Huda Beauty, Dubai’s fashion and beauty icon

On a very hot summer day we flew over to Dubai for an exclusive private lunch with the worlds’ most famous brand name, Vaseline, and with the Middle East’s top beauty guru and makeup artist Huda Heidi Kattan. Huda is the beautiful lady behind www.Hudabeauty.com, one of the world’s most visited beauty blogs. The Dubai-based beauty blogger has successfully built a well structured beauty empire out of her blog. She was one of the very first one to start a representative beauty blog out of the entire Middle East. Gradually, Huda started doing YouTube videos, became a brand ambassador and lately an owner of one of the most fast selling beauty brands in the Middle East.
As we entered the Maya restaurant at Le Meridian hotel, we were welcomed by the Vaseline team and the beautiful brunette blogger, dressed in a cute polka dots apron. Huda was standing in front of a counter demonstrating several techniques to use the ordinary jar of the original Vaseline jelly, the little yellow jar found in almost every house. There are endless ways to use Vaseline for beauty purposes, she explained. For example, the use for Vaseline to soothe dry ankles and cuticles of toes is well known, but who knew that we could make a lips-pluming lip gloss, using a broken blusher or an eye shadow, mixed with a few drops of Mint or Cinnamon extract! And who knew you could use Vaseline jelly as an anti-wrinkle treatment around the eye or lip area (celebrities like Jennifer Aniston swears by this tip). Huda opened for us a new world of DIY (Do it yourself) products. We tried some treatments ourselves, and in just a few minutes we could feel our lips getting bigger and fuller, with a treatment which is natural and safe.
After a delicious lunch we sat down for a girly chit- chat with the amazing Huda. With an eye for beauty, she was the perfect person to answer our questions on homemade beauty remedies.

So who is the lady behind Huda Beauty?
I am originally Iraqi, born and raised in the US and have lived their almost all my life. My husband is from Colombia and we moved to Dubai some years ago. I have a little baby girl called Nour Giselle, and I am a makeup artist obsessed with makeup and beauty.

You are from among the very first beauty bloggers in the Middle East. Why did you start your blog?
I was inspired by my mother. She taught me and my sisters many beauty tips. She was quick to come to our aid with some homemade remedy to correct a makeup flaw. So I grew up obsessed by this world, and used to send my girlfriends a weekly e-mail of some beauty tips and do-it-yourself tips. Then my friends used to forward those e-mails to their friends making it very popular. Then one day a friend suggested that I start a blog to share the invaluable tips and that is how it all began.

What makes your blog so unique?
I believe each blog is a reflection of its writer. I am always true to myself, and I like to keep a close relationship with my readers. I do this because I love beauty and I am really passionate about it. And I really hate to see a lot of bloggers taking it so hard; it is not really a competition out there.

How do you maintain your blog content? Who does the writing and posting?
I do all the writing myself and my PA helps me to upload the posts. We try to upload three to four posts a day.

So why did you choose to be Vaseline’s brand ambassador?
I get offers from so many different brands, but I chose Vaseline because I love it, and I was actually the one who suggested that to their PR team. So when they told me there is a vacancy for a brand ambassador, I was picked up the offer immediately.

What is your favorite product from Vaseline?
The Vaseline Intensive care cocoa butter body lotion is super hydrating and I apply it almost every night. And the Healthy Even Tone body lotion has been doing miracles to my skin. It helped me to get rid of all skin discoloration and uneven tones, as well as some scars and marks I used to have.

So does it work to remove stretch marks, every woman’s nightmare?
I would love to say yes, but it can help to prevent them during pregnancy, as they hydrate the skin. But no product can really remove the stretch marks 100%; they will only make them look better. To remove them completely a laser treatment has to be done. It is very painful but very effective.

You get offered so many products to try and review, how do you manage to do so, and how you do you write about them?
I always try the products myself first and I never write about a product I am not convinced with. I love to have the freedom of choosing what I can or can’t write about.

