Eyebrow transplants: Mad or marvellous?

Did you know that John Cleese unveiled a new head of hair earlier this week? This news may have inexplicably escaped your notice, but the Monty Python and Fawlty Towers star underwent a hair transplant to restore his crowning glory, and showed off his lovely new locks on Richard & Judy's new TV show. So far, so not that unusual: hair transplants are generally thought of as the preserve of men and women afflicted by thinning on top. In the States, though, hair transplants are now being marketed to women as a cosmetic procedure to enhance not just their scalps, but their eyebrows too.

Bosley Hair Restoration are one company who reckon that they can employ the principles of the traditional hair transplant to have even the very sparse of brow looking like Brooke Shields circa 1985. This a decidedly unique alternative to eyebrow pencils or powders or even semi-permanent make-up, and there are probably women the length and breadth of this country who'd be verrrry interested in this business of eyebrow restoration if it were to hit our shores.

Now, I have to shamefacedly admit that I hadn't really thought of there being a potential market for it here, until yesterday morning when I told my very sensible, unflappable, no-nonsense proper Irish Mammy about the idea. All she kept saying was "Oh wouldn't that be wonderful!" which was most unlike her. Usually things are "quare good" or "quare bad". Anyways, The Mammy has only a few wisps of very fine hair masquerading as eyebrows, and her next door neighbour actually has none at all and has to draw them on of a morning. She immediately saw the appeal of a procedure that could potentially give the pair of them and other women with the same affliction their brows back, no matter how drastic or American a measure it might sound to anyone not afflicted by an eyebrow hair deficiency!