From imposter syndrome (yes, she still gets it from time to time) to inclusivity within the beauty industry, Huda Kattan talks about it all with Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s Editor In Chief Olivia Phillips

Watch the full virtual interview from World of Fashion 2020, in partnership with Mall of The Emirates.

Olivia Phillips: During the lockdown, you obviously you’ve had so much more time to do some naval gazing, so did it effect your philosophy on life, on beauty on business or all of the above? 

Huda Kattan: Definitely all of the above. Lock down has been one of the most interesting things that people can go through. You don’t think you’re ever going to go through this you know…you see it in the movies and you’re like this will never actually happen and then it does happen and you’re kind of in a very strange place where on one hand you want to go out and on the other hand you’re scared.

I definitely went through my own journey through this and I was going through it personally because I was just trying to connect with myself and and just reconnect with who I am and why I’m in the beauty industry but then also at the same time I have to lead for my team and for my company and then for my communit. 

It was one of the hardest things I think. It still is one of the hardest things that everybody’s gone through. I still struggle a lot because I’m like I want to go back to the office when we can, when it is safe. All I need is one person to get sick and then for us to go back so many steps… it’s been very, very difficult.

OP: You mentioned that you were thinking about why you were in beauty. Did it clarify anything for you?

HK: I actually took a little bit of a break I kind of just disconnected from social media mostly. I really didn’t post a lot of personal things like if it was product post I would do that but I wasn’t doing anything personal and I really wanted to not feel the pressure of having to perform.

Because sometimes people don’t realize it but when you’re in front of the camera you have to give so much and be present on so many levels. And I just needed to because of COVID but also I mean it’s been 10 years since I’ve been doing this. I needed to reconnect, I needed to really re-evaluate my purpose and you know the reason why I’m here so I could be a better leader and I could also be a better mother as well to my daughter and just a better person.

OP: I think purpose is such a great word because I read the other day that in order for brands to be truly innovative, they do need to have purpose now. I certainly think that that’s something that you guys really lead from the front with.

HK: Thank you I really appreciate that. I think there’s so many reasons why people get into things. You get into it because maybe you’re passionate about something but let’s be honest, sometimes passion will dwindle. Sometimes you’re so excited and then afterwards you’re like ‘oh you know am I still so

OP: You come out with super exciting new drops all the time… how do you decide what to work on next?

HK: People always ask this question and I started interviewing people within the product development world and it’s really interesting because I started learning that there’s so many different ways to go about it and for me it’s always in the back of my head like ‘oh I’m curious about this’ and then we as a team will start to explore that interest and sometimes we’ll be like ‘that doesn’t really feel right.’

My SVP of product development said something to me the other day she said “When you have a vision from launch — if we show you something and you get really excited about it, you can see the start of it, the middle of it the, end of it and how it will live.”

I think that’s really important because I always want to do things that make me feel inspired and if a product is awesome and maybe it’ll make a lot of money, but I don’t feel inspired with it, it’s actually not going to end up making a lot of money. At the end of it, even if it’s a product that does really well within the industry, we’ve actually seen that sometimes they won’t perform for us because I won’t be excited about it, I won’t be inspired.

The team also will therefore lack that excitement about it. There has to be that little fire inside of you when you see something; that’s how you know something’s going to be really good and that’s kind of been something that we’ve really tried to maintain…we’ve tested going outside of it and it never works.

OP: What is the final frontier? What are the dream products that you’re still going to try and create?

HK: I feel like we’ve just started with skin care so for me I still feel there’s so much more to do there but one of the reasons why I didn’t want to be CEO anymore – and it was really apparent to me that it wasn’t the best place for me – I really want to do more content.

I feel like I haven’t been able to connect with people on the level that I want to. I feel like I don’t get to tell people like you know enough of the story about why we do things.

I haven’t said this out loud before so it’s the first time I’m saying this: I am dreaming of doing a podcast like I really want to launch it. My goal is to do it by early next year, I’m not saying it’s a definite yet because I want to make sure that having reconnected with myself, it’s something that I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself for.

It’s becoming very popular now and I wanted to do it before it became popular but now that it’s very popular I’m a little less excited about it but I felt like all the trials and tribulations and the struggles that I went through I really feel like part of my purpose is sharing those stories so that maybe it won’t have anything to do product. Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with beauty, but maybe it’s a sisterhood podcast which is really what I would love to do.

OP: The latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia was the ‘Imperfect Issue’ and we really focused on it because this month is ‘Less Than Perfect Day’ it’s also ‘International Failure Day’ and we really wanted to do an issue where we encouraged women to embrace their imperfections, embrace their flaws, but really talk about failure and how you can use that as a huge springboard for success.

What do you think your biggest – maybe personal or professional failure is that you then have really learned from? 

HK: The reality is people need to embrace it. We feel a little bit every single day… we also succeed a little bit every single day and that’s okay.

I think my biggest failure was without doubt – and I still struggle with this sometimes – I doubt myself and you know we don’t trust ourselves enough sometimes, we don’t take a chance enough on ourselves and that’s a problem because the reality is, sometimes there are experts around you and they’re saying things you’re like ‘oh everybody’s saying this’ ‘I can’t be right if I’m going against everyone else’ but the times that I have taken that little bit of  a chance and gone forward with things, those have really been some of the biggest payoffs for our company. I struggle with it here and there.

OP: So Huda Kattan gets imposter syndrome. I can’t get my head around that!

