Why Huda Beauty’s, Mona Kattan, Is Not Threatened By Kylie Cosmetics
ARAB GAZETTE - by: Katrina Mitzeliotis..
When it comes to brains and beauty, the Kattan sisters are the total package — and Mona Kattan is just as forthcoming with her business ventures as she is her beauty routine, as she opened up about everything from handling competition in the marketplace to botox and fillers — and she even filled us in on what’s next from the Dollhouse and Huda Beauty.
We got to catch up with Mona Kattan, co-owner of The Dollhouse and Huda Beauty business partner, at her gorgeous, Instagram-worthy, full-service salon in Dubai, where she opened up the doors to the picturesque space and even shared some of her personal beauty secrets. Mona and her sisters, Huda and Alya, turned their passion for beauty into a booming business — and it all started when Mona suggested that Huda start a blog in 2010, right before Instagram launched and before Snapchatting was even a part of our vocabulary. Fast-forward to 2016, and the sisters are running a global cosmetics company while Mona is also at the helm of the luxury salon, and Huda is currently the most followed person on Instagram in the United Arab Emirates, with 16 million followers.
With so much competition in the industry, especially with the launch of celebrity lines, it would be easy to get frustrated — but instead, the driven beauty moguls embrace the competition. “I think the more beauty players, the better! Even like salons, for instance,” Mona said. “I’ve had friends who have opened salons and I’ll go to their launches, I’ll post about them, I’ll Snapchat about them and people will come to me and be like, ‘You’re pushing your competitor,’ and I’ll be like, ‘There’s room for everyone! Why not support everybody?’ And when you have more players in the market, quality goes up immediately because people have to compete harder, they push themselves better. I think, with Kylie [Jenner], it’s great. She’s doing wonderful. I think she’s very inspiring and she’s so young to be doing so much.”
In just three years, the Kattan sisters have built a successful beauty empire. The Huda Beauty line launched in Sephora in the Dubai Mall in 2013 and now continues to expand globally, as products are available in the US, Australia, France, the UK, and the Middle East. Up next, they plan to add colored contacts to their growing collection, which already consists of their best-selling, one-of-kind lashes, lip contour pencils, liquid matte lips, eye-shadow palettes, henna tattoos and press-on nails.
The sisters have always had an honest approach to their beauty routines, even openly discussing injectables, like filler and botox. “I just don’t like to fake it,” Mona said. “I do believe in transparency and honesty, especially when you have a following. I feel like you do have a responsibility. Look, you don’t have to put your dirty laundry out there, but I feel like when you have so many people looking up to you as a beauty icon or somebody that’s going to inspire them to do things, you have to be honest because you don’t want to give them unrealistic expectations of what they can do [with products]. I don’t want girls to think: ‘Why aren’t my lips that full?’ Hey, I had help! I had filler and liner and liquid matte, so I think it’s just important to be honest. I don’t want girls to ever feel bad that they don’t have something that I have when I’ve had work done, because that’s only fair for them to know that it’s not completely natural.”
Mona also aims to spread awareness and promote education by being so candid. “Huda’s a blogger, even before she was blogging she was blogging. Before Huda started the blog she was actually sending out email blasts to all her best friends saying these are the best products you have to use. She was just obsessed with sharing knowledge. It’s the same thing with our beauty, we just love to share. If you know something, share it — you might help somebody out. Maybe tell people what not to do with filler, so many people have work done with people who don’t know what they’re doing, with people who aren’t even registered to do the work that they’re doing, and you see all these disasters happening,” she said.
Up next, the beauty-savvy businesswoman hopes to continue to educate The Dollhouse clients. “We’re actually opening up a beauty bar very soon where we’ll do botox and fillers and kind of more intense facials, semi-permanent makeup, microblading. There’s a very big need for education,” she said. “Education is something that needs to be focused on and I plan on doing that when we launch, 100 percent.”
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Mona even offered up advice for women out there that are interested in getting botox or fillers for the first time. “I would go for a few consultations before I ever got work done. Research, consultations, research the products that they’re gonna use because there’s so many types of filler, there are types that are more natural-looking. There’s so many different types you can go into. Research is key and consultation is key, I would meet at least three doctors, and see how much work they’re telling you to do. If they’re telling you to do a lot, run away! Run away, because they shouldn’t be,” she said.
She also cautioned against embracing the needle too young. “I definitely think for botox you should wait a long time,” she said. “I think that bad botox makes you look older, and, even botox in general — good or bad, if you do it so young you’re gonna look older.”
From the sparkling chandeliers to the checkered floor, chevron-printed chairs and pink walls, The Dollhouse brings Mona’s passion to life and invites you into its world of glamour. Moving to Dubai at 17 definitely contributed to Mona’s interest in the field. “When I moved here my obsession with salons began, because it is a huge part of the culture,” she said. “Grooming is not abnormal, like in the states it is more ‘do it yourself.’ When I lived in the states I did go to salons, but not that often. It would be for a prom, or a birthday, or a special occasion. Here [in Dubai] people will go in twice a week, three times a week.”
The beauty-focused entrepreneur launched The Dollhouse in 2012 with her friend and business partner, Basma Al Fahim. The full-service salon has it all, offering clients manicures and pedicures, hair and makeup services, eyelash extensions and hair extensions — and it’s only just the beginning, as Mona has her eye set on growth and expansion for the brand. “My goal was to always start a salon and get into beauty. The Dollhouse is something that I had told my dad about even before I studied, I was like: ‘Dad I’m gonna create an awesome salon one day, it’s gonna be the best.’ It’s still not the best, but I’m working on it,” she said. She’s certainly onto something extraordinary.
