Since the dawn of time, teenagers have done stupid things. On a dare or on a whim, the reasons hardly matter because they are rarely thought out. And the #KylieJennerChallenge is simply the latest in a long line of imbecility before it.
The trend—in which teens suck air through bottles or jars placed over their mouths in an attempt to puff out their lips like 17-year-old Kylie Jenner—has left some with nasty bruising, swelling, and in one case at least, a horrifying tear.
Jenner, the youngest of the reality TV Kardashian family, isn't to blame if all the kids out there want to imitate or otherwise mock her ridiculously plump lips.
As far as beauty trends go, it's not the first time the trout pout has been "in." Years ago, those who could afford to injected their lips because they wanted to look like Angelina Jolie. If it's not one thing, it's another.
Jenner denied having work done to her mouth, yet the hashtag in her honour is still trending, leaving a long photographic legacy of the results—mostly cartoonish, sometimes painful-looking.
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If it's true, one man claims the experiment took a gruesome turn when the glass container broke, slicing open his top lip.
Not surprisingly, doctors are warning against trying out the lip plumping thingie at home.
“Not only can significant pain, swelling, and bruising result from these suction techniques, but there is potential risk for scarring and permanent disfigurement with repeated attempts,” said dermatologic surgeon, Dr. Dendy Engelman, in Seventeen.
Still, it could be worse. In the not-so-distant past, teens were busy engaging in this nastiness and in this downright dangerous practice.
Personally, I'm glad my beauty pioneering was limited to conditioning my hair with mayo and painting my face with avocado...
Spill it: What utterly idiotic things did you do as a teen, in the name of beauty or otherwise?
Image Source: Instagram
In every childhood, there is a craze over a certain hot toy that turns otherwise sane parents into aggressive, mouth-frothing maniacs. In the '80s it was the Cabbage Patch Kid; a soft, dimpled doll that captured every kid's heart because it was begging to be loved and even came with "adoption papers."
The real life story behind Cabbage Patch couldn't be further removed from warm or fuzzy. The real story reeks of sadness and greed.
The creator behind the Kids that sparked riots in department stores was by all accounts a guy named Xavier Roberts. The world saw a seemingly humble guy who claimed at the time to be “a good old southern boy with a good idea.” That good idea may have made him an obscene amount of money—except it was never his idea to begin with.
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Lurking inside the Cabbage Patch is a dark truth borne of lies and theft. The story is finally being told in a short documentary by Vice that exposes Roberts and gives posthumous credit to the true creator of the Kids: a shy woman named Martha Nelson Thomas.
I won't spoil the entire story for you, but suffice to say at a craft show in the '70s Roberts stumbled upon Martha’s labor of love, known then as "Doll Babies," before he allegedly exploited her idea for his gain. Complete with the adoption papers.
It appears to be Kid-napping, essentially. Why she didn't sue him for every penny is hard to fathom, yet she just wasn't that kind of person.
So what if Nelson Thomas lacked Roberts' commerce acumen and wasn't comfortable having her "babies" mass produced? You don't go poach someone else's idea in a get-rich scheme.
Image Source: Flickr
Every woman is unique.
That's the premise of the latest made-you-cry video in which six moms stand in a Usual Suspects style line-up while their blindfolded children are tasked with picking out the woman who brought them into the world.
As hardened as we think we are to ads, I defy you to stay dry-eyed at this touching effort by Pandora Jewelry.
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The bond we share with our children is second to none. What's fascinating is how each child intuitively feels his or her way through touch and smell alone to the only one on earth who belongs to them, and the distinct way each mom-child has of greeting and embracing each other. Instinctive, I guess.
This video reminds me of how lucky I am to have a son who is affectionate, constantly wanting to cuddle, play with my hair and touch my face and eyes, and of how precious that time spent with him is.
(As for the day when he won't want to curl into my lap or hold my hand as we walk down the street... Don't even go there. I'm in total denial.)
I can only hope that my husband would pick me out of a lineup so blindly!
Watch, weep, and share.
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