HK: I’ve definitely had my own self-love journey. The brand is me so I had to learn who I was on so many levels and yeah you know on some level I would say it’s imposter syndrome because it’s like what the world thinks about me and contemplating: do I meet those expectations? Do I even want to meet those expectations? So there’s a little bit of that.

OP: I wanted to go back to the beginning and ask you when was it that you first fell in love with makeup and when you first realized its transformative powers?

HK: We obviously sell makeup and it’s such a big part of what we do and why we are who we are. But I’ve really realized the power and the fact that it really isn’t so much the makeup I fell in love with. I fell in love with makeup so hard — like couldn’t live without it — by the time I was 12.

Nowadays everybody’s wearing makeup at 12. But back in those days I was wearing makeup so young and I was the girl that people were like ‘oh no we don’t want our kids hanging out with her because she wears too much makeup she must be naughty’ but you know I just genuinely loved it and I grew up in the states and it’s funny because being Middle Eastern, some things just happened to look good on me, so even though my mom didn’t wear makeup, I happened to wear very Middle Eastern makeup at a very young age even like in the south in Tennessee.

I fell in love with it by 12 and I started to understand the transformative powers a little bit after that because I started to feel accepted and I also felt my self-worth went up too with that which I know is silly because now we know that you have to love and accept yourself, but at the time for me that was the actual tool that was going to give me that acceptance and also give me the power from that. And now I know it’s so much more than that and yes it’s a tool and I love it but I’m also okay without it as well.

OP: I think that you as a person and you as a brand you really have empowered a lot of people and I would love to know, how you would articulate that stance on how beauty can actually really empower us?

HK: There’s so many different misconceptions about beauty. Some people just think beauty is vain or that it’s an industry that not everybody belongs in. Some people feel like they are not a part of beauty and the reality is, it’s for everyone.

So many people have tried to become a part of beauty and sometimes, I think for the wrong reasons. People have rushed to it because it because something that was so profitable but there are a lot of people out there – myself included – who have really seen the value and how much it can just empower you and make you feel like a different person.

I’ve sat with different people before and I’ve just done a little bit of makeup for them and they’ll take their hair down and they will walk differently and talk different and it’s amazing. I’ve seen the power that makeup and beauty plays on people firsthand.

It’s really hard to grasp because you can’t put your finger on it but it uplifts people It makes people feel a version of themselves that is within them. So you just want to be around people who are like that and you want to be more of that. Now I’m also experiencing the other world of how to be able to be the same without it which is a journey.

OP: I would say that in the last couple of years, the dialogue around beauty has got more heated more than ever. I wanted to know, do you feel like it’s harder to navigate that dialogue now than perhaps when you started or even three or four years ago?

HK: It has definitely changed and I think part of that is because it kind of goes back to that reason people come into beauty for the wrong reasons. Sometimes being loud trying different tactics people have used and they’ve used beauty as like the method of making money but then they will use other ways of talking and sometimes creating drama sometimes. Because they haven’t been accepted as part of the journey as well. There’s a lot of different emotions there.

Ultimately I do think that sometimes it is challenging to stay away from it. Sometimes it just really comes down to understanding your core values and why you’re here and you know what your purpose is. I’ve been in the drama, we’ve been also part of the conversation many times and you know we stick to who we are we’ve always stayed true to who we are and in the long run that’s really the best way to move forward. But it’s true, beauty has been such a big conversation because some people have just not felt like they’ve been a part of the journey and you know that’s not necessarily right, it’s not right for people not to feel that they everyone should part of the journey.

I felt excluded so I think that was part of it. I’m not rich skinned as many girls are and I used to put foundation on and it always turned grey. I used to actually mix yellow face paint with almost all of my foundations. Actually, when I used to do makeup I used to always travel with a little makeup thing of like different pigments and it had like red, blue and yellow and I used to have to always mix it for myself but also for a lot of my models and a lot of my clients so it’s just a reality. But, we’re in so much of a better place now in the industry and I think it’ll only get better to. Just the quality of the products that you can actually get your hands on now is just insane.

It’ll get more inclusive and it’ll go beyond skin tone. Everybody’s going to be included on every level so it’ll be a really a truly beautiful industry.

OP: You just mentioned foundation. I wanted to talk to you about your new Faux Filter Foundation Stick. I haven’t tried it yet but I’ve seen it on social media and I love that you were showcasing it on real women with no Photoshop, no face tune, no retouching.

In this day and age it really is quite a statement to do that. Tell us about the importance of making a decision like that. Especially when you have got such a platform and you can amplify that so much.

HK: It’s just really important. One of the things I was looking for in the industry was just more transparency. It’s actually funny because going into this year, my team actually created so many beautiful ideas for campaigns and I was like I just want transparency.

I just want the products to do the talking and so that was part of that. Sometimes I’ll get photos sent to me that are like Photoshopped and I ask to see it without the Photoshop and I’m like “oh my gosh it looks so good! Why are we photoshopping it?” I think we’re one of the only brands right now in the industry that’s going so hard on that.

I think Lady Gaga did a little bit with her brand with Haus Labs but really I think we’re one of the only that are really going after it so aggressively.  Brands will change and they’ll do well. I think they’ll have to because I think people are craving it. It’s a shift in the right direction that hopefully will really allow people to see truly how the products perform and it will also challenge the industry on every level. Your products will have to be better, your campaigns will have to be more transparent. It’s just going to get better.

Lead image courtesy of instagram/huda