I made the mistake of getting a light tan prior to a laser treatment and ended up with some light scabs from burn that left lighter than the tanned area dots. The moral, never get this done with any tan. Other than shaving, waxing, and scrubbing, does anyone know how to reduce/remove a suntan.
Stay out of the sun.
Seriously, laser hair removal works best with light skinned people with dark hair, as you found out a light tan can mess with or at least bring your pigmentation to the surface. When I had the laser stuff done the doctor showed me how the laser is “attracted” to dark spots. For example, he let it pulse while hovering over a white towel, nothing. Next he put a black 3 ring binder and let it pulse. A flame shot out of the binder. It was pretty cool. Moral of the pointless blather, before you do any laser hair removal I would avoid all contact with sun for at least 3 weeks.