Meet Huda Kattan
For Huda Kattan, everything begins with heart. That’s the philosophy that’s led her to turn what started as a simple love affair with makeup into one of the fastest-growing beauty brands in the world.
For Huda Kattan, everything begins with heart. That’s the philosophy that’s led her to turn what started as a simple love affair with makeup into one of the fastest-growing beauty brands in the world.
With her background as a Hollywood-trained makeup artist who had already worked with celebrities like Eva Longoria, Nicole Richie, and the Royal Family, Kattan decided to launch her YouTube channel and blog in 2010. Although it began with only a couple dozen views a day, Kattan knew that by continuing to equip women with the right tools, her following would grow organically. And it did. She is currently ranked the 61st most followed person on Instagram, with nearly 28 million followers.
As a makeup artist, Kattan would regularly customize her own false lashes. Frustrated that she could never find the style she wanted, she decided to build something to bridge the gap in the market. Kattan turned out to be a natural entrepreneur, co-founding Huda Beauty in February 2013 with her sisters Mona and Alya Kattan. Her first collection of hand-designed false eyelashes launched at Sephora and was an overnight success. The phenomenon changed the lash market on a global level. Seeing the success and ecstatic reception of her lashes, she decided to foray into an even more intimidating market: makeup. Her sophomore effort was her highly-coveted Lip Contours. Its debut at Sephora in the Dubai Mall (the largest in the world) catapulted the brand to global record-breaking heights. With line-ups of people out the door, it proved to be a knock-out first day, selling out completely within four hours.
Kattan continues to create groundbreaking products with cult-like followings. Huda’s product line now includes foundation, liquid lipsticks, lip contouring pencils, 3D Highlighter Palettes and textured eyeshadow palettes, all of which have been instant best-sellers across the globe. By constantly creating new content and supporting other artists in the process, her international presence continues to rise. Today, her products are found in some of the world’s leading retailers, including Sephora, Harrod’s, Selfridges, Brown Thomas, Arnotts, Cultbeauty.co.uk, Net-a-Porter and Feel Unique. Born and raised in the United States, Kattan currently resides in Dubai where she continues to reinvent her beauty empire.
Kattan is leading by example. She’s not only a boss but showing the world what it means to be a #BEAUTYBOSS. And this is just the beginning.
Meet Mona Kattan
Carving out her empire, beauty entrepreneur Mona Kattan has an eye for opportunity that has forged the way for two of the UAE’s most recognizable businesses. A passionate entrepreneur and a strategic business woman, Mona’s creative vision and natural business aptitude are the driving force behind two brands that are making a significant impact in their respective industries.
Business aside, Mona has risen across social media thanks to her inspiring beauty content, and her down-to-earth and fun-loving character. A globally recognized influencer with more than 1.6 million Instagram followers, Mona is passionate about motivating others and sharing her beauty knowledge via social media. Spreading her positive energy across the web, she loves to mentor and help develop her employees and support team growth.
Mona is seen as a regional authority on all things fashion, beauty, and lifestyle related, making regular appearances on Virgin radio, and collaborating with luxury brands like Versace and Bloomingdales. Selected to launch Urban Decay in the UAE, and being flown to Kuwait to open their Bloomingdales store are just some of her accolades to note. Appearing in major local magazines like Savoir Flair, MOJEH, and Cosmopolitan, Mona also writes a regular column for Khaleej Times, imparting her beauty knowledge and local experiences with its readers. Mona was also selected by the government of Dubai to be an Official MyDubai Ambassador, and earlier this year was awarded Stylist Arabia’s Beauty Social Media Award.
The Journey: Determined and driven, owning a successful business that would make an impact and set the mark in its own industry was always Mona’s goal. Eager to learn as much as she could and resolute to set herself up with a thorough understanding of business, Mona studied finance at university before diligently working a year in the industry. At 24, her entrepreneurial spirit bursting, Mona was compelled to start a PR agency, which further extended her knowledge of branding and marketing, and created the perfect opportunity to build an abundant personal network.
The Dollhouse: Identifying a gap in the Dubai market, Mona visualized a salon experience that would offer a completely dreamy, VIP experience unlike any other the UAE had seen before. The perfect opportunity and business idea identified, Mona drew up plans with her business partner to start a salon that would offer a salon experience unlike any other in Dubai. In 2012 The Dollhouse was born. Core to the DNA of the brand is offering the highest quality, one-of-a-kind services to each and every customer. Renowned for offering trendsetting nail art, The Dollhouse was the first in the region to offer Chrome, magnetic, unicorn and mermaid manicures, and continues to lead the way with exclusive treatments and a unique product offering. The salon continues to offer cutting edge treatments and is set to launch two more salons in 2017, with one that will offer microblading and more advanced facials to cater to the high expectations of their clientele.
Huda Beauty: After encouraging her sister Huda to begin her eponymous blog in 2010, when Huda started designing her own unique lashes a couple of years later, Mona realized a great potential to start a company. Together, with her sisters Huda and Alya Kattan they co-founded the Huda Beauty brand, releasing their first lash collection in February 2013 at Sephora. Today, after launching sell-out collections across the globe, Mona continues to grow the Huda Beauty brand by overseeing brand strategy and driving new innovation.
With both The Dollhouse and Huda Beauty expanding rapidly, Mona’s eyes are firmly fixed on pioneering new technology and developments, which will continue to drive both brands to the top of their markets.