Inside ‘looksmaxxing’ children boot camp the place mums are advised to ‘breast feed longer’
Mothers are reportedly paying money for beauty tips from a British influencer in order to improve the looks of their sons, with advice including breastfeeding longer and ‘thumb-pulling’
Oscar Patel is a beauty guru(Image: _oscarpatel_/Instagram)
Mums are reportedly forking out big money to a British beauty guru to learn bizarre ways of making their sons ‘more handsome’.
Self-described looksmaxxer Oscar Patel, 20, has built a massive online following by claiming he can help people completely transform their faces using DIY tricks like “thumb-pulling”, jaw exercises and even raw meat diets.
The influencer boasts more than 1.7million followers across his social media accounts, and charges fans £29 a month to join his online “boot camp”, where thousands of users exchange tips on how to get sharper jawlines, wider faces and so-called “supermodel” looks, according to a investigation published in the Daily Mail.
According to the probe, hundreds of middle-aged mums have joined Patel’s private “Skool” community and are now trying the techniques on their own children.
One Australian mum, Leisa Mari Bekkers, reportedly became obsessed with improving her sons’ facial development after worrying their jaws were “too narrow”. She apparently even breastfed both children until they were three-and-a-half because she thought it might improve their bone structure.
The mum, who home-schools her children now follows Patel’s teachings, including “thumb-pulling” — a controversial technique where users shove their thumbs into the roof of the mouth to supposedly reshape your jaw.
Patel claims modern parenting habits are ruining children’s appearances and says parents should avoid things like pacifiers, mouth breathing and soft foods.
In one video titled “How to Raise a Supermodel”, he tells mums to breastfeed their children for years, feed babies hard foods to strengthen their jaws and encourage kids to keep their lips sealed to improve facial bone structure.
Other clips show babies chewing huge beef ribs while parents manually push infants’ tongues against the roofs of their mouths.
Medical experts, however, have blasted the trend as dangerous nonsense.
Dr Grant McIntyre, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, told the Daily Mail there is “no evidence at all” that the methods work.
He said worried parents could end up avoiding proper orthodontic treatment because of online influencers.
Other doctors have also raised concerns about videos promoting cranial manipulation on babies, warning the skull and spine should only be handled by trained medical professionals.
Despite the backlash, Patel’s online empire appears to be booming, with reports claiming that around 6,500 people are currently subscribed to his programme, meaning his potential earnings could be more than £186,000 a month.
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