Courtesy of Huda Beauty
It’s been quite the 2017 for Huda Kattan. Aside from expanding her Huda Beauty empire from carrying a selection of highly-sought after false eyelashes and lipsticks to foundations, highlighters, and eyeshadow palettes that are expected to bring in US $200 million dollars in retail sales by the end of the year, the Dubai-based makeup mogul went on to land a major investment deal with TSG Consumer Partners— a private equity firm which has also invested in brands like Smashbox, e.l.f, and It Cosmetics.
Kattan, who launched Huda Beauty in 2013, is the first beauty blogger to obtain such a milestone deal. While many beauty influencers with large followings such as Jaclyn Hill and Michelle Phan have only done collaborations with existing brands, the Iraqi blogger-turned-entrepreneur has single handedly built an empire that hinges on her 22 million Instagram followers, four million YouTube subscribers, and 1.5 million unique monthly blog visitors.
“There’s so much more we want to do right now,” she said in an interview with WWD. “We’ve only hit 40 Sephora doors in the U.S. and our productivity is really high. We want to go into more Sephora doors — that’s really important. We’ve not going to be in every single store, that’s never our goal, but we want to be in more places and more accessible.”
Huda Beauty is currently available in Sephora stores across the Middle East and United States. Meanwhile, U.K. shoppers can purchase the brand from distributors Harrods, Selfridges, and Cult Beauty. Huda Beauty products can also be purchased online at www.shophudabeauty.com.
