The world is going vanity mad: botox, liposuction, “asset” enhancement – and that’s just the men..!
Over the next few years billions of pounds will be spent globally by people wishing to improve their appearance – and I have found a way to tap into this huge flow of cash.
Last year 225,800 hair restoration procedures were performed worldwide – a number that was 34% higher than in 2004, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS).
Now I don’t really consider myself a vain man, but I have something to confess to you: I don’t much like that moment at the end of a haircut when the barber holds a mirror behind my head to show me his handiwork. Despite being an athletic 51-year-old, thinning of the hair on top of my head is now evident.
But there are worse things in life – and I have no intention of creating a Bobby Charlton parting – and I certainly would never even consider a hair transplant – but many people would. According to the ISHRS figures, the total number of hair restoration patients worldwide jumped to 645,281 patients in 2006 from 361,077 in 2004, so this really is becoming big business.
As part of my investigations in the sector I learnt some uncomfortable facts. Believe me, despite the potential profits here, the actually business of transplanting hair is not actually that pleasant.
A strip of skin is taken from that part of your head just above the back of the neck – where for some strange biological reason the hair always grows like young grass.
Once this strip is detached, a team of people then extract each hair one-by-one. Can you imagine anything more tedious? I wonder what they think about while they are extracting each hair, and then passing it over to the cosmetic surgeon whose job it is to stick it – sorry, plant it - into the head of the patient.
It may be unpleasant, but it’s all about a patient’s future happiness… and what could be more important than that. For many people, shelling out a few thousand pounds on hair restoration, or “Advanced Follicular Transportation” as it likes to be known, is money well spent.
And it’s not only scalps that are the target of these procures. Fancy a set of Denis Healey eyebrows? 3.4% of transplants are for these. Or what about a nice Hercule Poirot style moustache? 1.5% of transplants are carried out on such facial hair. You may even want some Liza Minnelli eyelashes; these account for 1.4% of total hair transplants.
It is no surprise to find that women are after their share of hair action. The percentage of hair restoration patients of the fairer sex has risen from 11.4% in 2004 to 13.8% last year – and patents are getting younger. Surgical patients in their 30s represented the age group with the largest number of patients undergoing hair restoration surgery. This was a shift from 2004 in which patients in their 40s comprised the largest number of surgical patients.
It is patently obvious to anyone with common sense that cosmetic surgery is a growth industry. You might not be vain, I might not be vain – but vanity is increasingly on the agenda in the modern world. Everyone wants a movie-star stomach or a Hollywood smile.
I have been looking at the sector and I have discovered what I believe is a classic red hot penny share operating in the hair transplant arena. I am really excited about the prospects for this stock and analysts are predicting a 6700% increase in turnover between 2006 and 2009.
Regards,
Tom Bulford
for The Penny Sleuth
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