How body hair makes women feel when getting “summer ready”

We all look forward to the warmer seasons of the year. Whether that’s because we love heading on holiday, getting a tan, or simply spending some more time outdoors in nice weather. 

However, these hotter months also come with something that may be less thrilling for certain people—a change in the wardrobe. 

From shorts to tank tops, sunshine and warmer weather means that we’re more likely to have our skin on display, and this can be a source of negative emotion for some due to a plethora of potential reasons. 

Here at SmoothSkin, we believe that things like body hair are not shameful and regardless of your choice towards your own body hair, it shouldn’t hold you back from living your fullest life during the summer. 

As such, we surveyed 1,000 UK women aged from 18 to 50 who remove their body hair to see how the seasonal changes affect our confidence, and how we feel ahead of our summer holidays. 

Jump to: 

• How do UK women feel about body hair during summer?
• Do our hair removal habits differ in the summer?
• How do women “prep” for our summer holidays?
• How much do women spend on our summer preparation?
• How can I keep my skin smooth during summer?

How do UK women feel about body hair during summer?

Unfortunately, our previous research found that the majority (60%) of women feel negative emotions towards their body hair. 

And we sadly found that these feelings increase during the summer, as 7 in 10 women (71%) feel more self-conscious about their body hair during this season. 

When looking at different body parts, we found that our armpit hair is the top area that affects our body confidence during the summer, with two-thirds (64%) of respondents saying this makes them feel self-conscious.

Following this, around 3 in 5 UK women (59%) said their leg hair being on show knocks their confidence. In fact, nearly three-quarters (72%) feel more self-conscious about their leg hair during summer than at any other point of the year. 

When it comes to our insecurities, hair on the bikini line (49%), dry skin (35%), and facial hair (34%) were the other top issues. In fact, previous SmoothSkin research revealed that the average UK woman removes upper lip hair every 4 days, with the hair on the upper lip being our most disliked body hair overall.  

And these feelings can even impact what we wear during the summer, with our research finding that three-fifths (60%) of people have actually changed their outfits in the summer before because they realised they hadn’t removed their body hair. 

In addition to this, 7 in 10 UK women (72%) say that they avoid wearing shorts or dresses if they haven’t removed their leg hair beforehand, while two-thirds of respondents (67%) won’t wear short sleeves if they haven’t shaved or removed their underarm hair first.

Arm hair is also a cause for concern during the warmer weather, as half (51%) said they feel more self-conscious about their arm hair during the summer months.

Our research also found that younger women are more likely than their older peers to have low body confidence during the summer:

• 18-24 year olds are 2x more likely than 45-54 year olds to feel self-conscious about stomach hair (61% vs 32%) 
• 18-24 year olds are over 2x more likely than 45-54 year olds to feel self-conscious about their arm hair (40% vs 18%) 
• 18-24 year olds are over 4x more likely than 45-54 year olds to feel self-conscious about acne during the summer (37% vs 8%) 
• 18-24 year olds are over 4x more likely than 45-54 year olds to feel self-conscious about “strawberry skin” (22% vs 5%) 
• 18-24 year olds are nearly 2x more likely than 45-54 year olds to feel self-conscious about uneven skin tone/hyperpigmentation (17% vs 10%) 

Do our hair removal habits differ in the summer?

We can see that UK women feel more self-conscious about their body hair in the summer, but how does this affect our usual hair removal habits? 

Well, we found that three quarters (76%) will remove their hair more often in the summer than during any other time of year, which is understandable if we feel uncomfortable in our summer wardrobe without being hair-free.                 

However, this increase in hair removal, paired with the rise in heat and humidity, also seems to be causing some problems for women, as almost half (42%) say they experience more skin irritation when removing hair in the summer than when they do during other seasons. 

And despite experiencing more skin irritation in the summer, UK women are still indulging in a well-known ‘bad’ habit: dry shaving. 

