because of pole i’ve got all sorts of bruises and burns (pole, floor). the ones on my arm i’m okay with but now that i’m getting better at climbing the pole, the ones on my legs are becoming more numerous and noticeable, which is bad news as spring and summer approach. did you know that arnica is supposed to help reduce bruising? neither did i until a couple days ago when i was perusing instyle’s 10 things to… articles. i started with 10 things to take better pictures and ended up on 10 things to look better naked. one was about reducing discoloration or bruises and they featured goldfaden’s arnica and vitamin k healing cream. i have no idea if it really works and i’m not sure if i’m willing to simply try it out at $75 but it gives me hope.
i’ve done a little bit of research and it turns out that arnica gel is something that if i can’t find at a drugstore, i can at least go to a health food store to get. i’m going to try this first and see how well it works before investing more into goldfaden’s fancy version.
so for those who don’t know, duque just opened shimmer beauty bar, a space dedicated to making your face pretty. they cover make up, facial waxing, and lash extensions. duque, just around the corner on ballard avenue, provides hair and other spa services as well as an assortment of jewelry, cute undies, and a few clothing items. i haven’t had my hair done there, although my swag bag did include a coupon for a discount on hair services. what i have done with the duque family is discover my new home for lash extensions. heather is their make up artist/last extension maven and i love her. her fill prices are reasonable, she’s available until 6pm on weekdays that the salon is open, and she has a great attention to detail (*so* important for lash extensions). it doesn’t hurt that she’s cute and fun to talk to; makes you want to really be friends with her. they were offering a few free services tonight for their opening, but heather had a line several people deep and i didn’t want to wait nor to be rushed through any sort of hair removal process (ouch!) so i took off relatively quickly.
interestingly enough i saw the same adam dress on rue la la and gilt groupe. i haven’t decided yet if it makes a difference that the dress came off rue la la last night and just went onto gilt groupe this morning, but i thought it was single eyebrow raising that gilt is selling it for ($10) more than rue la la. do with that what you will.
yay! i got my first eyelash extension fills yesterday! i’ve had my initial set for 3 weeks now and i LOVE having extensions. they save me from feeling oh so gross/drab every morning when i wake up cuz BAM! i’ve got big glamorous lashes already! for anyone who is seriously considering getting them, i would highly recommend going to 
afterwards, i went over to the eastside again, this time hitting up both the bravern (where the self park was an absolute mess! it’s like they’re really trying to drive you to using the valet) and bellevue square. anthropologie had that plaid vest i posted earlier. that whole waist definition thing i was hoping for didn’t work out so well on me. (ah well.) the plenty by tracy reese coat still wasn’t in. (and i continue to wait.) dna 2050 had the husbands of the real housewives of orange county. not for real, but whereas last week there were young hip people in the store buying young hip clothes, yesterday there were middle-aged-salon-tanned-and-frosted men buying clothes that screamed, “trying too hard.” oh bellevue and your overdone population. the one good thing that came out of the trip was finding out the 
over at bellevue square i got the new 
pre-ordering for the 