My Claud-robe

It's become necessary for me to reveal my ultimate style icon. No, it' not Kate Moss, Julia Restoin-Roitfield, or even my beloved Olsen twins. If I'm honest with myself, (and I must point out here that I rarely am), the person who has inspired more purchases that any other is the one and only Ms Claudia Winkleman.

Close friends will not find this surprising. I have confessed to numerous people that I feel we are in fact long-lost friends, destined to reconnect at some point and take on the world one bag of cheesy Wotsits at a time. I taken pictures of her amazingly bouncy bob to the hairdressers, flirting with a nude lip and have a similarly inordinate number of obscenely high shoes. I draw the line at the spray tans, though it's only a matter of time.

I have obviously never met Claud (though she did recently tell my boyfriend he was 'soooo sweet' so we are obviously of one mind), yet I have loved her since It Takes Two started many moons ago. But my style stealing ways began this time last year when I spotted her in this warehouse dress on ITT:

Then, more recently, I spied a beautiful shirt on the Warehouse website:

I loved it, but I thought £55 was pretty steep, no? Even if it is silk. Until I turned on ITT and saw Claudia sporting the very same blouse. It was a sign from the gods - we are of one mind. It had to be mine.
Then I began the search for a Xmas party dress. I had absolutely no luck until browsing shoppingthetrend.com and noticing my future best mate in this beauty:

Dorothy Perkins, £40 on the big sale day? Yes please. So my Claud-robe continues to build. If I could afford either of the beautiful Paul and Jo Sister numbers she's worn in recent weeks I would snap them up. Seen here  and here.

So in summation, I love her style, described as Kate Moss meets Chrissie Hynde, and am not above copying it from time to time. I leave you with a quote:

"Everything I wear on Strictly people can buy. You will never see me in Herve Leger, because who can afford that?

"I get 50 requests a day from the show's online message boards and I want to always be able to say Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, French Connection or Topshop because that is all I wear."

Click here to enter my awesome Christmas blog giveaway

What's in my Santa sack?

It's giveaway time! I want to say a huge festive thank you to all my followers with a few early Christmas pressies. I really do appreciate all the hits and comments so thank you very much!

Here we have:
Courtesy of the lovely people at Sanctuary, a Spa Self-Indulgence Set. This includes Body wash, scrub, butter, bath soak and a body brush.
Courtesy of my good friends at Batiste (I swear they don't pay me!) Shimmer Dry Shampoo in both silver and gold - how festive!
Many thanks to Denman for 2 handbag brushes - fab stocking fillers.
Thanks to the lovely Amy of Wolfwhistle for this beautiful Gogo Philip necklace. I was so tempted to keep this for myself!
A current fave of mine, Barry M nail polish (courtesy of, erm, me) in Dusky Mauve - read more here.
Perhaps the most random of them all, Cherry Vimto and some lovely lollies! This is thanks to my lovely friend Gemma at Fido PR because, in this shitty weather, who doesn't love a hot Vimto!

All you need to do for a chance to win everything you see is be a follower and comment below! I'll add an exta entry to anyone who tweets about the competition - make sure to @tortlington me in so I know you've done it! Bloglovin' followers also count, and if anyone is lovely enough to actually mention the comp on their own blog, you'll get two extra entries. Can't say fairer than that!

The competition will run for three weeks. Good luck chucks!

Beauty's only thin deep?

In an instance of kismet, this project found its way to me just when I needed it. After having to return another whole Topshop order because everything looked dreadful on me, I was introduced to Redrawn, a fashion project from Natalie at definatalie.com via dangerouslyluxe.com
Natalie is reimagining catwalk looks on non-conventional bodies, and the illustrated results are fabulous. The project 'draws' (pah!) attention to age-old fact that the fashion industry pays little to no attention to, not just overweight people, but curvy girls, booby ladies, the very thin, the very tall, the teeny small - anyone who doesn't fit into Topshop's idea of slim-hipped beauty.

 Thanks to aroselikethis for introducing me to this!

The 'I wish' list

Thought I'd share my personal Christmas list for you all... and if anyone that knows Jon is reading this, tell him to check it out!

Graham and Green Gold Guilded Letters - from £8
Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Home Candle - £38
House of Harlow 1960 Black And Gold 3 Stack Jagged Rings - £65
House of Harlow 1960 Five Stack Jagged Rings - £86
Lush Silver Studded Bottom Strap Paneled Tote - $169.99
Anthropologie Roaring Shakers - £16
Models Own WAH Nail Art Pens - £6
ASOS 'Night Owl' Giftcard With Owl Pendant Necklace - £10
Topshop Knitted Wool Plait Headband - £10

Phew!

Wats-on Emma today?

