Brrrrrr!!! Are you feeling the cold yet? Have you dug out your thick tights, snuggly leggings and woolly jumpers from the back of drawers and wardrobes? It’s that time of year when our bare legs go back into hibernation, along with sleeveless tops and dresses.
Winter officially starts in late December but have you realised that it’s ACTUALLY the perfect time to start laser hair removal sessions?
Why? We’ll tell you. You are going to be covered up for the coldest part of the year anyway, so why not plan a series of laser hair removal treatments so that when spring comes round you can emerge like a butterfly from your cocoon of woollies with silky-soft skin?
Imagine, the joy of no more scratchy razors, no more messy hair removing cream and no more painful waxing to banish unwanted hair. Wouldn’t that set you up for the most sensational, sun-kissed summer ever?
Read on to discover our top three reasons why winter is a great time to start laser hair removal treatment.
Planning your hair removal treatments over the winter months
1. Did you know that your hair grows in cycles – and different parts of the body and face grow hair at different speeds? Laser hair removal works best on hair that is just starting to grow. The scientific name for this is the ‘anagen’ phase. Everyone’s hair grows at different rates and hormones and medication can both have an impact. That’s why you will need more than one session of laser hair removal treatment. We suggest spacing out sessions about every four to six weeks for facial hair and six to eight weeks for body hair. So, if you start planning your sessions now you could be hair-free when the warmer weather comes. Read more about laser hair removal at Avance Clinic. Depending on your own, unique hair growth cycle, the hairs that have been zapped by the laser can take a few days, or more, to fall out. You can use a razor to lop off hairs at the skin’s surface between your laser hair removal sessions, but PLEASE don’t use tweezers, wax, threading or hair removal cream between your appointments. This will disrupt the natural hair growth cycle and means that it takes you longer to get the results you want. As it’s winter, you are going to be covered in layers of clothes anyway. The fact that you can only use a razor will bother you less.
2. Once you start laser hair removal you have to be careful to wear sunscreen or stay out of the sun. This is because the laser treatment initially makes your skin more sensitive. You are likely to burn much easier and more severely than normal. There is also an increased risk that you might experience some skin discolouration or pigmentation patches. You should wear at least SPF30 or more (preferably a total sun block of SPF50) whenever you are outside, for two weeks before and four weeks after a session. This means EVERY DAY – not just when it’s sunny – because that sneaky UV radiation gets through to your skin even on a cloudy day. In a UK winter you’re not going to be lying in the sun and you’ll probably be indoors quite a bit, so it’s definitely less of a sacrifice.
Fake tans and laser hair removal – that’s a BIG no-no
3. Fake tanning creams can seriously disrupt your laser hair removal treatment plan. You should never apply fake tan to an area where you are planning to have laser hair removal soon. This is because the fake tan artificially darkens the pigment, or melanin, in your skin. Laser hair removal works because the laser energy targets the melanin that is in your hair and which gives it its colour. If you’ve used fake tan, or tanning moisturisers, the laser can target the fake-tanned pigment in your skin as well as the melanin in your hair and this can cause problems. We recommend that you don’t use fake tan or sunless sun creams for at least four weeks before a laser treatment. In the UK, unless you are a contestant on Strictly, you’ll probably be leaving the fake tan alone until the spring. You can find out more about why we need sunscreen during laser treatment in an earlier blog post.
So, if you want to be enjoying smooth skin and a streamlined beauty routine by the time the weather warms up and the days get longer, get in touch and book a free consultation and patch test. We’re happy to talk you through the best options for planning laser hair removal over the winter months.