She's known for forging a path in the beauty industry, turning her make-up blog into a billion-dollar brand.
However, Huda Kattan has revealed that fame and success is not all it is always cracked up to be.
The American-Iraqi beauty mogul, 36, has been relatively absent from social media in the past few months, and this week took to Instagram to explain her silence.
The Huda Beauty founder, who lives in Dubai, revealed she needed some time to "centre" herself, after a fast-paced decade.
"I feel like I owe everyone a little bit of an explanation. I know a lot of people have been asking where I am and what I’ve been up to," Kattan said in a candid eight-minute video shared with the 2.1 million followers on her personal Instagram account on Wednesday, September 9.
The star, who shares daughter Nour, 9, with her husband Christopher Goncalo, has sporadically posted on social media since June.
"I have been a little bit MIA, I’ve needed a little bit of a break. Things have moved so fast for myself, my family, my team since starting my blog in 2010," she continued. "Honestly, when I got into the beauty space, I got into it because I loved beauty so much. I felt really ugly as a kid, I didn’t feel attractive. I felt like there were people that had beauty and they felt strong … and I thought if I had it, maybe I’d feel really strong and beautiful and confident."
Kattan, who launched her namesake beauty brand in 2013, admitted that make-up was a "tool that made me feel better", but shared that she has realised she doesn't need it.
"Putting a little make-up on, shaving my moustache, doing my brows, doing my hair, those things made me feel really powerful," she said. "But I don’t need those, those feelings are always within me, but at the time I thought it was the products that made me feel that way."
The star, who also started her own Facebook Watch series in 2018, told fans she never expected to set up a business when she first launched her blog.
'I wasn’t put on this Earth just to create a beauty brand'
"I’ve had to do so many things I didn’t think I would do and become a higher version of myself and continuously push myself over and over and over again, which was so stressful," she said.
"I don’t know if I ever took a moment to centre myself enough. I always felt pressure from the outside to be strong for everyone – I know now I needed to connect with myself."
Kattan added that she had used her time away from social media to "go back to the most basic element of who I am".
"It was liberating, empowering and a beautiful moment and I feel very grateful to have been able to do that," she added.
"I wasn’t put on this Earth just to create a beauty brand. I hope that I’m here to inspire and to share my story. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable is actually stronger than anything else, and I’m ready for that."
Kattan added that she would be back to posting social media, promising fans could expect "big things" in the near future.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
More on Quran memorisation:
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
Sweet%20Tooth
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EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
