Huda Kattan Is Ushering in a New Era of Huda Beauty
“A really empowering, collaborative era.”
Huda Beauty has had its fair share of viral moments, but ten years after its initial entry into the makeup category, founder Huda Kattan is far more concerned with longevity than the next fleeting trend. As one of the few fully independent, founder-owned beauty brands, Huda Beauty is entering a period of transformation. Building on a decade of trend-setting innovations, Kattan says the Easy Bake Pressed Powder is much more than just a new addition to the brand’s lineup — it’s a symbol of a new era.
In June of last year, Kattan officially bought back full control of Huda Beauty — and as one of her first projects as owner, she set out to relaunch the pressed powder. Given the success of the Easy Bake Loose Setting Powder, Kattan knew the pressed version had big shoes to fill. In the era of product dissection and the necessity for results over gimmicks, Huda Beauty unveiled an updated version of the Easy Bake Pressed Powder, a direct result of community feedback and Kattan’s personal passion for good skin.
Rather than capitalizing on the aspirational, Huda Beauty stands as a platform for real-world impact and solidarity. Beyond being a creative outlet for Kattan, Huda Beauty has also allowed the beauty blogger to tap into her community through activism. In spite of backlash, the founder uses her platform to spread light on the genocide in Palestine — by both donating to Palestinian organizations and sponsoring Miss Universe’s first-ever Miss Universe Palestine. For Kattan, the brand’s success isn’t measured in units sold, but in the power of its voice.
With closures rife in the makeup industry, Huda Beauty is attempting to set a new standard. Fueled by a commitment to flawless skin, a deep ethos of advocacy and the energy of a lavish Dubai launch attended by its global community of fans and influencers, the brand is only getting started. With Kattan back at the head of the company, Huda Beauty is rewriting the way we see beauty brands, one cult-favorite product at a time.
Ahead, we speak to Huda Kattan about dreaming up the new Easy Bake Pressed Powder and what taking back full ownership means to her.
On What the Launch of the Easy Bake Pressed Powder Symbolizes
Easy Bake is our baby, and it’s also kind of the [beauty] industry’s baby. It is a really strong selling powder, and a lot of people like it. No matter what foundation you use, no matter what concealer, it has your back. We started makeup in 2016, and one of the first products that I really wanted to create was a baking powder.
As soon as we launched the loose powder I was like, ‘Okay, we got the loose. People love it. Let’s immediately start working on the pressed powder.’ When we initially launched it, I felt like it could be a little better — I was afraid to say it, because at that time, I wasn’t leading the company. So when we launched it, and people didn’t like it, I was like, ‘I should have spoken up.’ As soon as I came back to leading, it was the first project that we decided to redo. It’s been many years in the making and we worked really hard on it. I really do feel like it’s exactly what people want to see from us, and what they expect from the Easy Bake name.
[The launch] does symbolize new beginnings. Huda Beauty has been on a journey, and it hasn’t always been good. There were moments where we weren’t real to who we are. But, now you can really see what Huda Beauty is about. You can see how we really get our community involved, because it’s very much a relationship with our community. It’s a new era.
On How Huda Beauty Is Emphasizing Longevity Over Microtrends
The biggest trend is that trends are no longer trending. We all hold on to things, and they actually become part of who we are. People keep saying, ‘clean girl is over,’ but some people have become that clean girl, and they’re never going back. I think that we need to accept that trends are more than just a fad. I think when it comes to certain things, like good skin — it’s always a trend, year after year. You need to have beautiful skin, always.
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On the Brand Going Independent
I want to be as diplomatic as possible, but I’m also going to be really honest. Investors are tough, just straight up. I’m not saying ours were bad, because they weren’t. But it’s very different being a founder — when you work from pure passion. I just started getting paid recently, like last year. You’re just investing everything you have in a business and that’s different when you have investors who are trying to basically make money out of your business. So, being free from our investors meant we get to do cool things. We get to innovate differently.
On Advocating for Palestine
I have always used my voice for whoever needed it. When I started learning [about Palestine], I realized how important it was to use my voice, and that was tough. I was like, ‘Man, I need to speak up for what I think is right’ — and when I did, I got a lot of backlash. People didn’t want to work with me anymore. Luckily, we’ve had an amazing response from our community. We’ve had challenges too, naturally. It’s normal, advocacy for anything that is going against any grain, especially the superpowers, can be challenging. The community response has been really empowering, and that’s what keeps me going. I really do respect and appreciate people who stand up for what’s right, no matter the consequences. I want to work with people who do that, because it’s about more than what we’re doing in our careers, it’s about people — it’s about humanity.
On the Easy Bake Pressed Powder Launch Event
I have the most amazing team. We came up with the idea for a really extra event, inspired by a speakeasy, and we just ran with it. The event was inspired by the compact itself, and by the world of Easy Bake. That’s what we’re doing at Huda Beauty, we’re building universes. We didn’t cut any corners, we really want to give everyone the most amazing experience.
