Wishful thinking from Huda
As she launches her long-awaited skincare line, beauty mogul Huda Kattan shares her ultimate skin-boosting tips with KATIE WRIGHT
HAVING conquered the make-up world with Huda Beauty – a company valued at £935 million and followed by a legion of more than 41 million fans on Instagram – Huda Kattan is now setting her sights on skincare with the arrival of Wishful.
“Wishful is completely different from Huda Beauty,” the Dubaibased CEO says, while visiting the UK to launch her new brand.
“It’s not for the ‘cake face’,” she says, referring to the heavily made up look for which she’s become known.
“It’s for everyone.”
First up in the
Wishful product portfolio is Yo Glow
Enzyme Scrub, an exfoliator that combines pineapple and papaya enzymes with alpha and beta hydroxy acids to sweep away dead skin cells and reveal a fresh, glowing complexion.
Huda has been trialling the scrub during the development process and says it has transformed her skin.
“I’ve just never had non-textured skin, I always saw my pores, always saw the texture,” the blogger-turnedentrepreneur says.
“And now for the first time when I don’t wear make-up I’m like, ‘Oh my god, look at my skin!’ I didn’t even know how to feel like that before.”
Even before developing the new brand, Kattan was a real skincare buff, so to mark the launch of Wishful we asked the 36-year-old to share her daily routine and her ultimate skincare tips – and you might be surprised by some of them.
Here are six skincare rules everyone needs to know about...
1 DON’T CLEANSE IN THE MORNING
“I DON’T believe in cleansing your skin in the morning,” Huda says.
“I think your natural oils are actually some of the best oils for your skin, so it’s important that you really preserve those oils.
“My morning routine is very simple. I just splash my face with water and then I’m good to go.”
2 CLEANSE THOROUGHLY AT NIGHT
HUDA’S nightly routine, on the other hand, has no less than nine steps, to ensure her face is thoroughly cleansed, treated and moisturised.
“Because I wear so much make-up it’s pretty intense,” she says.
“First I use our Huda Beauty Makeup Remover Balm. That’s the only thing that removes a lot of that really intense make-up.
“Then I’ll take a very gentle microfiber cloth and use it wet, because it really pulls the make-up off.
“Next I go in with a Tatcha The Deep Cleanse Exfoliating Cleanser and then the 111 Skin Antioxidant Energising Essence. It’s really the best essence I’ve tried.
“I use a pretty severe toner, Clinique Clarifying Lotion 2, it’s the only thing that keeps my skin clear.
“I will then use a hyaluronic acid serum, I like Dr Barbara Sturm’s, and then I’ll use the Dr Jart+ Peptidin Firming Serum.
“After that I use some Wishful products [that haven’t launched yet], the moisturiser – which I’m obsessed with, it’s so amazing – and then I use our rose oil which has literally changed my life.
“It’s incredible, it is really re-texturising and skinevening. We haven’t diluted it at all.”
3 FACIALS AREN’T ESSENTIAL
“I DON’T do facials,”
Huda says. But she does think there’s a place for facial massage, whether from a therapist or DIY. “Facial massage is like a workout for the face, I love doing that. “I’m really into anti-ageing with facial yoga, those kind of things, I think that’s the way of the future.”
4 FEED YOUR SKIN FROM THE INSIDE
FOR Huda, it’s not just what you put on your face but also what you consume that can make a difference.
“I eat pretty ‘clean’, I don’t like eating greasy food or food that’s too salty,” she says.
“I like omega three fatty acids in my food, things like olives and salmon and avocado are really good for my skin and my hair, I’ve noticed such a difference.”
5 TRY SOME TOOLS
ALSO in Huda’s skin-boosting arsenal?
A range of beauty gadgets, her favourite being red light therapy devices, which are said to fade scars and prevent the signs of ageing.
“I have them everywhere – so many of them. I always travel with one,” she says.
“I like to do it before I go to sleep. I also do like to do EMS (electrical muscle stimulation) for the face. I love toning my face.
“I think back in the day it was so common to get a facelift when you turn 40, and I feel like that’s just going to become extinct. People are going to be more into EMS and all those things.”
6 YOU DON’T HAVE TO SPEND A FORTUNE ON SKINCARE
WHILE Huda’s skincare routine may be more complicated than most, the beauty buff doesn’t think you have to spend a lot of money to get good skin.
“I’m really basic with skincare and I actually think that’s the most important thing,” she says.
“I believe in circulating [with facial massage or tools] and do those kind of things as opposed to, you know, shellacking on 2,000 creams that are just like doing little things.”