Forget fruitcakes and boring ties! Instead, bestow tidings of Limited Edition and Sephora Only on them.  Here are some fabulous picks, for her, one for him, and most importantly - for you: get free shipping for any purchase over $25 (at checkout, enter code SHIPFREE25) and a free mini train case packed with beauty-full samples with any purchase of $25 or more (at checkout, use code TRAINCASE).

Here are 10 gorgeous gifts guaranteed not to be returned apres holidays:

Stila Step Out And Shine Color Collection & cute clutch Sephora-exclusive color collection packed into a chic clutch.

Benefit Cosmetics Primpcess Glamorous Eye Primping Kit The tools and skills to conceal, contour, accent, line, shadow & brighten eyes.

The White Ball by Ojon Tawaka (10 oz.) A rich, decadent body cleanser & conditioner.

Philosophy The Holiday Party caddy Festive 3-in-1 shampoo, shower gel, and bubble bath.

Fresh Strawberry Flowers Eau de Parfum spray (1 oz.) Sparkling, fruity florals laced with rich, earthy scents.

Juicy Loves Sephora pave lip gloss heart ring (size 7) A cute token-of-love-meets-lipgloss.

Bare Escentuals Bare Pleasures Nine Alluring Eye Colors Limited edition collection of mineral eyeshadow.

Sephora Brand Professionnel Retractable Travel Powder Brush #51 Featured in Brides Magazine and beloved by Bridezillas everywhere.

Marc Jacobs Daisy gift set Playful innocence from MJ.

the Philosophy Party Girl Bag Helps keep the life of the party looking fabulous.

...& because even fellas should have a fragrance wardrobe: Sephora Brand Scent Sampler Best Sellers For Him

- Lesley Scott

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In celebration of its 30th Anniversary, Banana Republic has reintroduced its Classic fragrance. The citrus top notes eventually fade to the more earthy base of ginger and musk. It’s sexy, yet not overpowering–just like Banana’s all-American look. And an ideal stocking stuffer, non? THE DETAILS: $48, Banana Republic stores and www.bananarepublic.com

We’ve seen some nice shoes from the 2008 New Balance Fall/Winter collection. This New Balance 576 Premium pack is part of that collection and has a nice laidback vibe to it. Using a combination of European suede and leather to go along with earthy tones, these New Balance kicks will fit just about any wardrobe.

One colorway features blacks and grays, while the other mostly uses varying shades of brown. Look for these sneakers at online retailers soon. Via High Snobiety.

OR.... do you know of a fragrance that is not discontinued that is a close match?

OR..... If you have it, and want to trade it for something on my swap in The Makeup Swap Shoppe:
http://teamsugar.com/group/2384375/blog/2488844

Its description:
This dangerously heady perfume oil is a sexy love potion. It elicits desire and intoxicates the senses with a sweet blood orange top note and a single floral middle note of jasmine grandiflorum from India, a potent aphrodisiac. Seductive base notes of sandalwood and warm vanilla are offset by exotic myrrh and a hint of earthy oakmoss; a natural nocturnal essence with a mysterious, campfire-like crispness.

* Notes: Sweet Blood Orange, Jasmine Grandiflorum, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Myrrh, Oakmoss.
* Style: Seductive. Heady. Sexy.
* Comes in a leopard pouch and cute little red box.

Why are New York women wearing ankle boots?

“Because we follow trends,” said Maya Beaumier, 18, a college freshman who was hanging out on University Place last Friday night, clad in flat black ankle boots with black leggings and scrubby denim shorts.

“Yeah, we’re followers!” said her friend Maureen Flanagan, also an 18-year-old freshman and also wearing little zip-up ankle boots […]

The coeds have done their homework. Ankle boots are, in fact, the shoe of the year. (They’re also known as “booties,” but because that word sounds like two different slang terms plus one type of children’s footwear, we’re not going to use it.)

The abbreviated boots can snuggle into the bottom of a pair of skinny jeans like a screw, or cap off a long bare leg like a shiny black cherry. And many are wearing them with shorts and tights, for a kind of cute elf look (it makes sense, since these days, only Santa Claus is hiring). Works if you’re under 30.

