Cheryl Shops

Whew, I feel a little late to the game this year—it seems like every other blogger and influencer on the planet has already dropped their gift guide for the holidays. But hopefully mine was worth the wait. I always love putting these together—it's like shopping for gifts with an imaginary unlimited budget—and I hope you find some great ideas. I already own and highly recommend many of these items (and some may be, ahem, on the way), but everything is something I'd be glad to give or receive. Also, special shout-out to Anthropologie for sponsoring this year's gift guide—I've included something from them in every category, as their store is a treasure trove of really great presents. Ready to check off your holiday shopping list? 

Use code Cheryl15Fall24 for 15% off your purchase at Inez. 

You know that thing that happens when all of a sudden, you start hearing about a brand everywhere? I feel that way about Inez—over the summer, their Sara sandals were inescapable, with everyone raving about how comfortable they were. I was somewhat skeptical, especially about a 90mm heel—post-pandemic, coupled with the fact that I'm now in my mid-forties, anything that high is a tall order for me, pun intended. In other words, the sun is setting on my days of wearing heels. But before I go gentle into that dark night—and yes, I am completely mixing my metaphors here—Inez reached out to me and asked if I'd like to try a pair of their shoes. So in the name of investigative journalism (and perhaps as a hail Mary for my once-strong arches), I said yes. While Inez sent me a pair of boots for free, the following are my own unfiltered opinions on Inez shoes. 

I bought these leopard-print Madewell Dimes boots earlier this year on major sale, shoved them in the back of my closet...then promptly forgot about them until I was recently doing some cleaning. This doesn't happen to me as frequently as you'd expect; most of the time, I am very excited to wear my new things, but in this case, my timing was off in terms of seasonality. Thankfully, it's now peak fall and peak boot season, so here they are. I was first attracted to the Dimes boot because it's a dupe of the Staud Wally boot, which is itself a dupe for the Khaite Arizona boot. (Yes, I'm sharing yet another Khaite dupe—the fact that this brand is so popular yet so easy to knock off is...thought-provoking.) What all of these styles have in common is a squared toe, a boxy ankle, and a low, set-back heel—all of which are things I love in a boot. There are pros and cons to each (starting with price!), but I've done a thorough analysis. Read on for my honest thoughts.

The Sephora Beauty Insider Sale starts today for Rouge (VIBs and Insiders get to shop 11/5–11/11), so instead of rehashing my usual content (PSA: you can see all of my Sephora recommendations here), I decided to do a deep dive on one of my favorite skincare brands, Paula's Choice, which is of course sold at Sephora as well as on Amazon and a bunch of other sites. I've been using Paula's Choice for years and while not everything has been a success for me, I am incredibly loyal to several of their products. Thankfully, the appreciation is mutual and Paula's Choice keeps sending me new stuff to try. While I received all of the products pictured here for free, the following is a completely honest and unbiased review of Paula's Choice skincare.