Meet Ester Topulli | Makeup artist & SFX makeup artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ester Topulli and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ester, the decisions we make often shape our story in profound ways. What was one of the most difficult decisions you’ve had to make?
One of the most difficult decisions I’ve had to make was if I should make the transition to working for myself. Being a mom and at that time a single mom it was hard to decide if I wanted to pursue my own business or stay with an employer because it’s essentially a gamble. I didn’t know if I would succeed and like any other mother, you want to make sure that whatever career path you choose will benefit your child in a lot of ways especially financially. Given that I may miss some moments with my child because I have to work to provide but it’s worth it to give her everything I couldn’t and didn’t have.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It’s been a wild ride to say the least to be where I am today. I’ve bounced back and forth to different jobs trying to open myself up to more doors that I may be interested in in the future. I was always on the move. Always wanted to learn the next cool thing. Anything from photography, fashion, painting, set design, makeup. I did laser hair removal, business taxes, selling clothes. It’s been an adventure! I’ve always had the love for art. And all kinds of art whether it was written spoken to drawn since I was a child. When I first started makeup shortly after walking away from photography, I was so excited to get my hands dirty because it was the sfx that took my heart. Being able to mirror a wound and make it looks identical was amazing to me. I taught myself watching YouTube videos. Taking online makeup classes by some amazing artists that would teach proper techniques. Glam makeup was something I’ve always had under my belt. And what brought me back to goal was gore. And so that’s where my style of makeup came along and I started to integrate the two together and made looks that were beautiful and hideous at the same time. From there came more elaborate looks, and use of prosthetics and with that more opportunities opened and started doing makeup in music videos for various Toronto artists. That grew more and more and I started working with some amazing content creators and some work in film. So with this, the one piece of advice I could give to anyone given everything I’ve learned on my journey is to never give up. It’s going to get hard and you’ll have people tell you you’re not good enough and maybe you won’t get the job you wanted so bad right now. But I promise you you’ll get it. Keep going and don’t stop but also don’t settle. Trust your gut.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well I’m from Toronto! So we’ll definitely go into the city. One of my fav places to go eat is an amazing breakfast place on queen st called easy restaurant. There’s usually a line up outside the place but if ur lucky and get in. Mmmm! Delicious
Right across from that is a bridge that takes you to a park by the lake called Buddha pest park, if it’s summer time and warm enough we’d deff rent out some paddle boards! There are a group of sisters who own a rent shop on the beach and it’s just a great and relaxing experience !
Maybe after that we’d go by the beach restaurant there and have a couple drinks!
The next few days we could be doing anything from hiking trails with stunning views and having packed lunches we can eat at the bottom of a waterfall in hamilton or we could be playing some vr at sandbox ! We love to have adventures and make memories ! And enjoy being in the outdoors (when the weather lets us haha )

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shoutout goes to an amazing writer, director and videographer Merc from mercernary productions. After having the chance to work along side him on his latest film “for my family” I have learned so much from him. Work ethic, film knowledge and everything under the sun. His talent is absolute and this film is one im very excited about.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/estertops?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Image Credits
Sam sadaghiani Kofi Mark Wong Vikki Lenola Nicole procyk Roderick porter