On the show's fourth season premiere Tuesday night, Hester and her teammate Anthony won the first round of "Face Off" with their goblin king. The contest brings together 14 artists competing to create the scariest, scaliest and most horrifying characters they can out of prosthetic makeup for a $100,000 prize.
Hester, who works as a television makeup artist in New York City and co-owns a White Plains studio, said she was originally hesitant when SyFy producers encouraged her to try out for "Face Off" while she was working at a makeup artist trade show.
"I was scared I would lose clientele," said Hester, who has done makeup work for celebrities such as Bruno Mars, Akon and Katy Perry. "But after speaking with them, they made me realize it was something I could benefit from. As of now, I love everything that is going on."
Hester, who grew up in Ossining, joined her friends in White Plains for a premiere party Tuesday night. She said it was weird to watch herself on television.
"So much goes into filming it, but only a little bit gets caught into it," she said. "It was fun to see myself on TV."
Although Hester's team partner, Anthony, a 26-year-old from Chicago, separately won the entire challenge, she was still excited to prove herself on the show's first episode. "Face Off" has lit a spark for the beauty artist's new interest in effects makeup.
"I learned a lot about the effects world," she said. "I'm in love with what I did before, but I'm definitely going to incorporate more effects in what I do now."
Viewers can check out the Hartsdale local on the next episode of "Face Off," as Hester and the remaining contestants create a DC Comics superhero. The episode begins at 9 p.m. Jan. 22 on SyFy.
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