Why Shave Before Laser Hair Removal? 3 Reasons

Shave before laser hair removal so the energy goes to the hair root under your skin, because long hair above the skin soaks up energy first. Shaving also leaves the root in place, which waxing and plucking don’t, and a slight stubble gives the laser a target. Shave the day before your session, unless your clinic says otherwise.¹

What are the 3 reasons to shave first?

1. More of the laser’s energy reaches the root

The laser aims at the melanin in the hair root. Hair sitting above the skin holds melanin too, so long hair competes for the same energy.¹ Cleveland Clinic goes further, and says treatment won’t work where hair is longer than a grain of rice.²

2. Shaving leaves the root where the laser can find it

A razor cuts hair at the surface and leaves the root alone.³ Waxing and plucking pull the root out, and an intact root is what the treatment needs.¹ So stop waxing and plucking 6 weeks before your first session, then shave only between sessions.¹

3. A slight stubble gives the laser a target

Shaving a little ahead of time lets a slight stubble show. That gives the laser something to aim at, while the hair shaft is still too short to soak up too much energy.¹ This is why we ask you to shave the day before your session.

When should I shave before laser?

We ask patients to shave the day before. Other medical sources range from 1 to 3 days before.^2,4,5 Follow your own clinic’s instructions, because they know the settings they plan to use. If you forget, tell the clinic when you arrive. Your doctor may be able to trim the area.

How do I shave without irritating my skin?

• Use a new, sharp razor.
• Soften the hair first with warm water and a moisturising cleanser.
• Shave in the direction the hair grows, in one pass if you can.
• Rinse with cold water, then moisturise.

These tips are from DermNet, which also says to stop shaving until any irritation has settled.⁶ Tell your doctor if your skin is sore or you have razor burn on the day, because hair removal shouldn’t be done on irritated skin.³

Will shaving my face make the hair thicker?

No. Regrowth only seems thicker because a razor leaves a blunt tip, while hair that hasn’t been shaved tapers.⁶ Many women worry about this before shaving an upper lip or chin, so it shouldn’t stop you preparing for treatment. If you’d prefer, ask about trimming.

Can I trim instead of shaving?

Often, yes. The Indian guideline accepts trimming to about 1 to 5 mm or shaving the day before, and leaves the choice to the doctor.⁵

One trial compared the two in 129 women with excess facial hair, using six monthly alexandrite sessions on the chin. Results were similar by session 6. Six months after the last session, the group who snipped had fewer hairs (8.15 against 11.27 in a 5 x 5 cm area), and increased hair growth appeared only in the shaving group, in 3 women.⁷ That is one trial on one laser, so ask your doctor which suits your skin, especially for chin hair.

What if I waxed recently?

Tell your doctor, and don’t wax again. The usual advice stays the same, even though one small study is reassuring: 20 women had one underarm waxed and the other shaved just before each of three sessions, and hair reduction was about the same at 6 months.⁸ Hair removal creams need a gap of about two weeks.⁴

What should I do next?

Consultations for laser hair removal are free at all 12 of our clinics, you can ask for a female doctor, and your doctor will tell you exactly how to prepare. Read our main guide to laser hair removal, or see how sessions work for laser hair removal in Faisalabad.

Medically reviewed by Dr Sadaf Saleem, Dermatologist, FCPS (Dermatology), PM&DC 62494-P; Dr Junaid Rabbani, Dermatologist, PM&DC 44510-S; and Dr Shegref Mushtaq, Dermatologist, FCPS (Dermatology), PM&DC 19827-N

1. Vaidya T, et al. Laser hair removal. StatPearls.
2. Cleveland Clinic. Laser hair removal.
3. Cleveland Clinic. Shaving vs. waxing.
4. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Laser hair reduction.
5. Buddhadev RM. Standard guidelines of care: laser and IPL hair reduction. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol, 2008.
6. DermNet. Shaving.
7. Alijanpour R, Aliakbarpour F. A randomized clinical trial on the comparison between hair shaving and snipping prior to laser hair removal sessions in women suffering from hirsutism. J Cosmet Dermatol, 2017.
8. Al-Haddab M, et al. The effect of waxing versus shaving on the efficacy of laser hair removal. Dermatol Surg, 2017.

Treatments in this article

Sessions, downtime and results for each, on its own page.

Full Body Laser Hair RemovalAppointment: About 90 minutes for full body · Downtime: None; mild redness 1–3 days

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