skin + hair type question

Hello all,

I appreciate the wealth of collective knowledge on this forum (boy am I glad for it!). I’m overwhelmed, though, having searched and skimmed the forum to the point of utter confusion.

I’m thinking of moving from my current regime (waxing/shaving/tweezing/crying>apathy>hairfullness) to a less impermanent method. (Not disqualifying electrolysis, either, if anyone here can speak to that too.)

Can anyone tell me whether [and what kind of] laser would be appropriate for very pale, pinkish, !extremely! sensitive skin (prone to scarring) with long, fine, brown hairs?

As for distribution: fairly dense and dark on the arms, and slightly shorter and paler elsewhere – shoulders, neck, back, stomach, breasts, and face, of course. (Kind of a downy pelt, really, but less cute, since I’m bipedal. ANYWAY…)

I’d greatly appreciate any advice… thank you, in advance.

edited to add: Also – this has been a problem for me with waxing, as well – when working on the arms, stopping between the upper arm and shoulder produces an artificial-looking line. Is there a way that laser therapy could stagger or zig-zag there, to create a less obvious demarcation?

Thank you again.

Found this today, for anyone as confused as I was last night:

“In theory, the technician can choose between short, intermediate, and long wavelengths of laser light to use. A ruby laser produces a short light wavelength (694nm) and is good for removing relatively fine hair on people with Fitzpatrick skin type I-III (pale skin). Alexandrite lasers (755nm) are suitable for removing blond to light brown hair. Intermediate wavelength (800-900nm) diode based lasers are suitable for removing thicker hair with light to dark brown color in people with somewhat darker skin (Fitzpatrick skin type II-V). Long wavelength ND:YAG lasers (1064nm) are better for people with darker Fitzpatrick skin types IV-VI and relatively coarse hair fiber production that is dark brown to black in color.”
(http://www.keratin.com/ah/ah033.shtml)

News to me (obviously not to you guys), maybe helpful for oither laser novices overwhelmed by the plethora of experiences, etc.