Blogger Christmas Instagram Challenge

You may or may not know that many of us bloggers took the 'Blogger Christmas Instagram Challenge'.

 It was a great excuse to take photos everyday and share them with the world. 

Here are all my photos from the challenge, I hope you enjoy... 

Day 1: Advent Calendar, Day 2: Lipstick, Day 3: Candle

Day 4: Screenshot, Day 5: Handcream, Day 6: Sky, Day 7: OOTD

Day 8: Something that sparkles, Day 9: Currently listening to, Day 10: Eyes

Day 11: Flowers, Day 12: Perfume, Day 13: All Wrapped Up, Day 14: Best Friends

Day 15: Brushes, Day 16: Something Pretty, Day 17: Santa, Day 18: Make up Bag

Day 19: Bedroom Decor, Day 20: Night Time, Day 21: Nails, Day 22: Snowman

Day 23: Bed, Day 24: Christmas Tree, Day 25: Food, Day 26: Family

Day 27: Selfie, Day 28: Present, Day 29: Travel, Day 30: Handbag

Day 31: Drink

My New Year Resolutions

I have seen quite a few people on Facebook mocking the 'New Year, New Me' resolutions. But I actually think that the new year is a good opportunity to look back on the past year and change or improve something that you didn't like in your life. 

I have two main new year resolutions for the 2014. The first one is to chill out. Over the past few months I have felt myself becoming increasing stressed out at work and in my personal life. I don't want to be like that, so I want to move into the new year with a positive mind and remember to breathe in stressful situations. 

My second resolution is to become more healthy, I want to eat well and exercise more often. I'm thinking of doing the 30 day shred again so that should kick start my healthy regime. 

Who else has made new year resolutions? Leave me your link so I can check them out too.

Beauty blowout

Happy Christmas to me.

I am now the proud owner of my first Mac products and I am so damn happy.

I suffer from very rosy cheeks and I HATE it. So I decided to treat myself to some good quality make up which would hopefully sort the problem out. 

So I popped into House of Fraser, Croydon whilst I was finishing off my Christmas shopping yesterday. 

The very helpful Mac Sales Assistant, Sarah sat me down and started to apply the foundation and concealer, followed by the powder. I only really went in there to get foundation but I was sold by how amazing the three products looked on my skin I decided to grab the whole lot.

Sarah started by moisturising my face and then applied the foundation with a brush. Once the foundation was on, she dabbed the concealer onto my problem areas, which are my rosy cheeks. With a powder brush, she then pressed the hydrating power onto my face. Sarah explained that it is very important to press the powder on, instead of applying it in circular motions because that only just moves the foundation/concealer around your face and what you want is to fix the product. These products stayed put all day through the terrible wet and windy weather. It was still perfect even after I fell asleep on the sofa.

Here are the prices...

Studio Sculpt SPF 15 Foundation: £25

Studio Finish Concealer SPF 35: £15

Studio Careblend/Pressed: £20

So as you can see these products are expensive but well worth it, in my opinion. 

But please can no-one tell my boyfriend how much I spent on make up. 

I was also desperate to try one of the new Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm. So I popped into Boots and picked up the peach one. It gives your lips a lovely shimmer and is also very hydrating, I love it. 

Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm in Peach: £2.99

Has anyone else splashed out on themselves this Christmas?

Next Monkey Fleece For Sale

I bought this Monkey Fleece from Next in size 6-9months for my nephew for Christmas, however as he is growing up so fast I have now decided to get him the next size up. 

So if anyone has a little one to buy for this Christmas and is struggling on what to get them, give me a shout if you're interested. Retail price £13 plus delivery but I would be willing to let it go for £12 including delivery, or something close to that. 

Please do give me a shout if anyone is interested.

Tweet me @sophiebella18

Not On The High Street Top Picks

I absolutely LOVE Not On The High Street. 
This website has such cool gift ideas for all occasions: Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, new baby, new home etc. I have picked out a few of my favourite gifts to show you all really how good this website is.

1) Scratch Off World Map Poster, £18
I love the idea of this, basically because I love the idea of travelling. I don't know if I'll ever get the opportunity to travel for long periods of time, so it might just have to be holidays. But I definitely want one of these posters to scratch off every time I visit a new place.

2) Personalised 'Likes' Poster Print, £38
This is such a sweet gift idea, although it is a bit pricey.
Not only does NOTHS have cool gifts like these, it also has great ideas to get crafty. So you could make a personalised print yourself.

3) 'Life Is Too Short' Quote Print or Canvas, £18
I love quotes. I think it's because they help me keep calm and stay positive. If you have been following my blog you will have seen that I have done a couple of posts on quotes, I hope to continue these as I really do think they help me when I'm feeling insecure and I hope they end up helping you too.

4) 'I Can Never Find The Words' Print, £19
This scrabble print is so cool. My friend showed me this whilst we were at uni and she then went on to make one of her own. I loved idea so much I made my sister and her husband one last Christmas.

5) Funky Veg Kit, £13.50
Purple carrots, red brussel sprouts, stripy tomatoes, yellow courgettes and multi coloured swiss chard, what is not to love about this awesome grow your own veg kit. What a brilliant idea.

6) I Could Eat A Horse Spaghetti Measurer, £9
I don't know about you but I always seem to cook too much spaghetti and end up having to throw some away. This measurer shows you how much spaghetti to cook for a child, woman, man and a horse. Well actually the horse represents four people.  Yes you may have a measurer already but I bet it's not as cool as this one.

7) Grow Your Own Pizza Kit, £13.75
No a pizza won't shoot out of the soil in a matter of weeks, instead this kit allows you to grow your pizza's ingredients including tomatoes, peppers and basil. The tomatoes and peppers take eight weeks to grow, although the basil only takes four. This is a fun and practical gift, perfect for a stocking filler or even a Secret Santa gift.

So if you're struggling for gift ideas I would definitely recommend heading over to Not On The High Street. If you think some of the gifts are too pricey then that gives you a great excuse to get crafty this Christmas, if that's what your in to.