Cheryl Shops

Last week, the New York Times did a profile on the "Christian girl autumn" woman, and I found her to be equally fascinating and relatable. Then again, I am one of those people who unapologetically loves fall. It has the best weather, the best food, and the best clothes. I like to be covered up—we can unpack the psychology behind that another day—and fall means you can layer turtlenecks and sweaters and blazers  and all those other cozy pieces all on top of each other. (Note: I know you can do that in winter too, but I feel like winter adds an element of needing more protective gear, which I'm not into.) This fall feels extra important to me because the last two have been marred by pandemic uncertainty, but this year feels like we're all ready to embrace capital-F Fashion once again. I've stopped doing trend reports—trends are something I don't exactly follow anymore—but there are a few things I'm particularly excited for this season. Here are my top three must-haves for fall 2022. 

Confession: I am a candle lady. I almost constantly have one burning in my apartment, and I use them like aromatherapy, to enhance or boost my mood. As with perfume, there's a subtle seasonality to candles: in warmer weather, I go for lighter, more citrusy or floral fragrances, whereas in cooler weather, I want something more spicy and warm. To be honest, fall is my favorite season for many reasons—not for the pumpkin-spice clichés, but I do love more substantial clothing (like sweaters and boots), food (give me a bowl of pasta, please), and, yes, scents—the warmer the better. I tend to gravitate toward anything rich and woody, and bonus points if it smells like a wood-burning fireplace, which, in my opinion, is one of the most cozy, comforting things ever. Now that it looks like we've had our last hot day of the year (knock on wood), here are my five favorite fall candles. 

If you've seen House of Gucci, you know that the Italian luxury house has certainly had its ups and downs over the years. Its most recent resurgence, which is still going strong, has been led by Alessandro Michele, who's been Gucci's head designer since 2015. In a stark contrast to the sleek, sexy Tom Ford years (which, to be honest, did appeal to me in my early 20s), the current era is more of a maximalist, geek-chic vibe with a healthy dose of streetwear influence. While the more over-the-top pieces don't always speak to me, I do appreciate Michele's reinterpretation of many Gucci classics. Several years ago, I had my heart set on the Princetown mule, which I discovered did not fit my foot (more on that later). Thankfully, I found the Brixton horsebit loafer and treated myself to a pair for my birthday back in 2019. To this day, they remain one of my favorite pairs of shoes, and I've featured them frequently here on Cheryl Shops. But if you're thinking about buying a pair, there are some important things you should know. Here's my honest and unfiltered opinion of the Gucci Brixton leather horsebit loafer. 

In case you missed my Croatia travel diary last week, we spent 12 days in Croatia in September, starting with two nights in Split, then a week on a chartered boat, and finally three nights in Dubrovnik. (And I actually started the trip with four nights in Vienna, but that's another post for another day!) My challenge was twofold: first, packing clothes that worked for both land and sea, and second, fitting them all into a carry-on, because I had a connecting flight in Frankfurt and had heard horror stories about lost luggage. So, yes, I managed to pack enough clothes for two and a half weeks in a carry-on—it's all about packing cubes, but I also made sure that everything I brought could be worn at least two different ways (you'll see several items get repeated here). This isn't everything I packed (swimsuits and cover-ups, for example), but these were definitely my go-to pieces. Here's what I wore on vacation in Croatia. 

A few years ago, a study came out concluding that most people derive more joy from planning a vacation than actually being on it. I am not one of those people. Travel is how I recharge my batteries, whether it's a long weekend close to home or a week-plus somewhere more far-flung. Although, to be fair, I do enjoy the planning part too. This particular Croatian vacation (or "Crocation," as we started calling it) was years in the works, thanks to various intercontinental moves, major life changes, and, oh yes, the pandemic. But it was totally worth the wait. Thanks to various circumstances, it ended up being the longest vacation I've ever taken in my life, and as a result, it was one of the most relaxing. I walked thousands of steps every day, visited places that were thousands of years old, ate like a queen, basked in the sunshine, and, most importantly, spent quality time with some of my favorite people in the world. Here's everything we did during our week and a half in Croatia. 

Happy first day of autumn! For many of you, it's the time of year that a cold nip starts creeping in at night, and you start thinking about boots, sweaters, and pumpkin spice everything. Unless you live in San Francisco—then it's finally summer. After months of getting pummeled with wind and fog, we now get consistently sunny days and temperatures in the 70s, and it's glorious. Of course, it's also a little weird, because it's fall and you don't necessarily want to be parading around in bright colors and airy fabrics as you would in actual summer. Thankfully, I've devised an outfit formula that feels seasonally appropriate yet warm-weather friendly. Here's what to wear in San Francisco in fall. 

