Emma HarrowingAs the school prom phenomena hits the city this month, thousands of Year 11 students will be booking limos, picking out their outfits and booking stylists to do their hair for the big night.Emma Harrowing

As the school prom phenomena hits the city this month, thousands of Year 11 students will be booking limos, picking out their outfits and booking stylists to do their hair for the big night. But how do you find the look that will make you the belle of the ball? EMMA HARROWING takes student Laura Stern on a makeover to get her a fairytale look.

The school prom is an American tradition that has over the past few years become a major event on the British high school calendar.

This month thousands of students will be descending on venues in and around the region in limousines, horses and carriage, helicopter and, in 16 year old Laura Stern's case the Norwich Sightseeing open top bus. All will be dressed to the nines in ball gowns, cocktail dresses, long evening dresses and, for the boys, suits and tuxedos, for a night that most should remember for the rest of their lives.

This makes it even more important to have a look that suits you. This will make you ooze confidence and is sure to make you look better in the photographs.

Laura is a student at Taverham High School and with her prom in just under two weeks the race is on to find her the perfect dress.

The dress

I took Laura to Love Couture on Ber Street where owner and designer Kathryn Potter had these tips for wannabe prom queens looking for their perfect dress:

'The colour of your dress is the key to looking and feeling great at your prom. Get advice on what colours and shades suit you as wearing a dress in the right colour for you will instantly give you the 'wow' factor.

'It's also important to try on as many dresses as you can. Don't just go for the styles you would usually pick or the ones that look good on the hanger, as you can never really tell what a dress will look like on you unless you try it on.

'The same goes for picking a dress in the same style as your friend. What looks great on them will not necessarily look as good on you.'

With those top tips in mind Laura and I set about finding her a dress.

Love has many different styles of prom dress to choose from. According to Jaime Lawn who helps Kathryn out in the shop, this year's prom trends are the maxi dress and the shorter cocktail dress.

In the end we went for a very traditional American style prom dress and this season's maxi dress with Grecian styling draping to show how you can wear two completely different styles to this year's prom.

Hair and makeup

Do you wear your hair up, down or half up? Curled, straight or tousled? With a tiara, with flowers or with nothing? It's a dilemma that can easily be solved when you seek the advice of a professional hair stylist. They will know what style will suit your hair and your face shape to give you a looking that is unique to you.

I took Laura to see Emily Glasspoole at Max Giammello on Orford Hill. Laura is conscience of her long neck and so doesn't want all her hair put up, so Emily took this into consideration when creating an evening look.

Says Emily: 'Laura has a lot of hair and it is quite heavy so piling it all on top of her head will look too unbalanced and it is likely that it would fall down throughout the evening. With this in mind and taking into consideration the fact that Laura doesn't like her neck, I am going to curl her hair using straighteners first and then pin it up into a half-up style leaving curls around the face and cascading down the back.'

For the makeup Lucy Edwards at Max Giammello used professional makeup brand Royal Effem to create a natural look with the classic smoky eye, which is perfect for the evening.

Get Laura's look

Keep makeup looking natural by wearing a tinted moisturiser or a light foundation in the same colours as your skin. To find the right colour for you apply a little foundation on the face and lightly blend in, the base should disappear into the skin.

For the base

Laura is conscience of her blemished teenage skin so Lucy applies a little concealer over the blemishes before putting on the foundation. Next the foundation is applied with a brush. To finish the base more concealer is applied over the blemishes and the base is set using a powder.

For the eyes

To create the classic smoky eye look, Lucy applies a cream eyeshadow over the eye lids. Next she uses a black eye shadow along the top lash line. A black eye liner pencil is then used along the top lash line and small upward flicks are added at each end.

To define Laura's eyebrows a brown eyebrow pencil is used to fill in the eyebrows.

For the cheeks

A Rose blush is applied with a brush to the apples of the cheeks and blended upwards along the cheekbones up towards the hairline.

For the lips

Laura's look is finished with a touch of pink lip gloss.

The verdict

Laura says: 'Wow! I cannot believe how different I look! I would never have picked either of the dresses but both are amazing, especially the pale blue traditional one, it's like a fairytale dress!

'My hair is amazing I love it! It feels as if it will stay in place throughout the evening.

'My makeup looks so natural and makes me look so different. It's perfect for a prom.'