Tell us another (out of the box) tip, on how to use the Vaseline jelly.
You can actually use Vaseline to elongate your eyelashes. Mix a bit of Vaseline jelly with some Vitamin E capsules for the best results, and apply on your lashes using a clean mascara wand. To make them thicker you can add some drops of Castor oil to that mix. I am also experimenting now, to use Vaseline for split ends, but I need to find a way to make it light weighted for the hair.

You are a mother of three-year-old Giselle. How do you balance between family and work?
I have to admit it is a very difficult thing to do, and can sometimes be overwhelming, especially when I have to travel a lot. But for me, family will always come first. I love to take vacations with my husband and my daughter and spend some quality time together. And my advice to all women is to try to take out 10 minutes for yourselves, just to relax and take care of your bodies and maintain your beauty routines.

You have been living in Dubai for some years now. How do you find it?
I love Dubai. I moved here six years ago, and I love the fact that I can find anything I could possibly need, around me. It is such a great place to live in.

Your blog attracts not only Arab women but a lot of foreign readers as well. What do you think the reason is?
I guess it is because they are attracted to the unique Arabian features and the makeup looks that suit it- I have such strong Arabian features- and because the blog is completely different from the type they are used to read. Or also perhaps thay are fascinated by the Middle Eastern natural remedies.

Do you ever switch off technology?
(Takes a moment to answer) mmm I like to think I do, but thinking about it now, I don’t.

Tell us what is the best way to apply makeup according to how we are dressed?
I don’t like to match makeup to clothes. I prefer to choose a look and create. Like saying “today I want a romantic look”, or I want to look bold, or mysterious, and apply makeup accordingly.

How do you prevent any makeup from falling off during an event?
One of the main reasons, makeup is ruined is humidity or sweat. So one makeup trick I have learned from my working years and watching professional makeup artists, is using the Starbucks napkins, you know these greige colored napkins that you take with your coffee. Actually they can be your makeup saver for the night. Just pat them on your face and they will absorb excess moisture, leaving you with a fresh face.

Living in the Gulf as general has a very bad effect on hair, due to the humid weather. How can we overcome this problem?
Yes, humidity is one of the biggest problems our hair faces in the Gulf. I have personally tried a lot of products and treatments to control frizzy hair. But I didn’t find anything work well, till I tried Kerastase Elixir hair cream. It tames the frizzy hairs and makes it look healthy and shiny. Actually I have it on right now. (Laughs).

Which is the best country to shop for makeup?
The best place has to be London; I love to shop for my makeup there. And the USA of course, and recently I discovered Hong Kong. They have such a great market there, and I love to try their different untraditional brands.

Your sisters Mona and Alya are very famous as well: one is the owner of one of Dubai’s well known beauty salons and is a PR maverick, and the other is a health and fitness guru. Is there anything the Kattan girls can’t do?
We were raised to follow our passions. That is why we all work in the things we love the most, and give it our 100 percent.

How is your relationship with your sisters?
We fight all the time (laughs), especially with the youngest one Mona, but she is super kind. I love them both madly ; they are my greatest supporters.
How did you turn from a beauty blogger to a beauty brand owner?
I always try new products and techniques, and over the years I gained experience on what works for me and what doesn’t. So I started creating good quality products to serve the needs, based on my experience.

Why did you start your own lashes line?
I started my own lashes line, because I didn’t find lashes in the market which I really liked. There were only two brands available but I was still always trimming them, cutting them or reshaping them to give me the look I needed. So I started to work on a lashes line, which can be easily applied with different unique shapes, lengths and thickness.

What is the secret behind the names?
They are all named after my girl friends’ names.

What is your favorite type of lashes?
The Giselle, named after my daughter.

What about your nails line?
I have always found difficulty finding good quality and trendy nails. So we decided to launch a very fun and fashionable artificial nails line for the practical ladies.

What other products are you planning to launch soon?
We are working on launching different products soon. And currently we are in the process of launching two new lashes types.

What is your favorite beauty brand ever?
It has to be Chanel.

What is your daily beauty routine?
After a warm shower I love to apply any good oil I have. Almond oil is really good for hydrating the skin, followed by the Vaseline intensive cocoa butter.

What advice can you give to young bloggers and entrepreneurs?
Always stay true to yourselves and be modest and humble.
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Email: [email protected]