I haven't read the whole thread but was drawn in by the title, having waged a battle with "excess", "unsightly" (as the ads/the media/popular culture would have us believe) facial and body hair for about 25 years, since my teens.
I have a halfway-between-coarse-and-fine dark 'tache, coarse hairs on and under my chin, a line of pubes up to my belly button, a few coarse hairs around each nipple, a bit of a bikini line and a hairy bum. 
I used to also have long medium thickness hairs between my boobs, sideburns and a much bushier bikini line, going well down my thighs.
It is very easy - but IMO a bit narrow-minded - for people with "blonde fluffy downy hair" on their faces to think us dark haired and much hairier women are "bonkers" to resort to shaving. You try everything, within the limits of what you can afford, to look passably "normal" - particularly when you're younger, possibly getting bullied for it, and/or are desperate to look attractive according to society's idea of attractive. I think if you have unusually prominent facial/body hair, which I did/do, you inevitably feel some degree of self-consciousness about it, because you know some people are looking at you and judging. You'd have to be very thick-skinned not to be bothered, especially when young. I lost count of the number of other children who told me I had a moustache, and it hurt.
So over the years, I've tried most things, with varying degrees of success: IPL, electrolysis, shaving, bleaching, depilatory creams, waxing. At university, I went on a trial at a women's hospital, taking hormone tablets that were 50 times stronger than Dianette (the pill that can reduce excess hair/acne). They worked, but made me feel ill, so I came off. I've done several courses of Dianette too, which works to a degree, but it makes me miserable and destroys my sex drive.
The IPL got rid of the cleavage hair, my side burns and most of my bikini line brilliantly - and permanently. That was about 10 years ago. However, I think it also kicked off adult acne. It achieved nothing long-term anywhere else. It cost over £500.
I've waxed my upper lip, and that just seems to lead to pimples and do a patchy job, so I've given up on that. I find bleaching is best for non-coarse, dark facial hair (upper lip, cheeks). I don't care if it's fluffy. Also, if I'm lazy and I've got a few longer hairs emerging on my upper lip, I just give them a quick once-over with DP's nose trimmer - does the job and no coarser regrowth.
For my coarse chin hairs, I've found electrolysis really effective - but you have to stick with it. And it costs a bit. Currently, on a tighter budget, I'm just plucking these, but always being sure to have a quick disinfect of the area before and after, and use clean tweezers, otherwise pimples result. The electrolysis has reduced these hairs to a manageable pluckable amount; before that, I was shaving, like OP - too many to pluck.
I shave what's left of my bikini line, and my legs (when I can be arsed), and also the line of hairs up to my belly button. And I pluck the odd dark hair from around my nipples. That's as much as I'm prepared to do. Where it got me down so much as a teenager and in my twenties, now, in my late thirties, I'm much more self-accepting, and see that it's a lot more about society's problem with my very normal, natural body (I can make babies and breastfeed, so hell, I'm still all woman), and very little of anything about me being "unsightly". Finding a DP who's a bit of a loveable caveman and pro the natural look has been great too. If I were to wax my bits for example, he'd be horrified - it's never going to happen! He just loves me as I am - really fancies me in fact - and anything I do hair-removal-wise is just to get me to a point where I feel comfortable. Growing up, I didn't think men like him existed. I'm not prepared to let hair removal take over my life - and it easily could! It helps that DP is hairy too - more so than me. Some men aren't!
OP, if you're dark-haired and your hair is very noticeable, I don't blame you one bit for trying shaving - or anything else. If it works for you, and you can't stretch to electrolysis at the moment, I say go for it. Do what it takes to feel comfortable in yourself. BUT just keep it all in perspective. Unless a woman has an underlying hormonal or medical problem, some facial and body hair (other than just in the "usual" places, pits and bits, etc) is normal.