CAREFULLY peeling off the bloody bandages wrapped around her head to reveal the painful-looking results of her new £3,000 hair and brow transplant, Tracy Kiss was delighted.
Despite being trolled for looking like "Frankenstein’s Bride", the mum-of-two believes the procedure is worth every penny, and is proud to show off the results of the op online.
Personal trainer Tracy, 34, from Wendover, Bucks, had over 2,500 hair plugs implanted to move her fringe forward by two centimetres, and also give her back her eyebrows after overplucking in her teens.
Tracy – mum to Millie, 15, and Gabriel, 10 – is one of a growing number of women (and men) resorting to hair transplants for more luscious locks, after she was teased for her 'wiggly worm' eyebrows and receding hairline.
But Tracy admits despite the expensive and painful surgery – which works out at just over £1.20 a hair – she is still hounded by vicious trolls.
She says: “Online bullies love calling me 'Bride of Frankenstein'.
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"Others tell me I am a 'Barbie wannabe' and 'too plastic' while others tell me I am a 'disgusting mess’.
“I don't care. I feel and look fabulous and it's given me the confidence to become a life coach and female empowerment guide."
'Fashion victim'
The hair transplant market is one of the fastest-growing health care specialties, with a 43.3 per cent spike in Google searches for information on the treatment since 2017.
Tracy says: “As a teen I was a fashion victim. Thin eyebrows were in, and I’d pluck my brows on a weekly, often daily basis.
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9"I regretted it and was bullied in my twenties for having wiggly worms for brows.
“I ended up having to draw on lines and have my eyebrows tattooed when more shapely brows became fashionable."
After having her second child a decade ago, Tracy says her once thick, long hair started thinning on top and falling out at the front.
“I am a gym junkie and also pulled my hair into a super tight ponytail most days to work out," she adds.
"The combination of post-baby baldness, tight ponytails and teenage over-plucking wreaked havoc on my hair and eyebrows."
£10k hair habit
It made her so self-conscious she spent over £10,000 over a 15-year period on hair colouring, styling treatments, wigs, hair extensions and products.
She says: “I’d trashed my hair and made it even worse by thetwice daily shampoos after each of my gym visits.
“I was trolled and teased for my weird cowlick fringe which meant my hair was growing the wrong way.
"When it started falling out and receding people called me 'chrome dome' and told me I looked like a 'shaved cat'.
“I tried hair extensions, wigs and clip-in fringes and hated them. I always felt naked because of my over-plucked eyebrows."
'I've had everything done'
Tracy is no stranger to plastic surgery, having undergone more than 20 invasive and non-invasive plastic surgeries and cosmetic procedures worth £65,000.
She says: “I have had everything from multiple boob jobs to a Brazillian butt lift, Botox, fillers, a designer vagina and teeth straightening all worth over £65k."
This meant when it came to improving her hair and eyebrows, she wasn't afraid to take radical action, researching the hair transplant procedure which cost £3,000.
She says: "I knew men had hair transplants, but I didn't know until I went searching that more and more women were having the same procedure."
I knew men had hair transplants, but I didn't know until I went searching that more and more women were having the same procedure
After consulting a specialist at Get More Hair, Tracy was sold.
She flew to Turkey to undergo the gruelling surgery, which she was awake for, at the start of November this year.
Tracy says: “I had 2,500 hair plugs harvested from an area they shaved from the back of my head.
“I was awake but had a local anaesthetic and heard the surgeon scratch at the back of my head.
“He was using a special scalpel to cut each group of three hair follicles and the critical roots out."
Gruesome procedure
Tracy’s forehead was marked up, extending her hairline and sideburns by roughly an inch.
Her eyebrows were also marked up for the hair transplant, ensuring the perfect shaped brow was achieved.
Tracy says: “The surgeon used his tiny scalpel to cut thousands of slits in my head and eyebrows.
“Then he took the harvested hairs and using a biro-style clicking forceps, planted the hair deep into the slits so it could take firm hold."
Experts say it's painstaking work and the surgeon must ensure each follicle is properly re-planted and attached.
Tracy recalls: “When the team finished my eyebrows looked like I had nit eggs laid at the top. That was just swelling and blood globs."
She says within 24 hours she looked like the "Bride of Frankenstein" with a bleeding forehead and bruising underneath her eyes.
When the team finished my eyebrows looked like I had nit eggs laid at the top. That was just swelling and blood globs
Two weeks on however, Tracy says she felt fantastic; the swelling is gone and her new hairline is growing nicely.
She says: "I feel amazing. My hairline is way forward and my fringe will no longer cowlick.
“I'm obsessed with the fact the new hair in my eyebrows can grow as long as my head hair because it came from my scalp.
“This surgery has been absolutely life changing for me. I have had over five million views on my TikTok video showing off the surgery."
Tracy says she has been contacted by thousands of women thanking her for breaking the stigma surrounding female baldness and showing them a solution.
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She adds: “Women are still scared to admit they're going bald for whatever reason. It's important we discuss this issue.
“A few plugs have fallen out, but my new hair and eyebrows are growing rapidly. I am happy to say I am hairy and proud!”
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