Women go under the knife for bushier brows: Surgeons report surge in requests for transplants after Kate and Keira adopt new style Plastic surgeons say women turning to them for luxuriant brows Thick-browed fashionistas like Delevingne and Knightley behind craze Years of over-plucking lead to desperate measures By Liz Hull Ditch the tweezers: Cara Delevingne pioneered the look Once the preserve of WAGs and reality TV stars, the "Scouse brow" spread like wildfire after the Duchess of Cambridge modelled the darker, bushier style... and fashion-conscious women everywhere put down their tweezers. But for many, leaving things to nature didn't offer a quick enough fix. After years of over-plucking, women are now going to desperate lengths to bring back their eyebrows. Plastic surgeons report a surge in the numbers requesting transplants to thicken out their sparse, pencilled-in brows. The British Association of Plastic Surgeons said transplanting hairs from the head to the eyebrows is increasingly popular. The procedure, which costs around £3,000 per side and can take four hours, involves implanting up to 200 individual hair follicles under local anaesthetic. Dr Raghu Reddy, a hair restoration expert, said: "We have witnessed interest grow since around the time of the Royal Wedding. Now we have a healthy stream of women who come in. There is also greater awareness now. While I do have patients who have over-plucked, I also have women who come in with perfectly normal eyebrows who are looking for a thicker, fuller brow to rival the likes of Kate Middleton. The "Scouse brow" trend was sparked by the stars of E4"s Liverpool-based reality TV show, Desperate Scousewives, as well as Merseyside WAGs Alex Curran and Coleen Rooney. Celebrities who have opted for a fuller look include model Cara Delevingne and actresses Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley. Claire Culverwell, 30, spent £3,500 to change her brows after plucking for 14 years. The dental technician, from Manchester, said: "It was fashionable when I was a teenager. I wanted to look like the celebrities. Keira Knightley has been pictured sporting a thicker, fuller brow, inspiring women to turn to plastic surgery to achieve the look I carried on doing it over many years with tweezers and ended up permanently damaging my brows. A hair follicle only has a finite number of cycles of growth and if you pluck it too many times, you end up killing it off. I realised I had brought this on myself and I was a little embarrassed to seek treatment. Miss Culverwell had an inch-long strip of hair taken from the back of her head. Each of the 400 to 500 hairs was separated under a microscope and individually transplanted into small holes in the eyebrows using a fine needle. "It boosted my confidence," she said. It was worth every penny. Royal approval: Even the Duchess of Cambridge has adopted the new look