year and are gone or nearly invisible by age two. Some take a bit longer, but facial salmon patches rarely persist into school age. You may notice the mark gets temporarily brighter when your baby cries, strains, or gets warm. This is normal and happens because increased blood flow makes the dilated capillaries more visible. It doesn’t mean the birthmark is getting worse.
Stork bites on the back of the head or neck follow a slower timeline. Some fade in childhood, but others persist into adulthood. Because they’re typically covered by hair, most people never notice them.
How to Tell Them Apart From Port-Wine Stains
The birthmark parents sometimes confuse with an angel kiss is a port-wine stain (nevus flammeus). Both are flat, pink or red, and present at birth. But they behave very differently over time, and knowing the distinction can save unnecessary worry or, in rarer cases, catch something that needs monitoring.
Angel kisses tend to appear along the midline of the face, centered on the forehead, bridge of the nose, or both eyelids symmetrically. Port-wine stains more often appear on one side of the face and follow the distribution of a specific facial nerve. In 70% to 90% of cases, port-wine stains affect the head and neck area, but their borders look more geographic and defined compared to the soft, diffuse edges of an angel kiss.
The most important difference is what happens over time. Angel kisses fade. Port-wine stains do not. A port-wine stain grows proportionally with the child, darkens from pink to purple with age, and can eventually thicken. If a facial birthmark appears to be getting darker rather than lighter as your baby grows, or if it’s clearly limited to one side of the face, your pediatrician can help determine whether it’s a salmon patch or a port-wine stain.
Do Angel Kisses Need Treatment
No treatment is needed for angel kisses. Because they fade on their own, the standard approach is simply to wait. There’s no cream, ointment, or intervention that speeds up the natural fading process.
In the rare case where a salmon patch persists on the face into later childhood or adulthood and causes cosmetic concern, a pulsed dye laser can reduce the redness. This type of laser specifically targets blood vessels near the skin’s surface. But this is uncommon for facial angel kisses and would only be considered well after the birthmark has had years to fade naturally.
Angel kisses don’t hurt, don’t bleed, don’t itch, and carry zero risk of becoming anything more serious. They’re simply a visible reminder that a baby’s skin is still finishing the work it started before birth.