Check Out Noemi Torres’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Noemi Torres.

Hi Noemi, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
It started when I was 7 years old. I have been deeply into anime and video games. Fully unapologetically nerdy. Along with love for the horror genre and the paranormal, that alone kept me endlessly entertained as a child. That opened something within me, the storytelling, the characters, the dark and beautiful art of all of it combined.

Eventually, I started cosplaying at small conventions throughout South Florida, and that’s when I began paying more attention to makeup and wigs and learning how, with the right techniques and application, it can completely transform a face and bring a character to life. It fascinated me in a way I couldn’t yet explain.

Growing up, my mom was super into the book “The Secret” for its teachings on the power of manifestation and making your dreams come true. Every year, my mom would sit down with my younger sister and me and have us make vision boards with the tri-fold project boards and decorate them as we pleased. cutting out photos from magazines, adding glitter and stickers all over our boards, and highlighting our goals for the year. I think that practice shaped how I move through life more than I realized at the time.

As for a career? I had no idea. I felt stuck since I never found something I knew I wanted to do. I figured tech would’ve been my path, so I worked hard to get into a magnet IT program at a school in a different town, and I was hyped for it.

But after the first 2 days of freshman year, they split the students into half, with some going to Hospitality & Tourism and others to Finance… I didn’t have a choice, and I had to be enrolled in the finance program, which was the last thing I wanted to do.

I then went through a really traumatic experience in my first year of high school. It destroyed me internally, and I began to isolate myself and fell into a deep depression; it was so bad that I couldn’t even find the enjoyment to listen to music or play video games. I was an empty husk of who I was.

But one day, at the end of the school year, I decided to go to the Anime club on a random Friday. A friend of mine noticed I was feeling down and, to cheer me up, asked if I could do his makeup for the fun of it. I’ve always been an artist and was usually in the art club when I got the chance, but I had never done makeup on anyone’s face besides mine. At the moment, I felt so nervous, but as I started applying makeup to his face, I felt an adrenaline rush, an electrifying spark I had never experienced before. It felt beautiful and empowering.

At that moment, everything shifted.

As high school went by, I started losing more and more interest in pursuing a career in Finance. I didn’t even want to do it in the first place. But pushing away the corporate lifestyle after my finance internship helped me embrace more and more of my wanting to become a makeup artist. I would stay up all night and wake up extra early watching beauty guru videos, seeing how they apply makeup or rave about new products that just hit the shelves at Sephora.

I would do other kids’ makeup during lunch for fun, and help some girls with prom makeup; it was always the highlight of my day. It was my perfect distraction that turned into my passion.

Pursuing film and TV isn’t as prominent a career choice as it was where I grew up, so it never really crossed my mind as an option.

My mom knew I wanted to work as a makeup artist, but it was my grandma who encouraged me to find an academy that focused solely on makeup, and I landed at Blush School of Makeup, located in the Bay Area. Since I already had a godmother in San Francisco, the pieces felt like they were all falling into place. I applied, got accepted, and within 2 months after my high school graduation, I packed up and moved across the country. My mom was shocked at how quickly everything was happening, but she believed and supported me in pursuing my dreams on my own terms.

The day I left for the airport, my grandma pulled me aside and told me that she bets that I’m going to do “all that gory makeup in movies”.

I ended up moving to San Francisco just like I said I would and settled in with my godmother, Glo. It was a whole new environment for me, but I was determined. The moment we started our special effects course, I knew that my grandma was right because I fell in love with the art of special effects makeup. Then, when I watched Oldboy (2003) for the first time, it ignited a fire in me to work in film. I’m not sure why it never clicked for me earlier, but in that moment, it did.

I gave everything I had. Sephora early in the mornings, school in the afternoon, and at night, trade-for-print shoots on the weekends to build my portfolio. I was fully locked in and around early 2019, and I was able to graduate early.

The summer of 2019 rolls around, and I move to LA. No car. No license. Just a freshly updated website and the determination to keep on working as hard as I could. I applied for everything I could. paid, unpaid, it didn’t matter to me. Working the set life awakened something within me; I knew this was what I was meant to do.

I never gave up and was fully determined, and soon enough, I was allowed to do makeup for a trans rights organization, and the talent was Kamala Harris. It was one of my first few gigs I had ever done, and it’s been going up since then.

I now work full-time as a film/TV makeup artist, working on countless productions, big and small. And I’m thankful for my journey that brought me here! I managed to find my own success doing what I love.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
From birth, life has presented me with many obstacles, from being born 4 and a half months premature, I was given every roadblock to give up, from emergency heart surgery, to spending months in the NICU. Open eye and heart surgery while still in the incubator. I never gave up, and I believe that instilled in me a mindset of perseverance that I still have into my adulthood.

It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Mental health has been something I’ve tried to navigate my whole life.

Growing up, I felt different compared to other kids; my highs were more potent, but my lows led me into a deep hole I struggled to get out of.

Thankfully, I have a supportive mom who noticed I was suffering and sent me to therapy immediately at age 12. It didn’t solve all my problems, but it did help me acknowledge the importance of mental health.

What I didn’t anticipate was how being alone in LA would put me in a much darker place. I poured everything into chasing success, overly determined to fill the void that kept me from experiencing genuine happiness. I felt empty; my heart was still missing that piece that made me feel fully human.

After a few years here in LA, my grandma noticed how miserable I was and convinced my best friend, AJ, to be my roommate to help keep me company and have some familiarity in my day-to-day life.

Funny enough, AJ was the person who helped me realize I wanted to be a makeup artist. He has always been a huge support system for my family and me, and his moving to LA definitely had a positive impact on my life. But it didn’t solve everything.

I then found out I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder the day before my 21st birthday. At first, I was terrified, but then I felt relieved. It all made sense finally. I wasn’t broken; I was getting the wrong type of help I actually needed.

Having to start from scratch in learning and understanding my diagnosis, trial and error of finding a new therapist, and being prescribed a new medication I had never heard of. It was a process, a long and difficult process. Especially while managing a career in the film industry. I worked hard to find my balance.

Thankfully, I found a wonderful therapist who has guided me in my healing journey, along with EMDR therapy and managing my medication, I was able to find the light at the end of the tunnel. I never lost my sparkle.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
What sets me apart from others is my optimism and ability to adapt no matter the production, I always find a way to prevail. With 6 years in film and TV, I know how stressful productions can get, so I make it a point to bring genuine positivity and thoughtfulness to every single person on set, cast and crew alike.

I’m proud of all the work I do, but the one that stands out was probably working with Kamala Harris during her presidential campaign.

I’ve had the privilege of working with companies such as SONY, SAMSUNG, TOYOTA, and Lifetime Network, and with talent including Kamala Harris, Kevin Frazier, Redveil, Denzel Whitaker, James Hong.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I’m a huge believer in taking risks. I took a huge risk by moving from Miami, Florida, to California to go to makeup school. No backup plan, no plans to move back to Florida either. I had to make everything work, no matter what.

I’m a firm believer that if you manifest enough and put it out into the universe, it’s bound to come true with hard work and dedication.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://noemitorres.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noemimuah