Right around the time Maison Kurkdijan's Baccarat Rouge 540 scent went viral on TikTok, I received a bottle as a gift. It's been called the next Santal 33 in terms of how intoxicating—and popular—its scent is, and judging by how many dupes there are on the market, I'd say Baccarat Rouge 540 has even eclipsed Santal in terms of popularity. That might also be because BR540 is $325 for a 2.6 oz. bottle, and as much as I am willing to splurge on fragrance, I don't know that I would actually pay that much for it. It's a very unique scent—the notes are a very appealing-sounding combination of jasmine, saffron, cedarwood, and ambergris—and on me, it comes across as very sweet, very expensive cotton candy. Scent is a very subjective thing, and your own body chemistry can affect the way a fragrance smells (Glossier You, for example, is amazing on everyone but me); I am honestly more a fan of Santal 33, but that's just a matter of personal taste. In the name of service journalism, however, I decided to seek out some dupes, because I know you love them. Here are a few ways to smell like Baccarat Rouge 540 for less.

Hi, remember me? I feel like I've been slacking a lot on this blog, and literally the last thing I want to do is turn into that blogger who tapers off into nothingness. (Um, like when I ended up taking a three-year break awhile back.) The truth is that I have been working my heinie off, partly because we're neck-deep in holiday at the moment, and partly because I'm about to take the longest vacation I've had in probably 7 years. So to give you fair warning, I am going to take the first two weeks of September off and really unplug—like, not-take-my-laptop unplug. But in the meantime, I've got a few posts planned, and in the spirit of vacations, this one is all about the caftan. Caftan? Kaftan? I'm going with a C for Cheryl. Caftan it is! Here's my favorite one and how I'm wearing it. 

I've found myself inexplicably drawn to the color pink this summer, and turns out I'm not alone: Barbiecore is everywhere at the moment. As Vogue explains, it's a little Valentino fall 2020 runway, a little excitement over the upcoming Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling (!!), and a little summer dopamine dressing. Pink comes in all different kinds of shades—my last pink outfit was definitely in the bright category—and while there's a Kardashian way to wear Barbiecore, here's how I'm doing it.

I write about skincare quite a bit for my day job, so when I got Jessica DeFino's newsletter a few weeks ago, I stopped dead in my tracks. I realized how many times I've written copy along the lines of "yes, it actually works"...and the thing is, shouldn't all skincare? The sad reality is that a lot of it doesn't—or at least, it doesn't produce the results you're looking for. Again, I don't tell you about most of the products I receive for free, but when I find something that, yes, actually works, I get very evangelistic about it. My last rave review was quite spendy, so I'm happy to report that while this week's duo is not exactly a bargain, it's definitely more palatable. Read on for my unfiltered thoughts on True Botanicals Chebula Serum and Pure Radiance Oil.

Yes, this is my actual skin, in good lighting. I am not wearing any foundation.

If the words "cutout dress" give you anxiety, you are not alone. I have never had rock-hard abs, and so I've always avoided cropped tops, cutouts, deep sides, or anything else that could potentially reveal my jiggly bits. To be honest, I'd never even considered trying anything with cutouts until I saw Grace Atwood, one of my blogging heroes, in a Farm Rio dress that looked so doable—and flattering—that I had to order it. Cue "A Whole New World" because I've discovered...maybe I can wear cutouts? Here's how I wore my Farm Rio dress.

So, I was planning on not covering Prime Day at all—sifting through over a million deals is a lot of work in a very short period of time—but then I saw how good the prices were on some of my all-time favorite items, so I thought what the heck? I realize I am a little late to the game, but you've got another full day of shopping ahead of you. Here are 10 products on sale for Prime Day that I own and highly recommend, 10 that I bought today, and there are even more in my Prime Day shop. 

Every year, I ask myself whether I should be covering the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. It feels like Groundhog Day in a way—many of the same items are included year after year, so much so that I always reference the previous year's post to make sure I'm not repeating the same recommendations. It also feels that every year, there are more of Nordstrom's private-label brands present and fewer designer brands. And now, this year, it looks like the discounts aren't as deep on certain items (thanks, inflation!). Can we catch a break? In a word, yes. As much as we all love to complain about how the sale isn't as good as it used to be, there are still some great deals to be had—I know because I went through literally every product that's included in this year's sale (except for kids and men's stuff, sorry). Here are my Nordstrom Anniversary Sale picks for 2022. 

