The world famous Dubai-based beauty blogger Huda Kattan has been named the number one Instagram beauty influencer in the world by communications network SERMO.
Huda Kattan is an award-winning blogger, who after training as a make-up artist in Hollywood started her blog Huda Beauty in 2010. Dubbed the Kim Kardashian of the Middle East, Huda and her world-famous blog – international newspapers and magazines have covered her – has seen her become an internet success, renowned for her easy-to-follow beauty tutorials.
Read: Huda Kattan Shows Us How To Get Great Abs In A Minute
In fact, Huda is famous for her rather unconventional and fun beauty vlogs one of which included using Sellotape to help when contouring. Not convinced? Check out the video for yourself.
Popular in the Middle East, she hones in on trends and tips relevant to women in the region. Her word on all things beauty is considered so reliable that she’s even launched her own make-up and beauty product range, the latest of which recently sold out at Sephora within a day.
Influencer Lily Ghalichi playing with Huda Lashes
With a total of 12.3 million followers, Huda Kattan is by far one of the biggest non-celebrity Instagrammers out there – and easily the biggest non-celebrity beauty Instagrammer. Though she still has a long way to go to take on Kim Kardashian, who’s at an impressive 67.8 million followers on Instagram.
So how did SERMO, a global network of communications agencies specialising in lifestyle and luxury, calculate the rankings for their Digital Influencer Index (the index ranked top influencers in the world and also by country)?
The firm used an algorithm for determining the rankings of each social media star, which was done by first calculating ‘data scores’ – taking the sum of each influencer’s social media reach on their top three platforms, then dividing that number by the total reach amongst the other identified influencers in their area.
Then each person had their ‘relationship score’ calculated. Their ‘relationship score’ was determined by SERMO‘s experience of working with each influencer in terms of professionalism, creativity and influence.
Seventy percent of their data score was then added to 30 per cent of their ‘relationship score’ to give each person an overall ‘influencer score’ that determined their place on the list.
Worldwide, Huda was ranked at number four overall on SERMO’s global top 16 influencer index, with a total influence score of 98 out of 100 thanks to her hoards of fans. Rising stars in the UAE included Kat Lebrasse of Lebrasse and Samantha Francis of Style is Necessity.
Read: Hijab-Wearing Fashionistas On Instagram
The top 3 worldwide were as follows…
1. Miss Malini
In first place was Miss Malini with a perfect score of 100, who despite having a lesser following than Huda Kattan on social media is widely regarded as India’s first celebrity blogger.
2. MDV Style
Italian ex-model Mariano Di Vaio is the brains (and looks) behind blog MDV Style. This isn’t the first time he’s won an influencer award either, being listed as the Best Male Influencer in 2015 by Berlin magazine Stylight.
3. Drea Chong
Singaporean fashion blogger and internet show host Andrea Chong has been blowing up since starting her blog in 2013. She’s emceed exclusive showcases for Victoria Beckham, blogs full-time, and even has a black belt in Taekwondo.
Read: Top 8 Dubai Instagram Accounts You Should Be Following
The top 3 in the UAE were as follows…
1. Huda Kattan
Huda Kattan with her award-winning blog Huda Beauty came in first place with an influencer score of 95.
2. Secret Squirrel Food
Karen McLean, the creative mind, photographer and chef behind Secret Squirrel Food came in second place with an influencer score of 29.
3. The Fierce Diaries
Blogger, stylist, social media whiz and creative mind Nadya Hassan with fashion brand The Fierce Diaries came in third place with an influencer score of 27.
Photos: Instagram/SERMO
