People are taking the #KylieJennerChallenge with catastrophic results - and now Kylie's responded.

Image: Twitter.

UPDATE: Kylie Jenner has responded to the bizarre ‘challenge’ that erupted over the weekend in her name, which involved Instagram and Twitter users sucking on shot glasses and bottle caps in an effort to emulate her famously pillowy lips. Rather than being flattered by all this, it seems Kylie’s just as perplexed as the rest of us.

“I’m not here to try & encourage people/young girls to look like me or to think this is the way they should look… I want to encourage people/young girls like me to be YOURSELF & not be afraid to experiment with your look,” the 17-year-old tweeted.

By "experiment with your look", we assume Kylie is referring to playing around with makeup, rather than inflicting potentially long-term damage on one's lips through DIY, internet-approved enhancement techniques. Kardashian fans, take heed.

Yesterday The Glow reported:

What did you do over the weekend? Did you go out for brunch, take your dog for a walk and indulge in a nap or two? Or did you grab the nearest shot glass, stick your lips in it and start sucking?

It sounds bizarre (primarily because it is bizarre), but there are a lot of people out there who decided the second option was the way to go. As you've probably guessed, these antics have been spurred on by a hashtag — #KylieJennerChallenge — and there are disastrous 'after' shots all over Twitter and Instagram right now.

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Many of us are content to just look at Kylie's pout and perhaps wonder how she achieved it, but there are a lot of young women (and some men) out there who have decided to take matters into their own hands and replicate her look. While some have purchased specially-designed lip plumping devices online, others have gone a little more DIY with shot glasses, bottle lids, cups — basically any household item that can create suction around the lips and increases blood flow, thus making them temporarily swell up. (Post continues after gallery.)

In terms of effectiveness, okay, yes — this technique will probably make your lips look fuller. But there's also a very good chance they'll inflate to comical proportions and bruise spectacularly, as many of the #KylieJennerChallenge followers have learned the hard way. The photos speak for themselves.

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Now, let's be honest here: Kylie Jenner's increasingly pillowy lips have intrigued us all for a while now. The ongoing 'injectibles or overdrawn liner?' debate shows no sign of abating, and the youngest Kardashian is happily fanning the flames of speculation with her vague comments on the matter and endless stream of kissy-faced selfies. 

But the obsession with obtaining lips like Kylie's is problematic for several reasons. First of all, there's a risk of injury — according to Refinery 29, one of the 'challengers' applied a little too much suction to her shot glass and shattered it, cutting her lips in the process. Experts have also claimed it's possible for the lips to lose all sensation when inundated with blood flow, or become infected. (Post continues after gallery.)

It's also rather concerning that young people would become so enamoured by a celebrity like Kylie Jenner that they would take such extreme lengths, as recommended by complete strangers, to mimic her signature look. Come on, guys; just because the internet says something is a good idea, doesn't mean it is.

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It's hard to believe so many people have gone ahead and done this despite the numerous lip-enhancing disaster stories that have made headlines this year. Last month, two Icelandic sisters shared their painful experience with bottle lid lip plumping — and these horrifying photos — to serve as a cautionary tale:

"It was very, very painful, my lips turned blue," one of the women explained on a Facebook page for makeup lovers. “I wanted to warn people against do-it-yourself lip expansion, but was really surprised and shocked that it ended up being something that loads of people were copying.”

Before that, Perth woman Brittany Forster made us all cringe when she shared video footage of her experiment with Candylipz, a lip-suctioning device she ordered online. Four days after she used the gadget, Brittany's lips were still swollen and blue — far from the Kylie Jenner look she was hoping to achieve.

“The funny thing is that when I saw Kylie Jenner’s lips I thought they’re ridiculous, she’s gone too far,” Brittany told the Daily Mail in February. “But joke’s on me because that’s exactly what happened to me.”

RELATED: There’s something different about Kendall Jenner’s lips in this photo.

Exactly. So please, people of the internet, stop this madness. Love your lips the way they are — or try overdrawing your lipliner if you're desperately keen on the fuller look — and save your shot glasses for their intended purpose.