Planning · 4 min read
Planning laser hair removal around summer
When to start so the course is not interrupted.
The hair growth cycle sets the schedule and sun exposure breaks it. The practical answer is to start counting backwards from August.
Almost everyone books this in May, wanting to be finished by July. A full course is six to eight sessions spaced four to eight weeks apart by area — that is six months at minimum, in the half of the year when sun exposure keeps forcing appointments to be postponed. Starting in autumn is not a preference. It is the difference between finishing the course and abandoning it halfway.
The short answer
Start in September or October and you will be finished before the next summer, with every session on schedule. Start in April and you will complete two or three sessions before sun exposure starts forcing deferrals, then restart in autumn having lost the progress the cycle depends on. If you are reading this in spring, book the consultation and patch test now, and plan the course to begin in September.
Why the schedule is not negotiable
Laser targets pigment in the hair follicle, and it only works on follicles in their active growth phase. At any given time only a fraction of the hair in an area is in that phase, which is why the course is six to eight sessions rather than one, and why they are spaced four to eight weeks apart depending on the area. The gaps are the treatment as much as the appointments are.
Sun exposure interferes because the laser cannot distinguish pigment in the follicle from pigment in tanned skin. Treating recently exposed or tanned skin raises the risk of burns and pigment change, so we defer instead — and every deferral pushes the whole remaining course later, past the point where it lines up with the growth cycle.
Two start dates, same course
Autumn start
Spring start
First session
September or October
April or May
Sun interference
Minimal through the course
Constant from session three
Sessions completed on time
Typically all of them
Typically two or three
Finished by
Spring, before exposure begins
Rarely finished — usually restarted
Shaving between
Easy to maintain
Same, but under a tan you must avoid
Realistic outcome
A complete course, on cycle
A partial course and a lost season
The rules between sessions
Shave. Do not wax, pluck or thread — those remove the follicle the laser needs to find, and a waxed area cannot be treated.
No sunbeds at any point during the course, and no fake tan for two weeks before a session.
Daily sun protection on treated areas, including on days you do not expect to be outside for long.
Tell us about any new medication before each session — several increase photosensitivity, including some antibiotics.
Keep the appointment spacing. Arriving three weeks late repeatedly is what turns an eight-session course into twelve.
If you have a holiday booked
Tell us at consultation and we will plan around it rather than discovering it mid-course. As a general rule we leave two weeks clear before a session and at least two weeks after sun exposure before the next one — more if you have caught any real colour. It is far better to build a gap into the plan than to arrive tanned and be turned away at the door.
Skin and hair matter more than the calendar
Laser works on the contrast between hair pigment and skin pigment, so it is least effective on grey, white, red and very fine blonde hair regardless of when you start. Deeper skin tones can be treated safely with appropriate wavelengths and conservative settings, and always with a patch test first. Not suitable during pregnancy, over active infection, or on skin that is currently tanned or sunburnt. Certain medications and conditions affecting photosensitivity need to be disclosed before the patch test, not after.
A workable twelve-month plan
August: consultation and patch test, so nothing delays the first session.
September: session one, with the area shaved 24 hours beforehand.
October through March: sessions two to six or seven, spaced to the area and your response.
April: final session and review, before exposure season begins.
Summer: maintenance only, if any is needed at all.
Also asked
Yes, if the area is genuinely never exposed and never tanned — underarms and bikini for most people. Legs, arms, face and back are the ones that force deferrals.
Six to eight per area is typical, spaced four to eight weeks apart depending on the area and your hair cycle. Some people need a top-up afterwards; we review rather than assume.
Waxing and plucking remove the follicle the laser needs as a target. Shaving leaves it intact, which is why it is the only method we allow during a course.
We reschedule. It is disappointing on the day and it is the right call — treating tanned skin risks burns and lasting pigment change.
It is long-term reduction rather than permanent removal. Most people keep the result with occasional maintenance sessions once the course is complete.
Treatments in this guide
Written by the practice and reviewed by a practitioner before publication. General information, not medical advice — what applies to you is settled in person, at consultation.