When Is The Best Time To Get Laser Hair Removal?

When is the best time to get laser hair removal or does the time of the year not matter?

If you check with some laser hair removal providers, they may tell you that spring and winter is the best time as there is less sun to tan your skin which can impact hair removal with laser. Plus it tends to be a downtime for them so they can use the business. But what if that doesn’t fit your schedule?

With current laser technology, it’s largely an outdated myth that you can only do laser hair removal during certain times of the year when the sun isn’t as strong or that tanned skin can’t be treated. If that were the case laser hair removal clinics would shut down during the summer months.

Hair grows in cycles and laser hair removal only works in the anagen or growth cycle. So it’s really the hair cycle you should be worried about, not the seasons.

The best time to get laser hair removal is when your hair is in the growth cycle rather than a specific season. Modern laser machines can deal with tanned skin and planning laser sessions around seasons can be difficult if you end up needing multiple treatments during the year which is likely.

Laser hair removal appointment frequency

How frequently should you plan to have laser hair removal treatments?

The shortest suggested interval I’ve heard is is every 2 weeks. The longest suggested interval I’ve heard is every 8 weeks.

Research from the Lloyd Dermatology and Laser Center and Lasercom Clinics International seems to suggest that a laser hair removal appointment once every 6 weeks may be best for long term, cost effective results. Since hair in the anagen (growth) phase is the only hair that can be treated with laser, having appointments too quickly may minimize the amount of hair you are treating. Waiting too long may miss out on hairs after they leave the growth cycle.

Hair has to be above the skin and in the growth phase for the laser to successfully treat it.

6 or more laser hair removal appointments is likely

Many laser practitioners suggest you’ll need 6 or more laser treatments to achieve decent hair removal results and even if you had one every six weeks as per the research above, you’d need 36 weeks (9 months) minimum and most likely more to complete your treatment. Clearly you’re looking at several seasons duration.

And what practitioners won’t tell you is that in reality – depending on what body part(s) you’re treating and how much unwanted hair you have – you’ll probably be coming back for visits in the future as dormant hair begins to grow. It’s difficult to schedule hair removal appointments during periods of less sun – winter and spring – if you end up having laser treatment for a year or longer, which you might very well require. More so if your clinic is very busy and appointments are hard to come by.

And if seasonality was something to think about, presumably laser clinics should shut down during summer months, no? They offer their services throughout the year for a reason!

Modern lasers can treat unwanted hair on tanned skin

In the past, laser hair removal machines worked best on pale, untanned skin and dark hair. The laser searched for the contrast between light skin which it ignored and the dark pigment at the bottom of the hair follicle which it targeted.

With modern laser models, the laser practitioner can set the machine to your skin tone regardless of what skin color you are. Some machines also enable the clinician to adjust the machine to account for tanned skin too.

If the clinic you’re using for hair removal only has older style laser machines that don’t have the ability to adjust for tanning, then there should be care taken against tanning the area you’re planning on having treated shortly beforehand. But over time, one would expect as newer laser machines replace old ones, this will be less of an issue.

Skin and hair color contrast no longer matters for hair removal…mostly

While in the past, older style laser hair removal machines could only treat people with pale skin and dark hair, modern machines can now work with all skin colors successfully and safely. However blonde, white, gray and red hairs as well as thin and fine hair is still difficult if not impossible to treat with laser even to this day.

Some hair removal technologies like electrolysis don’t care about your skin or hair color or how how thin or thick your hair is. It can treat everyone. But some other hair removal technologies do still require a certain customer profile to work properly and safely.

Certainly if you are using Intense Pulsed Light or IPL as your chosen method of hair removal, tanned skin (I can attest from experience) isn’t ideal. IPL does still look for the contrast between light skin and dark hair just like old-style lasers did. I had around 15 IPL sessions for my back and shoulders many years ago and once during a summer session, the clinician did comment on my tanned skin and had to adjust the machine accordingly. It’s not ideal.

But since IPL appears to be on its way out as a viable commercial (ie. clinic) option and is largely relegated for home hair removal use nowadays, this probably won’t be as big a concern moving forward.

Body parts that get significant sun

During the summer and periods of direct sun, your body will tan even if you aren’t actively tanning. Even in the middle of a cold, snowy winter strong sunlight can appear and you can get sunburned.

Body parts that typically get tanned during sunny periods are of course any parts that may not be completely covered with clothing year round such as your:

• Face
• Arms
• Legs
• Shoulders
• Back
• Chest

If you were specifically going for laser hair removal for underarm hair, your bikini line, pubic hair or for unwanted hair on your feet, it’s likely your skin color will be close to being untanned. If you’re a guy having your back or shoulders treated and you’ve kept your shirt on all summer then it shouldn’t be a concern either.

Benefits of having laser hair removal during each season

Some laser practitioners still suggest certain seasons are better than others for laser hair removal to avoid tanned skin even though as mentioned above, this is really a myth more than anything.

Laser hair removal in winter

A benefit of hair removal in the winter is getting your body to be hair free for the summer! Other than that, the chance you will be tanned in the winter is obviously less than in the summer and people tend to bundle up with clothes and thus their skin is covered from the sun.

The flip side is that laser practitioners often suggest wearing loose fitting clothes on the day of treatment and avoid snug fitting clothing to prevent against irritating your treated skin. That can be difficult to do with several layers of clothes and possibly a winter coat.

Laser hair removal in spring

As above, doing hair removal in the spring potentially means you could be (relatively) hair free by summer. The chance of tanning in spring is still low and your clothing choices are a bit more flexible since the weather is presumably better and you may have already put the thick winter clothing away.

Laser hair removal in summer

You can wear loose fitting baggy clothing in the summer when doing laser treatment and I certainly did. While you do want to avoid tanning close to the treatment day and also post treatment to be safe, modern laser machines can be adjusted to account for tanned skin.

Who knows: Perhaps your tanning clinic may have a sale for the summer with people on vacation and perhaps looking to drum up more laser business if it’s quiet?

Laser hair removal in autumn

In the autumn, the chance of sunburn or tanned skin also decreases and you won’t necessarily be bundling up with thick bulky clothing for your visit. There really isn’t much other benefit of choosing an autumn laser hair removal appointment unless it just happens to fit your hair growth schedule.

When is the best time to get laser hair removal done? The bottom line is that you really don’t need to schedule your laser hair removal appointments if you’re visiting a clinic with modern machinery that can adjust for skin tone and tans. You’re better off scheduling them to fit your hair growth cycle and your own personal schedule.

Best practices for before and after laser hair removal treatment

Here are a few thoughts regarding pre and post treatment laser hair removal care:

• Follow your clinic’s suggestions prior to treatment particularly as it relates to shaving the area to be treated beforehand as some clinics will charge you extra if you don’t do it yourself.
• Stay out of the sun for 72 hours prior to laser hair removal. Specifically cover up body parts that are going to be treated with laser hair removal prior to treatment and wear sunscreen.
• Remain out of the sun for 7 – 10 days after treatment to be safe or at least until the skin has healed and any swelling or reddened skin has subsided.