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From Makeup Blogger to $1.2B Beauty Empire: Huda Kattan's Huda Beauty 💄✨ Huda Kattan wasn't a cosmetics industry insider. In 2010, after quitting her finance job, the Iraqi-American entrepreneur started a beauty blog and YouTube channel to share her passion for makeup techniques and products. She built a massive following by sharing honest reviews and tutorials before launching any products of her own. When established brands were spending millions on marketing, Kattan created a dedicated audience of millions who trusted her opinions. The breakthrough came from her first product launch. While competitors tried to be everything to everyone, Huda Beauty launched with a single product category in 2013 - premium false eyelashes that addressed specific pain points she had identified through her own experience. Today, Huda Beauty sells a product every two seconds and was valued at $1.2 billion when TSG Consumer Partners acquired a minority stake. What strategies drove her remarkable beauty success? Build Community Before Commerce: By establishing herself as a trusted voice before selling products, Kattan created a ready audience of customers who already valued her expertise. Use Personal Experience as R&D: Her products solved problems she personally encountered, ensuring they addressed real needs rather than hypothetical market gaps. Embrace Cultural Identity as Strength: As a Middle Eastern woman, Kattan created products for skin tones and beauty preferences often overlooked by Western brands, expanding her global appeal. Kattan's story demonstrates how social media has transformed the beauty industry's power dynamics. By building direct relationships with millions of followers before launching products, she created a brand that grew through authentic connection rather than traditional advertising, changing how beauty companies approach product development and marketing.