London - If there’s a New Age fad or alternative diet out there, you can bet Gwyneth Paltrow has probably tried it.
But the actress has outdone herself with her latest bizarre admission - revealing she has allowed bees to sting her in the name of beauty.
Miss Paltrow said the effect of the so-called “bee venom” therapy was “incredible”, but admitted: “Man, it’s painful”.
She claimed that the treatment had been around since ancient times, but that it fell out of fashion in recent years.
The 43-year-old added that she signed up for the bee stings because she was “generally open to anything”.
In an interview with the New York Times, the Iron Man star said: “I’ve been stung by bees ... It’s a thousands of years old treatment called apitherapy. People use it to get rid of inflammation and scarring.
“It’s actually pretty incredible if you research it.”
The term apitherapy traditionally covers the use of honey for medicinal purposes as well as being stung.
Bee venom therapy dates back 2 000 years to China, and involves allowing a bee to sting the patient on the affected area.
Miss Paltrow did not reveal how many bees were involved in her session, but some patients have reported being stung 60 or 70 times. Once the bee’s stinger goes into the skin it pumps venom inside for about 15 minutes. Each bee costs around 10p (about R2), but repeat treatments can run to hundreds of pounds with supervision.
It is not known where on her body Miss Paltrow had the treatment, or what species of bees were used. Honey bees die once they have used their sting.
The actress said: “I’m always the guinea pig to try everything.
“I just heard of a service called a sound bath, which might be too hippieish even for the likes of me.” A sound bath involves lying on the floor as a therapist plays tuning forks, Tibetan singing bowls and other instruments. It is meant to relieve stress.
The actress is not alone in using bees as part of her beauty regime, with the Duchess of Cambridge rumoured to have had bee venom facials.
Daily Mail