Autumn and winter are the straightforward window for a laser course. Here is the honest reason why, and how to work out when to begin.
If you want to be hair-free by a particular point next year, the honest answer is that you start now, in autumn or winter. Not because of an offer, and not to rush you. It is about how the treatment actually works.
There are two reasons, and both come down to the calendar rather than the machine.
Laser hair removal works by targeting the pigment in the hair. Recently tanned skin has more pigment near the surface, which makes treatment less comfortable and raises the risk of a reaction such as temporary lightening or darkening of the skin. For that reason, most clinics ask you to keep the treatment area out of direct sun for a period before each session, and to protect it carefully afterwards.
In practice that means summer is the hardest time of year to run a course properly. You are treating through the sunniest months, working around holidays, and reapplying SPF constantly. Autumn and winter remove that friction. The areas people most often treat, such as legs, underarms and the bikini line, are covered up anyway, and there is far less chance of a session being postponed because of recent sun.
A course is usually six to eight sessions for most areas, and sessions are spaced several weeks apart so each one catches a fresh wave of follicles in the active growth phase of the hair cycle. Facial areas often need more sessions and shorter gaps; body areas are spaced further apart. We explain how this works in more detail in our guide to how many sessions laser hair removal takes.
Add it up and a full course runs across roughly six to twelve months, depending on the area and how your hair responds. So whatever you begin in spring is still going when you actually wanted it finished. Starting in autumn gives the whole course room to run before the following summer, in the season when sun is not in the way.
Work backwards from when you want to see the benefit, and give the course a generous runway.
| You want to see a real difference by… | Sensible time to start |
|---|---|
| Next summer | September to December |
| A spring holiday or wedding | The previous autumn |
| A winter trip | Around six to nine months before |
| No fixed date, just want to begin | Any time, and autumn or winter is the easiest run |
These are guidelines, not promises. Your hair colour and thickness, your skin tone, the area, and hormonal factors all affect how a course progresses, which is why the estimate you get at a consultation is specific to you rather than a general figure.
Yes, with a bit more care. It is not off limits, but there are a few things to know:
If you are already mid-course when summer arrives, you carry on. You just plan around holidays and stay strict with sun protection.
If it is autumn as you read this, the timing is on your side. You have the whole of the cooler months to run a course, and the areas most people treat are under clothes anyway. Starting now is the difference between being most of the way through by next summer and only just beginning.
Worth knowing: there is no single "laser season", and you can start a course at any time of year. Autumn and winter are simply the run with the fewest obstacles, because sun exposure is the most common reason a session gets postponed.
The useful version of "when should I start" is the one worked out for your hair, your skin and the areas you want to treat. That is what a consultation is for. It is free, there is no charge for the patch test, and there is no commitment to book anything on the day.
We will look at your skin and hair, give you a realistic view of how many sessions your areas are likely to need and over what timeframe, and you decide from there.
19 Lichfield Street, Walsall, WS1 1UG · Open every day, 10am–7pm · 01922 929850
