I always felt different and it was because I was Middle Eastern. Where most people were very fair, light-skinned, and had blue eyes, I was hairy with dark hair and dark skin.
Although we represent this almost drag-like beauty at Huda Beauty, I'm not only this person who is made up and always likes to wear their hair flawless and their makeup flawless.
That was honestly one of the biggest learnings for us: to stay true to the value we believe our company offers, and to not allow people to undercut us just because we're women.
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.
I drink bullet coffee, and I make it myself because I hate coffee. I get a shot of raw coffee, mix it with butter from grass-fed cows and coconut milk. It's amazing!
This is how I feel about cosmetic procedures and plastic surgery. If people want to do it for themselves - it's fine. If people want to do it for the outside world, that's when it's not necessarily a healthy thing.
I feel the same way about makeup that I do about food - I don't want the big companies to give me my food. I want the niche mom and pops who care about their food making it. I don't want the Kraft cheese, I want the niche cheese.
I try to take breaks from makeup on the weekends. I try to not to wear any on Fridays and Saturdays. It's good to let your skin breathe and it's good not to depend on makeup, to feel comfortable in our skin.
I grew up in Tennessee, where no one was really hairy, and with sisters who were so beautiful - my little sister was a pageant girl. But me, I was this weird-looking hairy child. I had more than just a unibrow; I feel like I had a mustache, a goatee.
Long-lasting makeup is all in the setting! I always bake in areas where I am prone to shininess and I find it really helps for keeping my skin looking great all evening.
I've been put in multiple boxes as blogging and as an influencer and not really perceived as a businesswoman, and that's something that I've really had to grow into.
I wake up at 6 A.M. and start with yoga. I'm by no means a morning person, but I've trained myself to become one. My husband wakes up at 4:30 A.M., so he makes me feel like a loser. When you wake up and no one is in the bed, it kind of gets you up.
Being women behind a massively growing business is not an easy task, and the journey to find the right investors and to secure true partners has proven that.
A lot of people don't always know how successful our brand is and we don't ever talk about it. But it's exciting to see the brand resonate so well with people.
Kids used to tell me I was weird all the time. When I got older, I wanted to embrace my name and I put it on everything. And I also wanted to embrace being weird.
I like things on my desk that are pretty and make a statement. It's important that whatever is on my desk inspires me because that's where I spend a lot of my time working and creating things.
I need to love what I do, because I'm going to give 110 percent. I'm going to be working from 6 in the morning until 10 P.M., so I need to make sure I like it.