Huda Kattan

When it comes to beauty and makeup on Instagram, no name carries more weight globally than Huda Kattan. Her story, however, did not begin in front of a ring light. After working in finance, a career she walked away from in 2010, she launched a beauty blog that quietly grew into one of the most followed accounts on the platform. By 2013, she had turned that following into a full-fledged makeup line rooted in her Iraqi heritage. A stint as a celebrity makeup artist and stylist, including work with Revlon, had given her the technical grounding; Instagram gave her the audience. Huda Beauty crossed $200 million in annual sales without ever spending on traditional advertising, a fact that remains one of the most cited examples of influencer-led brand building in the industry.
The brand has continued to evolve significantly. In June 2025, Huda regained full ownership of Huda Beauty, buying back the stake previously held by private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners, a move she described as a deeply important personal milestone. Earlier in 2025, she also divested the Kayali fragrance line to her sister Mona Kattan and General Atlantic, allowing the cosmetics business to return entirely to founder control. Most recently, Huda Beauty made its formal entry into fragrance with the launch of Easy Bake Intense Eau de Parfum in May 2026, a category Huda has been personally passionate about for over fifteen years, having co-founded Kayali. It is a bold next chapter for a brand that has never been short of them.