Have you ever meticulously packed for a trip, only to arrive and experience a sudden change in weather? That's what happened to me last week. I had been checking the forecast for a week and having lived on the East Coast for years, knew I was in for humid, mid-80s temperatures with lots of sunshine. Except I forgot the biggest rule of East Coast summertime weather, which is that it can change at any minute, and that's exactly what happened, whoops. Thankfully I did bring layers and a few warmer things, so while this outfit didn't turn out quite like how I had planned it—in fact, it shares over half of its elements with what I wore in this recent post—I'm still pretty happy with it. Here's how it all came together.

Now that the pandemic is endemic, restrictions are being lifted, and we can take travel once again, it seems like we are all THIRSTY for a vacation. Anecdotally speaking, the airports were packed when I flew last week, and based on an elementary understanding of supply and demand, ticket prices are definitely reflecting that. (I'm not going to tell you what I spent on my flight to NYC, but on a normal day, it would have bought me a flight to Paris.) Having not done much air travel in the last few years, I'm a little rusty, but so far I've found it's just like riding a bike—muscle memory kicks in right away. And of all the aspects of traveling, I think I'm a particularly good packer; this may be a surprise, but I actually tend to pack light. Over the years, I've perfected my formula, and since so many of you have asked me about it over the years, here's how I pack for a trip. 

Amazon is many things to many people: incredibly convenient, possibly evil, a source of income, an undeniable and almost unavoidable force. It also happens to be a great source for hard-to-find yet amazing beauty products from around the world. Here are 9 of my favorite beauty products with a cult following, and you can find them all on Amazon. 

It's summer, and that means it's Birkenstock season. Well, that means it's Birkenstock sandal season, because if you're like me, you own what I call Winter Birkenstocks (aka the shearling-lined variety) as well. Then again, you can always wear Birkenstock sandals with socks year-round, so maybe let me backtrack again and say it's sockless Birkenstock sandal season. Whew, glad we cleared that up! I own Birkenstocks in all shapes, colors, and warmths, but my favorite pair to wear in the summertime is the Arizona EVA sandal in black. I actually think they're more comfortable than the traditional cork footbed—the foamy EVA material is more cushiony and absorbs impact better—and they have the added benefit of being much more affordable than traditional leather or suede. (They're also vegan, if that's important to you.) I own them in black and am strongly contemplating a pair in white, because as I'm about to prove, they're one of the most versatile pairs of shoes in my closet. The fact that they're a single color makes them a little more streamlined and sophisticated-looking than the traditional leather-and-cork combination, and I pair mine with pretty much anything. Here are 7 ways to wear the Birkenstock Arizona EVA sandals.

It finally (finally) feels like summer here in the Bay Area: the weather is warming up, my workweek ends at 1pm on Fridays, and we have a bunch of fun trips planned. I also really look forward to wearing some of my favorite key pieces every summer—they're simple yet there's something about them that just makes me feel happy and carefree. Here are my 5 summer go-tos for 2022 (and every year).

There is a Thing happening on the internet at the moment, and it's the Coastal Grandmother aesthetic. Think of a heroine in a Nancy Myers movie: book clubs, farmers markets, Carole King, a glass of white wine (or three), and airy linen clothing. As someone who enjoys all of the above, it's a lifestyle I can definitely get behind, especially when it comes to the clothing part. When the weather gets hot, I love a loose-fitting linen dress that the air can just breeze right through, and of course it gets chilly along the coast at night, so you'll want to have an organic cotton sweater on hand. I'll take loose and relaxed over short and tight any day—the better to eat my heirloom tomato and burrata salad in, right? Thankfully I live in a city where the Coastal Grandmother game is strong, and there's no better place to shop for it than Margaret O'Leary, which opened its first store on Claude Lane in San Francisco over 25 years ago and can now be found across the country (including in my hometown, Chicago). They invited me to pick out a few of my favorite pieces, and as soon as I put them on, it was like a glass of sauvignon blanc showed up in my well-moisturized hand and "This Will Be an Everlasting Love" started playing. Here's my interpretation of the Coastal Grandmother aesthetic.

It can safely be said that y'all love Spanx. I certainly do too—my jeans, faux leather joggers, and pants are among the most worn pieces in my wardrobe. But I recently acquired a pair of their new ankle straight leg jeans, and let me tell you, I think I have a new favorite. And while I just did an honest review last week, I figured it's never too soon for another one (especially since you, dear readers, seem to particularly love them). Spanx sent these jeans to me for free, but as always, the opinions in this review are 100% my own. Here are my honest and unfiltered thoughts on Spanx straight leg jeans.