thinking but i definitely was thinking it was more of an experiment. you know, i had an idea to start a blog. actually, my sisters really pushed me especially my sister mona. she was like, you know, you need to be out there. you know so much about beauty. share it with the world. you re so passionate about it. and then, you know, one thing led to another, we started a beauty brand. and, no, never in my wildest dreams did i think we would be here ten years later. but i want to take you back to even before starting huda beauty, before becoming a make up artist even. so you were a child, you grew up in tennessee in the states, and your family had moved from iraq to the us. that s right. so, to a different cultural scene and to a place where not many people looked like you. yeah. what was life like? it was tough. i especially think at that time, i really struggled with my identity. i definitely struggled you know, i know it s we have a beauty brand now and we speak so
to have a breakout. and that s just not reality. and i definitely, for a long time, felt like i was a prisoner to my instagram handle. ifelt, here i am, going out to the public. i m huda beauty. sometimes i feel like huda ugly! you know? and that s how i would genuinely feel. and so, it would be almost like i felt like a prisoner for a little while. i think the turning point for me was when we launched our wishful skincare line and, you know, we made i made a really strong comment with my team. i was like, i want to shoot this campaign no make up, no photoshop, which, skincare, it s crazy to think people always use make up in the campaigns, but they do. and when we decided we wanted to do it, i think there was a celebrity skincare brand that launched and it was very obvious they were wearing make up and i was like, i really think we should expose the truth. let s show it for what it is. and when we shot the campaign, it was one of the most vulnerable experiences of my life