Dress Stress

In the new year I am very lucky to be going on a cruise with my family to celebrate New Year and my dads birthday which is also on New Years Eve. Obviously being new year and going on a cruise a new dress was, you could go as far as saying, compulsory. In other words I really wanted one. Not only do I really love buying dresses but there are very few opportunities I get to buy a more 'dressy' kind of dress.

In fact I don't really own a dress 'dressy' enough for this sort of occasion, so I had been on the hunt online and in stores for the perfect dress. I had no luck at all, I saw nothing. So in my despair my grandparents decided that they would take me shopping and buy me a dress for Christmas, which sounded like a lovely idea. So yesterday my grandma, granddad and I took a trip to Meadowhall, which is one of my favourite places ever, sad I know. Besides it being beautiful at this time of the year with all the Christmas lights and decorations, the shops are all a great size and for me all the shops which I shop in most are all in one place which is ideal.

After shopping for at least 4 hours I'd purchased my New Years eve dress, and two more accidentally slipped into my basket...

The first dress which I bought was a dress from Debenhams, from their Fuse section, which contains a lot of smaller brands all of which sell clothes at very reasonable prices. The dress which I chose was by a brand called 'TENKI' which I personally have never heard of before. The dress itself is a very dark navy with gold embroidery down the centre panel, it is a sleeveless tea style dress which nips in at the waist with small pleats. I personally love it and think its a beautiful dress which I will get a lot of wear out of as it can be dressed down with tights and boots (like I have done below) or worn with heels and jewellery as more of an evening look, and for £32 I think it was a steal.

 

The second dress which I bought was a tartan dress from Primark at £15. There may be a million other people with this dress, but it was too pretty to pass up. I think there is 4 styles of tartan available however the style I wanted in particular is very difficult to find as it has been incredibly popular. The dress has a white collar with a fussy black bow underneath, the tartan I eventually settled on was the red based version with green checks.

Finally I bought my dress which I plan to wear on New Year from River Island at £45. I felt this was a good price for a dress of this quality. It has a detachable necklace which adds a bit of sparkle. This dress is incredibly hard to describe so I'll leave you to take a peek at the picture...

 

I hope you like my choices! I'm very happy with them.

 

Have you bought anything fancy for new year?

 

Laura xo

3 for 2 danger

Being the kind of person I am walking through boots and Superdrug without spending a penny is virtually impossible. Makeup is my weakness. Especially when I'm getting one item totally free! Who could say no to that.

Last week I was out with my family in a little town called Skipton, Its a beautiful little market town which I used to love to visit with my grandparents when I was much younger so I have a lot of fond memories there. It was nice to go back after not visiting for quite a long time. So to the point Laura... While we were visiting we called into Boots, I had a wander, perused the makeup on offer and somehow I managed to resist all temptation of the beautiful new Christmas collections and recent releases and walked out empty handed with money still safely in my bank.

I cannot say this was the final out come of the day. Remembering I needed to pick up some cotton pads we headed into Superdrug. BIG mistake. I was in temptations way once again and this time I was weak. I had had my eye on one of the Revlon nail enamels in the shade 570 Vixen for quite some time after Tanya Burr had popped the beautiful product into her Autumn and winter drugstore beauty haul. I decided I was going to treat myself. In my head I deserved it, apparently...

So I picked up the nail enamel mentioned above (£6.49), a Revlon Lip Butter (£7.99) in the shade 035 Candy Apple and Revlon's Super Lustrous Lip Gloss (£6.99) in 225 Kiss Me Coral.

I have been using these products for a while now and I have to say I am very happy with the choices which I made. The nail polish is a deep red wine shade, on the nails it looks incredibly sophisticated and is the perfect wintery shade. On longer nails it looks beautiful, I am determined to grow my nails and have perfectly painted pinkies for winter!

Being a coral addict I couldn't resist another coral shade despite winter quickly drawing in. This product has also featured in one of Tanya Burr's videos... you could say I am easily influenced. The shade alone is not too pigmented on the lips and personally I wouldn't wear it as a stand alone product as for me it doesn't offer enough colour. However worn alone creates a very natural look which is quite nice for less formal occasions. I often wear it layered over Maxfactors Pink Brandy and I think they are the perfect combination. The gloss itself is non-sticky and wears fairly well, however I wouldn't say its one of the longest wearing glosses I own. Despite this I love the
shade and feel it completes my coral lip perfectly.

Gloss -  Far left

My favourite of the bunch would have to be the Lip Butter. What a drugstore gem. The Lipbutters as a range are incredible. They are hydrating and longwearing. This shade in particular is perfect for those who are scared to enter the world of a bold red lip. It is glossy and buildable allowing you to achieve the pigmentation you want without it being too overpowering in one application. I would say that the colour is not a true red but is very slightly orange toned which is something I personally like as like I said, the idea of a bold red lip scares me just a little.

   On the left is the lip butter with its more intense colour.

 

In total these three products cost me just under £15 which I feel for three good quality products is a fairly good price. I'm not sure how much longer the deal shall last but I plan to take advantage of it at least once more before it disappears.

 

Have you taken advantage of Boots and Superdrugs amazing 3 for 2 deal?

 

Laura xo

Bloglovin

Hello everyone,
My blog is now available to follow on Bloglovin!

 

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11280731/?claim=7fsjd6fvw6d">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

 

 

Laura xo

Hello, a little introduction

Hello lovelies, welcome to Alexandra Louise. My names Laura 'Alexandra Louise' Hague (hence the blog title) and I am new to the blogger world after a long period of deliberation on whether to give blogging a go. After discovering the world of YouTube and blogging over a couple of years ago I made it a goal of mine to start writing a blog of my own. It should not have taken me this long! I am a typical British girl who loves nothing more than fashion and beauty, so this blog will be a space where I can share all of my obsessions, latest discoveries, beauty finds and little life goings on with you all. I love to write and you could say I have a slight shopping obsession... so to combine the two sounds like the perfect way to spend my hours I would usually spend endlessly scrolling through pintrest, we heart it, instagram and any other possible social media that comes to mind.

So to tell you a little bit more about myself...
I am 16 years old and live with my mum and dad, I have no brothers or sister which surprising shocks a lot of people, I often get questions such as 'do you get lonely?' but honestly loneliness is not something I have experienced, I have an amazing family and the best little bunch of friends who keep me entertained and brighten up my day.

My beautiful friends and I (the brunette)

I live in North Yorkshire, granted not one of the most exciting places on earth, but we have some lovely places to visit and here I am surrounded by all of my family and friends, and this is where I have been brought up, so right now I'm very happy just where I am.

I have three cats, (crazy cat lady alert) and think you could come to the conclusion I'm certainly a cat person. Watch the documentary on channel 4 on the lady who has 40 cats? Well that's going to be me.

Despite being a very girly girl, I love hockey. I have played for the best part of four years of my life now and have met some of the loveliest people and have found a sport which I think I will continue to play for many years to come. Before discovering hockey I was a dancer, quite a contrast I know, but I wasn't getting what I wanted out of my dance school and decided it was time for a change of scenery. It was one of the best and worst decisions I've made. Quitting dance is one of my biggest regrets, as its something I wish I had continued, I could have been in sparkly costumes with beautiful hair and makeup dancing around the floor, instead I run around an astro turf in a gum shield and skort in the middle of winter... sounds so appealing. But seriously it's great, give it a go.

My lovely team

So for now that is me, I hope you have gotten to know me at least a little bit better from this short...ish introduction, I hope to see you again soon!

Laura xo

 

 

If there's anything you'd like to know about me, feel free to leave a comment below...