Talita Estelle, Entrepreneur

Young, beautiful and successful, Talita Estelle is what #girlboss is all about – taking opportunity and turning into something tangible, profitable and charitable. And she’s not afraid to speak up.  Social media influencer (her vegan foodie account, Health & Me has 164k followers) turned CEO of fashion retailer Esther (a one-time bricks and mortar venture, now thriving online hub, selling globally) and Director of Elroy Eyewear and social media startup Clapit, it might appear this business woman’s plate is full. But, for Talita, it’s not just about the bottom line. She’s passionate about working with and catering to the needs of women in her life, on her payroll and beyond: she is also the Creative of non-for-profit organisation, Be Hers – a community conscious online store, working with The A21 Campaign, giving 100% of their profit to aid in the fight against human trafficking. Looking perennially put together, we sat with the recently married ‘mum’ to French Bulldog, Bobbi White, to discuss how beauty fits into her life, the importance of being kind to your body and how she bounced back from losing her spark.

“I always wanted to be my own boss and be creative…

… and this allowed me to go into different paths of life. I look for things that give me a buzz and that I want to put my mind to. I like to see things grow. I suppose that opened a lot of opportunity and I’ve been lucky in my businesses to be around amazing women and like-minded people.

A couple of years ago, I burnt out and I lost my spark…

I took 12 months off to travel China, Aruba, Jamaica, New Zealand, US and Bali. It was weird [because] I am someone who wakes up every morning going ‘This is amazing, lets do this!’ I was suddenly waking up – not being depressed – but kind of going, ‘I can’t be bothered.’ Not having that spark really scared me. I fired myself from my own company. It was awful. I’m not a control freak but I like to be involved in my businesses and be close knit with my teams. But taking time out was the best thing I’ve ever done. I came back refreshed and able to see things from a different perspective.

It’s cliché to say, but my motto is that true beauty comes from within.

Although I’ve never been an unconfident person, I’ve always been happy in myself and never had body issues, I was holding myself back by not speaking up. I started to be okay in giving an opinion and building up that kind of confidence. For me, loving the skin you’re in is more about looking inward, loving who you are as a person.

I get a laser treatment on my face every two weeks…

I’ve been doing that for the past year and a half and it has transformed my skin. It tightens up my skin – I had some problems with my skin when I was younger, and although I didn’t have much scarring I felt like it was ageing too quickly. I can’t recommend it enough, it’s so good.

I create my own shade of lipstick…

… with a mix of a nude Mecca colour and a pink Natio lipstick. I’ve done this forever because plain nude shades don’t define my lips enough. I need something a little more earthy. My puppy wakes me up early every morning and I always start the day with a shower. I use Osmosis, I’ve been using it for seven years – it’s natural but created by dermatologists. It’s really lovely. It’s expensive but it’s good quality, I love it. I use Chanel Healthy Glow Foundation and Natio Mineral Bronzer. For eyeshadow, it’s NARS and an eyebrow pencil and mascara from Mecca.

I don’t believe in putting toxins under your arms, I believe it can cause serious disease…

…so I use a Melaleuca Herbal Deodorant stick. I feel like under your arms are the lymph nodes and that’s where the toxics build up and it’s linked with cancer. But I do wear perfume, my favourites are Hermesand Flower Bomb by Viktor and Rolph.

I’m an extreme person, when I try things I don’t do it by halves, so I was raw vegan for eight years.

My sister went over to the US as an exchange student and lived with a raw vegan, Laurie. When we went to visit, I was so intrigued by her philosophy about raw food. Before that, the thought of not eating meat or being a vegetarian was something I was not really interested in but one thing led to another and I started trying out these things. I went to Bali for a couple of months and did a raw food course which was amazing and showed me different detoxes.  I went to the extremes and found out what works. But it’s really about what works for you. You don’t really know how your body is going to respond and how your body feels. Now, I’m mostly vego. What I do is listen to my body, I’ve been doing that for 10 years.”

Story by Rikki Hodge-Smith