Never thought I'd say this, but Hermione Grainger is hitting it out of the ballpark. She's always tried to dress well, bless her, and fash eds have been trying to convince me she's a style icon for years, but she's always been a bit... meh. But now it's as if the foxy hair has given her a fresh lease of fashion life... or, more likely, she's hired a new stylist. Either way I ADORE this dress with the red lips, and that Burberry studded trench is calling out for a high street rip-off - ASOS, do your stuff.

Flick off

I'm a big fan of black liquid eyeliner. In fact, unless I'm off on a big night out, I rarely do an eye look other than LC-esque flicks and mascara. So, I was excited to try out Topshop's Liner offering in Rook. On my hand it seemed fab.

A soper-glossy, totally opaque and resilient liquid liner. I bought it without a second thought.
But when I got it home, it was another story. My problem is with the applicator.

It's a felt pen-style applicator, but its core seems incredibly stiff. With no give in the applicator, any small wobble of the hand is reflected on your eye and I found it practically impossible to get a nice clean line. And I tried MANY times. It's such a shame a quality product is rendered practically unusable by a cheap applicator.

Has anyone had better results with this than me? Maybe I just need more practice.

My fave liquid liner, which I've gone back to in a flash now Toppers has failed me, is L'Oreal Super Liner Carbon Gloss. I love this for its ease of use, excellent pigment and price point. Everything they claim about this ultra-lasting, precision-tip product is true. Five stars!

Love the look

She may not be breaking down fashion boundaries, but lovely Lauren turns it out every time. I love the make-up, hair and fab frock.
Anyone interested in Lauren's make-up looks should check out Amy Nadine's blog. It hasn't been updated in a while, but has great breakdowns of her work with Lauren, Whitney and others, including the products she uses.I love a bit of backstage goss.
Also, is this dress Kate Moss for Topshop, or have I gone mad?
Pic courtesy of GFY

These streets will make you feel brand new...

This time last year I'd just returned from four days in the 'concrete jungle where dreams are made' with these wonderful women. This year I've just returned from four days in Teesside. Granted, I was visiting wonderful family, but still, it was Teesside. New York vs Teesside. You decide.
This depressing realisation is made all the worse by our car breaking down en route, costing £100 to tow back and the resultant £100 each return train home. Christmas is cancelled people. As is my Autumn wardrobe overhaul. Apologies if posts are thin on the ground until payday!

Legs get it on

So my Janis Joplin outfit didn't happen. Jon wanted to go more traditional and combine our annual pumpkin carving with some friends, punch and a night on the tiles, so I had to throw together a spider look last minute. Tell you what though, having eight legs is fun, especially when throwing shapes on the dancefloor!
Jon took the painstaking route and dressed as an incredibly impressive mummy. he blew all the other costumes we saw out of the water, and received many a comment on the streets of Stoke Newington.

Tint it great

Today I realised I've raved about many a new buy but never mentioned the products I've been using for a while and couldn't live without. There are too many to mention in one go, so I thought I'd start at the bottom with my favourite tinted moisturisors, and pose a VERY important question to you, blogfans... but more on that later.
First, a little about my skin. I suffer from mild hormone-induced acne around my chin. It's pretty combination - I can't live without moisturiser as I end up with ashy make-up (lovely) so I tend to use combination skin products.

At £30 a pop, Estee Lauder DayWear Plus is pretty pricey, but a little goes a long way. This tends to last me more than 6 months with regular use. The best thing is it adjusts to match your skintone. I know, it sounds impossible, but next time you're by the Estee Lauder counter ask to try it out - this stuff is magical.
The product gives a lovely dewy, glowing finish to skin, with a tiny touch of shimmer that's especially flattering on a sunkissed face. That's when this product really comes into its own - you can wear throughout your hols as your skin darkens (I know I'm reviewing this at EXACTLY the wrong time of year) then when you get back to Blighty, until your tan fades and your usual base matches again. Genius!

Bobbi Brown's Tinted Moisturizing Balm was recommended to me by the always-helpful assistant in Selfridges when I was looking for a dewy finish that would still cover my spots while hydrating my skin.
It seems quite thick but goes on really smooth and subtly, and offers light coverage and plenty of moisture.
I like to use this more in the winter months, as the 'balm'; texture offers excellent protection against the wind and harsh weather. But with SPF25 this is also great in the summer! I've had a few skin compliments when wearing this - shocking as, with my dreadful complexion I'm happy if people don't recoil in horror. It's another pricey one - £32 - but I've not seen a similar budget product anywhere, if that helps!



Apologies there are no before and after shots of these - the thought of revealing my face free from make-up makes me feel rather sick, so you'll have to take my word that these two are well-worth your hard-earned.

So here's my dilemma: when using a tinted moisturiser, do you use a regular moisturiser first? I can't imagine getting a flawless finish if I applied somethig pigmented onto dry skin - my face would soak up the product more in some parts that others and leave it all pretty patchy. What do you guys do? Help!