Ankle boots can be flat or stiletto (like Jennifer Lopez’s 5.5-inch YSLs); sleek or baroque; buckled (like the witchy red ones strapped on by Kate Bosworth recently), zipped or both. Earthy mauve and camel ankle boots exist, but the up-to-date option is clearly the kind that make you look like a sexy Martian.

So you wish to be the “sexy Martian,” like this, perhaps?

Or, perhaps not.

Sexy Martian girls, aside, the Manolo is himself is the fan of the latest ankle booties. Indeed, after several seasons in which the couture shoes have become increasingly outlandish, perhaps it is time for something fresh.

And yet, who wishes to be the “follower” of trends, for despite the assurances of 18-year-old coeds everywhere, not every style is suitable for everyone, especially for the smart, independent lady of the particular age.

And yet again, ankle booties are tres fun, and so you naturally wish to find the pair that works, but you must also find the pair that does not make you look ridiculous. Ayyy! Such trouble!

Fear not, internet friends, for the Manolo is here to help you find booties that are both au courant, and yet suitable for those who are not the sexy, bubbleheaded, teenaged, Martian coeds.

Look! Here is the serious suede ankle bootie from Gravati

Perhaps, these are too intellectual and somber for you, in which case the Manolo tells you to whoop it up, with these platform booties, the Whoop from Stuart Weitzman.

Or, maybe these, the Lily Boot from Kate Spade.

Ankle booties, trendy, stylish, and fun. What is there not to like?

A classic resin bangle ($38.40, was $128) in rich brown goes with all your fall staples.



Use this Nonogram Pin ($44.40, was $148) to close a cardigan or as a sophisticated accent on a simple wool coat.

More sales and deals on the web:

As seen in the SheFinds forum: 20% off select Hip-T’s.

30% off all full-priced clothes and shoes at Shopbop with coupon code EARLYGIFT. Today and tomorrow only.

Up to $40 off boots at Steve Madden.

The sample sale scoop – shop these sales today for huge discounts:

Carolina Herrera at Editors’ Closet. Enter coupon code “OnlyForSheFinds” for an exclusive $50 discount at this sale.

Marc by Marc Jacobs at Gilt Groupe

Tracy Reese and Acrobat at Hautelook

Natalie Portman for Te Casan at Ideel. Use invite code shefinds.com.

Elie Tahari outerwear at Rue La La

Worlds collide: Tokyo-based Serge Mouangue has matched fabrics from his home continent of Africa with Japanese dress to come up with the Wafrica kimono. More than fashion, the designer is interested in the exploration of cultures. YUJI ZENDOU PHOTOS

The contrasting landscapes of Japan and Africa may seem, literally, worlds apart. But they have been artfully united in a collaboration between an African designer and a traditional Japanese kimono-maker. Launched last month, Wafrica — Africa plus wa for Japan — has unveiled a range of kimono handcrafted in an array of African cotton fabrics that would seem to be a million miles from the subtle silks more commonly associated with traditional Japanese dress. Yet despite the orange comets and flashes of lightning tearing across a moss-green background, and the tribal swirls in colors that recall the sun-drenched African soil, the prints blend seamlessly into the kimono form before they surprise Japanese shoppers with their foreign origin.

The cultural cocktail is the brainchild of Serge Mouangue, a Tokyo-based concept- car designer for Nissan, who joined forces with Kururi, a Tokyo-based kimono- maker, to produce the traditional Japanese attire in 18 African prints sourced in markets from Nigeria to Senegal.

In the sedate confines of the Kururi store on Aoyama Dori, visitors are drawn to the bright outfits placed prominently in the window display.

“These kimono have vivid colors, and the impact is powerful,” says Izumi Ichikawa, one of the store assistants, who is immaculately clad in a more conventional pastel-hued piece. “People expect more neutral tones in kimono, but these attract younger, modern people who are looking for something different.”

“These color combinations are not found in traditional fabrics and are new to kimono,” adds Yoko Nagai, the merchandiser at Kururi, which has been selling kimono for 15 years. “And the printed wax cotton used in Wafrica kimono does not exist in traditional kimono materials.”

