Are you a sucker for leech therapy?

 Sarah Young

Queen of bizarre beauty trends Gwyneth Paltrow proved that even she has her limits after friend and former Victoria’s Secret model, Miranda Kerr, revealed that she loves her leech facials.

During GOOP’s first-ever wellness summit in Culver City, California, actress Paltrow said that she and Kerr frequently swap numbers on healers and doctors.

But, when the 34-year-old model shared her love for leech therapy, even Paltrow though it was weird.

Speaking on the panel, Kerr said, “Have you tried leech therapy?” only to be greeted by a wave of gasps from the audience. 

A technique that involves placing leeches on your face, letting them suck out some blood and then smearing it all over, practitioners claim that it helps achieve tighter and brighter skin. “It’s adventurous,” Kerr added. “Health is wealth. They’ve been doing leech therapy for thousands of years.”

According to Leechestherapy.com, leeches were used in ancient times to treat many illnesses through bloodletting, where blood was drawn out in the hope that removing impure blood would heal the body.

For hygiene reasons, the leeches cannot be used twice and are commonly killed after being used but the wellness lover didn’t like the sound of that. Instead, she decided to keep hers as pets. “I kept the leeches, they’re in my koi pond. You’re not allowed to reuse them and if you don’t take them home then she kills them and I didn’t like that idea.”

While friend Paltrow is no stranger to peculiar heath rituals — think putting jade eggs in her vagina and being stung by bees — even she thought Kerr was taking things a step too far.

“Wow,” said Paltrow, laughing, “I thought I was bats*** crazy.”

— The Independent