The hashtag #KylieJennerChallenge may be trending on social media, but concerned parents are aghast by the craze that has taken the Internet by storm—and they want kids to stop.
The bizarre challenge basically involves the use of a small bottle or glass by the participant in order to expand the lips. This apparently is being done by fans to imitate 17-year-old Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian's younger sister, and her famous full pout.
The bottle or glass acts as a lip-sucking instrument, which Kylie was spotted using on a recent episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. The camera caught Kylie going through the process of making her pout look plump. The episode showed Kylie pinching her lips as sister Kendall and Scott Disick watched her.
Taking a cue from Kylie, fans of the star began putting images of themselves attempting to achieve the famous pout. If they simply pouted for a selfie, it would not have been alarming, but the crazed fans put a bottle on their lips for suction for nearly five minutes or until they could no longer bear the pain. They then took selfies of their lips. The result? A gamut of bruised and swollen engorged lips posted with the #KylieJennerChallenge hashtag!
While the challenge did not emanate from Kylie herself, the long-term repercussions are disconcerting, even though kids-who are blindly following the challenge in a bid to emulate their role model-seem nonplussed.
"If you do inhale and apply a lot of pressure and sucking then you can definitely cause some bruising and damage some blood vessels," stated dermatologist Dr. Rocco Serrao. The bruising is said to last 10 to 14 days, according to the doctor.
Alarmingly, despite knowing the outcome of the bizarre challenge, many people continue to undertake it.
I AM CRYING DO YOU KNOW HOW DISGUSTING THAT IS LOOOOOOOOOOOOL #kyliejennerchallenge pic.twitter.com/ej194GUKD2
— kerrieann (@KERRIELROSE) April 20, 2015
For those wondering what Kylie's take on the challenge is, the star is not all smiles about the trend but encourages others to "experiment" with their looks:
I'm not here to try & encourage people/young girls to look like me or to think this is the way they should look. (Cont...) — Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) April 21, 2015
I want to encourage people/young girls like me to be YOURSELF & not be afraid to experiment w your look. ❤️❤️❤️
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) April 21, 2015
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