Such a lack of familiarity between materials and form strengthens the effect that Mouangue is seeking to create.

“I do not want the end result to belong to Africa, nor should it belong to Japan. It is not a ‘fusion,’ ” says Mouangue, who was born in Cameroon and grew up in Paris. “I want it to be something else. It should transcend the boundaries of both cultures. It is a third aesthetic.”

Mouangue moved to Tokyo with his Australian wife and their children two years ago and was instantly drawn to exploring the similarities and differences between Africa and Japan.

“They may appear different on the surface but they do share some cultural similarities,” the 35-year-old says. “Both societies are very tribal and have a respect for hierarchy and an appreciation of the power of silence.

Serge Mouangue

“And then there are the differences. In Japan there is no improvisation. Here, improvisation can mean trouble, shame, difficulties. But in Africa, it means life, renewal, health and spirit.”

The seed of Wafrica was planted earlier this year when Mouangue decided to explore mixing the two cultural landscapes in the form of one of the most iconic symbols of Japan: the kimono.

Slideshow of Wafrica kimono

Photos appear in a pop-up window

“The kimono is an icon of Japan,” says Mouangue. “I’m fascinated by the cut and the attitude and poise it creates among women when they wear them.

“Putting on a kimono is an immensely complex process. It is like a building, with layer after layer. But the complexity disappears when it is put together, and the end result is pure beauty and timelessness.”

For Mouangue, his kimono project is neither a fashion statement nor a commercially motivated venture. In between sips of a mango smoothie in a cafe near the Aoyama store, he energetically draws diagrams of rivers and mountains and valleys to explain his conceptual motivations.

“The connection between two different worlds such as Africa and Japan may be hidden,” he says. “There may be a sea that seems to separate the two places. But we are all connected. There is earth under the sea that links us all, but we can’t always see it. This is a project that tries to show that connection.”

Since Mouangue has connections to Cameroon, Paris and Australia, and is now living in Japan, it was a natural progression for questions surrounding identity, home and cultural boundaries to have motivated the project.

“Being here as a designer, I have to ask myself where I come from, where will my children call home,” he says. “I have been asking myself that since I arrived. This is a way of trying to find answers. It is one more way of narrating a story.”

It’s a story Kururi is keen to embrace.

“We are pioneering new projects with the kimono,” says Kururi’s Nagai. “We introduced the use of denim in the past, so our company is very suited to Wafrica.”

For the kimono industry, such modern interventions should be regarded as no less than a breath of fresh air. Speaking volumes in relation to the social status, aesthetics and even emotions of the wearer, the art of wearing a kimono has long been considered as culturally significant as tea ceremony and ikebana.

Though once common, the popularity of Japan’s national dress has steadily been usurped by increasing exposure to Western fashions since the end of the World War II. Today, the kimono industry has shrunk dramatically, with fewer than one in 10 Japanese women wearing a kimono rather than a Western-style dress on their wedding day.

The creation of classic kimono with a modern twist — in the form of styling or fabrics — has been one way of reviving the fortunes of the ailing national dress, according to Yoshichika Kitamura, a Japanese-culture expert.

“Kimono is a Japanese-orientated national costume, so most Japanese women like to use traditional Japanese patterns,” he says. “But among young women today, there may be a growing attraction for non-Japanese fabrics or unusual patterns.”

But mixing African fabrics with Japanese dress was no easy challenge. While silk fabrics are traditionally used in Japanese kimono, Mouangue insisted that cotton — the fabric of Africa — be used in his creations.

“African women are supposed to show their bodies,” he says. “The cut of their traditional babu dress may be from loose cotton, but when they move it is designed to show all their curves.

“In African dress, womanly lines are celebrated. In Japan, the shape is different; it is more like a tube.”

The future of Wafrica will not be confined to kimono. Mouangue has approached local craftsmen about other kinds of collaborations with Japanese and African materials and art forms. They, much like the kimono-makers, are more than open to such ideas.

“I am hoping to expand this to include other aspects of Japanese culture,” says Mouangue. “This is just the start. It is about finding a third aesthetic. Telling a familiar story a different way. The end result? It’s about hope, and it’s about the future.”