“The goal is to make us the number one beauty brand in the world.”
When we heard Dubai-based beauty entrepreneur Huda Kattan was launching a reality show, we were extremely interested.
She’s undeniably one of the biggest figures in the online beauty world right now, and she built her business from the ground up. Any insight as to exactly how she did that is more than welcome.
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Well, the first episode of Huda Boss went live on Facebook Watch on Tuesday, and it definitely lifts the curtain on what goes into growing a beauty brand.
Here are five things we learned from Kattan’s reality debut.
Getting concealer right is really, really hard
Back in January, Kattan dropped hints that she was working on a concealer to go with her top-selling Faux Filter Foundation. In Huda Boss, she explains why we’re now well into June with no sign of its release.
The short answer? Formulation problems. At some stage between sampling and production, the concealer ended up being streaky and orange, Kattan reveals.
Together with her team, she opts to go back to the drawing board. Fair call. You don’t want to release a substandard product with your name on it.
She wants to have the biggest beauty brand in the world
Especially not if you’ve got goals this big. As the episode opens, Kattan says her goal is to make Huda Beauty the biggest beauty brand worldwide.
Later, speaking to her sister, Mona, Kattan says that while they may be a baby brand right now, they’re a strong baby.
We’re thinking this show itself is another sign the baby is growing up.
The Kattans really love Dubai
For those of us who call the emirate home, the Dubai-shot Huda Boss is particularly fun to watch.
From dune-bashing in the desert to sweeping shots of Dubai Marina and Sheikh Zayed Road, the city looks great, and it’s clear that Huda and her family love living here.
It’s all about family
Speaking of the wider Kattan family, Huda Boss shows they’re really involved at every level of the business. Youngest sister Mona is the brand’s global president, elder sister Ayla runs their hugely popular Instagram account, and Kattan’s husband Chris is COO.
The sisters’ dad, Ibrahim, even sits in on meetings. Adorable.
Inclusivity isn’t just a buzzword here
In one Huda Boss scene, Kattan is shown working on a concealer shade to match a model with a deep skin tone.
“If we can launch this colour, I think it might be one of the darkest concealers out there, which would be really cool,” she says upon getting it right.
Later in the episode, Kattan tears up as she reveals that as a young girl in Tennessee, she felt out of place and asked people to call her Heidi rather than her real name.
It’s clear that the inclusive, positive vibe of the brand isn’t just marketing.
You can watch the full episode here:
We’re hanging out for next week already…
Images: Huda Kattan/Instagram
