Huda Beauty

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Huda Beauty is a cosmetics line launched in 2013 by Iraqi-American businesswoman and makeup artist, Huda Kattan. The founder, Kattan, was chosen as one of "The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet" by Time in 2017, listed as one of The Richest Self-Made Women and one of the Top Three Beauty Influencers by Forbes. In the span of 5 years, the brand has built a positive reputation on some of its products, such as fake eyelashes series, a collection of foundation, eyeshadow and some face palettes.[1]

Huda Beauty offers more than 140 products online or in-store. The beauty brand has launched an entire range of products, including lipstick collections, face palettes like highlighter and contour, false lashes, and a collaborative product with Tweezerman. Its Samantha Lashes #7, since launch, has been ranked as one of the best selling and highly reviewed lash products.

In 2018, all launched products that together bring in at least $200 million in annual revenue. Time described this as “an internet based beauty brand age”, as internet-to-business beauty products have taken over a large percentage from the traditional beauty market. They own a significantly growing share of the whole market.[1]

Racism controversies

Huda Kattan, the woman behind beauty giant Huda Beauty, is not new to controversies. The Arab-American influencer has been embroiled in racism rows more than once in the past.

Genital lightening

In April 2018, Kattan website added a blog post titled, “Why Your Vagina Gets Dark And How To Lighten It” with a featured image of black rap artist Nicki Minaj. Teen Vogue covered this incident and found that audiences interpreted the post’s message as ‘lighter means better’. Soon after, the brand tried to recuperate from the backlash by adding an update to the post:

“We appreciate and respect everyone’s opinions on this subject and want to express that we do not feel lightening your vulva (vagina/lady parts/VJJ,) is necessary. Our goal is to give details for those who may wish to, by sharing expert advice from a leading dermatologist. We’ve seen a lot of harmful DIYs on the internet, so we hope this post provides the best information on the topic and offers safe ways for people to do this, should they wish to.”[2]

Black representation on Instagram post

YouTuber Jackie Aina point out diversity flaws on Huda Beauty Instagram page when the brand announced its 30-shade foundation range.

"That’s amazing — but are you going to put THESE women on your Instagram page, though?" she asked as she pointed to the deepest-complected women on the foundation's packaging. "The women that are darker than tan? The women that are darker than Beyonce?”[3]

Huda’s lip-service to dark-skinned women involved her releasing products for dark complexion categories, but not promoting or representing black women or dark-skinned models in her ads or Instagram.[4]

Revelist checked on Aina’s suspicion by counting how many of its Instagram posts featured darker skinned people. In June 2017, it found only 5 of 229 posts showing people with dark complexions. In July 2017, the number dropped to 3 out of a total of 249 posts. Revelist counted up til October 2017 and the monthly number never passed 15 when the average total posts was 250.[2]

Easy Bake

On July 2nd 2018, Huda Beauty released its line of loose powders, Easy Bake, that carries a baking ingredient theme. When the product was announced last month, makeup enthusiasts quickly pointed out that it was similar to the branding of Beauty Bakerie, a small makeup company. It’s worth mentioning that the founder and CEO of Beauty Bakerie is Cashmere Nicole, who is black. This adds another layer to this controversy because the beauty industry is still behind when it comes to including people of colour (lack of recognition for black makeup artists and models plus very few options of foundation shades).[2]

Supports to Black Lives Matter

During the week of Blackout Tuesday, Huda and Mona Kattan have announced that they stand for equality and will continue to support all communities facing global injustices. A notable donation of $500,000 (Dhs1.8 million) was made by Huda Beauty to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). NAACP mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination, along with ensuring the health and well-being of all persons while pushing for equal rights for all.[5]

“At Huda Beauty we stand against racism today and always,” the brand stated within the caption of its #BlackOutTuesday Instagram post. “In solidarity with the black community and the Black Lives Matter movement, we are pausing our regular content.”

“Now is a time to listen, learn and reflect. We are joining in the fight against systemic racism, and we encourage those who aren’t familiar with the Black Lives Matter movement to educate themselves and act.”[5]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Huda Beauty. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cho, Sarah. The Internet Is Completely Trashing Huda Beauty & Here’s Why. Unwritten, July 13, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  3. Battle, Marquaysa. Jackie Aina called out Huda Beauty for potentially pandering to darker women. Revelist, November 10, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  4. Bhattacharya, Stuti. Beauty Guru Huda Kattan In Yet Another Racism Row, But Still No Apology. Idiva, June 6, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Joseph, Sarah. Huda Beauty Donated Over A Million Dirhams In The Fight Against Racism. Bazaar, June 4, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.