Despite all the known issues that come with dry shaving, such as ingrown hairs and razor burn, 3 in 5 (60%) admitted that they would dry shave their legs last-minute if they realise they are going to have them on show and had forgotten to remove their hair in time.  

In fact, two-fifths (41%) of women also say that they get ingrown hairs more often during the summer.

If you’re experiencing some summer skin itching and red bumps, it’s worth pausing on any hair removal until you have treated the ingrown hair. 

How do women “prep” for their summer holidays?

In the lead up to summer, we often see people preparing their bodies for the warmer weather—particularly if they have a holiday coming up. 

And unfortunately, the idea of achieving a “summer body” has stuck with us, with over three in five (62%) feeling pressure to have a “summer ready” appearance before the season starts.

But what exactly does “holiday prep” look like for UK women? 

When it comes to summer beauty routines and procedures, the top three tasks we undertake before a holiday are: 

1. hair removal (97%) 
2. hair care including cuts and colours (89%)
3. skincare (88%). 

Following this, almost three-quarters (72%) of women will do hair treatments such as hair oiling and masks, and 7 in 10 (70%) will book an eyebrow appointment. 

And some of these tasks are done far in advance of our flights, as the average UK woman starts saving money around 21 weeks and 6 days before their holiday. In fact, one in ten (11%) will even start saving for a holiday over a year ahead of the trip itself. 

The other tasks we start the furthest in advance of a trip abroad are heading to the gym (7 weeks before), and buying new clothes (4 weeks and 4 days). 

But we don’t do everything so far in advance, as our research found some of our appointments take place just a week before our holidays. Our most last-minute tasks are eyelash treatments, hair removal, eyebrow treatments, and tanning, which all take place less than a week before we jet off. 

On average, UK women do their hair removal less than a week before their holiday begins, with most (49%) tackling this 1-2 days before they leave. 

Three-quarters (75%) of UK women also say they remove their pubic hair before a holiday or special occasion—meaning that we’re more likely to have a bikini line wax ahead of any trips. 

However, nearly 4 in 5 (78%) women told us they will still take their razor with them on holiday to “top up” any hair removal, suggesting that their removal methods won’t see them through the entire holiday. 

Over half (55%) also say that they experience irritation in the areas they have shaved when they swim on holiday. This is because shaving can cause irritation, making your skin more sensitive to salt water and chlorine resulting in red spots after shaving any areas. So, although you may want to bring a razor in your carry-on when heading on holiday, it can be a good idea to pause on your shaving during your time away.

Other hair removal methods such as laser hair removal at home, and IPLs, are proven to give longer-lasting results when it comes to hair reduction, meaning that top-ups don’t need to be done as frequently.

How much do women spend on their summer preparation?

With all of this preparation going on to get “summer ready”, we wanted to see just how much we’re spending in the lead up to our summer trips.

Our research found that, on average, UK women estimate that they spend £125.46 on just their physical appearance prep before a holiday. 

However, almost a quarter (23%) say they will spend over £151 on this in the build up to a holiday. 

We found that Londoners will spend the most getting their summer skin ready, racking up a bill of  £188.03 on average before a holiday. This was followed by those in the East of England who spend an average of £144.63 in preparation for the summer months. 

Our research revealed that those in the East Midlands were the lowest spenders on their holiday preparation, but they still spend £91.90 in the lead up to going abroad. 

How can I keep my skin smooth during summer?

If you’re prone to shaving irritation, it’s key to not over-shave during the summer months. Rising temperatures which cause us to sweat more, along with over-shaving can irritate our skin. 

Shaving irritation is not rare, as shaving can create small cuts and aggravate your skin, but it can be accelerated by improper removal methods, so it’s important to ensure you keep up a proper hair removal routine—including exfoliation and moisturising–to avoid shaving bumps or ingrown hairs.

For those wanting a low maintenance hair removal method, IPL devices are proven to reduce your hair growth after 2 treatments, meaning that you won’t have to top-up your hair removal as frequently, and your chances of any pesky irritation in the summer are reduced.