The countdown is on.

Whether you like it or not, the Christmas party planning has begun in earnest and, according to a new survey, the early bird gets the worm when it comes to those festive salon appointments.

If you need a curly blow-dry or freshly-filled lashes for your annual office bash, you better get booking for December now.

According to data compiled by Phorest Salon Software, which takes appointments for over 6,000 hair, spa, beauty and aesthetic salons, average bookings begin the climb to Christmas madness by the end of the third week of October.

In fact, they’ve pinpointed Thursday October 17th as the date the Irish public begins to think about their yuletide hair and beauty appointments, so if you haven’t got your booking sorted you may already be in danger of missing out on your ideal date and time.

December is 14 times busier than usual

“By the first week of November, salon appointment bookings have already more than doubled the average number of weekly bookings taken – jumping from 10.5 to 23.7 appointments made for the Christmas season. And once the end of November hits, that number has more than tripled.” says Phorest.

In December hits, the number of bookings made at Irish salons shoots up to almost 14 times the average rate.

The lesson? If you need that wax or up-style, now is the time to make the call.