Beauty mogul Huda Kattan, who is worth $610 million, says buying Facebook ads helped boost her company’s international growth

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The beauty mogul Huda Kattan, who runs her multimillion-dollar cosmetics line, Huda Beauty, with her family and two sisters (Mona and Alya), said Facebook helped her company take off and shared why she choose the platform for her Facebook Watch original series, "Huda Boss."
The show, which is on its second season, documents the Kattan family’s personal and professional lives and goes behind the scenes of their cosmetics empire.
Huda has an estimated net worth of $610 million, according to Forbes, sourced primarily from the cosmetics company.
Huda and her sister Mona spoke with Business Insider about why they believe in Facebook as a platform for international growth.
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Huda Kattan, the 35-year-old beauty mogul worth over $600 million, said buying $10 ads on Facebook helped boost her company toward its international success.

Huda launched her beauty blog in 2010, the same year Instagram debuted, but her empire really began to take off when she started her makeup line in 2013 (when she couldn’t find false eyelashes to buy, she said).

In the beginning, Huda, who left her job in finance, said she didn’t have the money to spend on "expensive YouTube and Twitter ads" but knew she wanted to build her brand through spreading the word online. Instead, she said she would spend around $10 at a time on ads through Facebook.

"It helped the blog become international, which is so crazy," Huda said. Huda said only 4 million of her 38 million Instagram followers came from the US.

Huda, who runs her multimillion-dollar cosmetics line, Huda Beauty, with her family and sisters (Mona and Alya), told Business Insider that the "international aspect" of Facebook is also why the family chose the platform for their series, "Huda Boss."

Facebook for international business growth

The Kattan sisters (Huda and Mona) said they wanted a show on Facebook before the platform had announced Facebook Watch, its premium section. And the Huda Beauty community, which consists of women around the world who want to start a business, are primarily on Facebook, Huda said.

The Kattans said Facebook seemed right for the show because it’s free to use and well-known internationally. They also said that, unlike Netflix, Facebook Watch could help build a conversation and "sense of community," which the sisters said was important for their online following. The show, which is on its second season, documents the Kattan family’s personal and professional lives and goes behind the scenes of their cosmetics empire.

Kayla Williams/Beck Media

Huda said Facebook was "good for consumer goods" because it’s a place where they can also sell products directly.

"For us it was very clear what our strategy was, which is why it just made sense to do something on Facebook," Huda said. "We are killing it in Europe and other parts of the world. That’s also why I want wanted something global. Using other networks was a challenge for us because of the global aspect."

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