"I have had my fair share of nights out. Right now, obviously, I’m more of a workaholic—but I've always been obsessed with beauty and with my going-out routine. But no matter what I'm doing, I can go 11, 12 hours without touching my face once. It’s so funny because people always ask me what I have in my beauty bag and I never have anything. My makeup will stay on from morning until late and people are always like, 'How? What do you do?' It comes down to—and I know this is going to sound so bad—but really layering lots of makeup properly. That's the key if you’re partying, working, or a mom or whatever—this is foolproof. You could have someone essentially pour water on you and you could dab it off and your makeup would be fine.
First of all, it’s about prepping your skin properly—making sure that you always exfoliate and then hydrate it really well. I’ve been swearing by this Ole Henriksen Power Peel Transforming Facial System forever. Ten years! They have that three-step process with microdermabrasion that's foolproof. After that, I use the Tony Moly Intense Care Snail Hydrogel Mask. My skin is really sensitive from all the makeup and the peel, and this calms it. When I take the sheet off, I have flawless, glowing, beautiful skin. Even on a plane. Every time I fly, I take a Tony Moly snail mask and when I arrive, my skin looks flawless.
To start my makeup, I like to put a nice amount of foundation on, and it’s really important that it’s not oily so it actually sticks to the skin. We're launching our own Huda Beauty Foundation in October and I'm so excited. It took two years to create—the shade matching took a year alone. We really focused on the texture because I've had acne scars and hyperpigmentation and dark circles...so I wanted a product that could mask that. The texture is the key. Plus it has to have a luminosity to it so it's matte but still looks like skin. Especially if you're going out, finding a foundation that actually looks good in person and in photos is so important. On my face, I use pretty much my same skintone. Under my eyes, I use at least three shades lighter, and the places where I contour I’ll use maybe three shades darker.
After that, you should bake—I’m a firm believer in baking. The process is, you put on your makeup and seal it with powder by over-applying. I use the Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Powder or the Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder with a dense, dry sponge. You could also use a really dense kabuki brush, as long as it's really caking on the product. [Laughs] What it does it absorbs any oils in your skin or in your products and creates a sort of mask. Then you leave it for a while. And I'll do things while I'm baking... I'll do a conference call or interviews or go into a meeting. There's a lot of time for multitasking. Then when you brush the excess powder off, you have this beautiful cast of finished product. You don’t even need a setting spray really—your makeup will literally last through a hurricane. Unless I’m eating a greasy burger or something, then I have to reapply my lips. Because who wants to spend three hours on their makeup and then spend another 20 minutes every so often touching up? We don’t have time for that!
My favorite lip shade is the Huda Beauty Liquid Matte Lipstick in Trendsetter—everyone knows I wear this all day, every day. I actually wanted to create a lip color that was sort of my color but looked flushed. There’s something sexy about a lip with a hint of red in it. But there are colors from so many different brands that I love. MAC Hug Me and Twig are great colors. And I love Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita. The pink-ier, neutral shades are where I stay. Maybe that's a little boring. [Laughs]
Right now, I’m wearing our new eyeshadow palette with Kat Von D Tattoo Liner and a little Make Up For Ever Aqua XL Pencil on top for the cat eye—I love a cat eye. Then I used the new Diorshow Pump ‘N’ Volume on top of my Farah Faux Mink Lashes. These lashes are really a tribute to drag queens. They're so inspiring with their makeup—it's really art. A lot of people don’t really appreciate makeup as art the way that drag queens do. These lashes are three pairs in one, so for me, that's an every day look.
The other thing I do for my lashes is use RevitaLash Mascara. It literally gave me lashes. Really, I didn't have lashes before, and now I do. It's incredible.
Because I’m so busy, I don’t have a lot of time to do my hair, so I need it to be flawless all the time. A good blowdry and good products are key. I live for the Ouai products. The other day, I used conditioner and then put the Ouai Hair Oil on top before I rinsed it all out, sort of like a hot oil treatment. The hair came out frizz-proof. Like, nothing is frizz-proof like this. So flawless, and lasts forever. Jen Atkin also turned me on to Oribe, which I love as well. I like the Dry Texturizing Spray a lot, but their Matte Waves Texture Lotion is the best. And I swear by Ouai Haircare Dry Shampoo Foam.
It's important to learn the beauty rules and everything, but I also think you should break them as much as you can. People want to see what’s different, what’s new, what’s cool. For me, I have my everyday look, but when I’m going to events, I definitely like to change it up. If I do want to get inspired, I love using Pinterest or Tumblr. And
I totally have a fake Instagram under a pseudonym. Because on your public account, you can’t just follow somebody and then later on be like, 'I don’t want to follow you anymore.' There are too many politics. You can hurt people’s feelings! So the Finstagram is crucial for that."
—as told to ITG
Huda Kattan photographed by Tom Newton in New York on July 25, 2017.
