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A beauty mogul's guide to luxury self-care in Dubai

Claire Turrell
Courtesy of Huda Kattan Huda Kattan (Credit: Courtesy of Huda Kattan)Courtesy of Huda Kattan
(Credit: Courtesy of Huda Kattan)

Dubai is synonymous with luxury and pampering, and Huda Beauty founder Huda Kattan knows where to find it. Here are her Dubai picks, from heavenly massages to crystal shopping.

In just half a century, the Emirati city of Dubai has gone from a small fishing village on the banks of the Dubai Creek to a thriving metropolis synonymous with over-the-top luxury. It's home to the Burj Khalifa – the world's tallest tower – and Deep Dive Dubai – the world's deepest pool – and it's now building the $2bn (£1.64bn) mega-mall Dubai Square, the largest in the world.

Beauty blogger, makeup artist and entrepreneur Huda Kattan worked in finance before founding the billion-dollar cosmetics brand Huda Beauty – beloved for its wildly popular eyeshadow palettes and viral products like the Easy Blur foundation. In 2023, she was featured on the BBC's 100 Women list.

But even though it plays hard, Dubai doesn't forget to take care of itself; it was recently named the World's Best Spa Destination 2024 at the World Spa Awards.

To get to the heart of this burgeoning capital of self-care, we spoke to makeup artist-turned beauty mogul Huda Kattan, who has called Dubai home since 2008.

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Beauty blogger, makeup artist and entrepreneur Huda Kattan worked in finance before founding the billion-dollar cosmetics brand Huda Beauty – beloved for its wildly popular eyeshadow palettes and viral products like the Easy Blur foundation. In 2023, she was featured on the BBC's 100 Women list.

For Kattan, who was born and raised in the United States but lived in the UAE for two years as a child, moving to Dubai was a homecoming. "It's an extremely fast paced, multicultural environment," says Kattan, who travels endlessly around the globe for her work as the founder and CEO of Huda Beauty cosmetics. "It's probably one of the fastest-moving [cities] I've ever seen. When I go to New York, New York is way too slow for me."

Kattan, whose brand headquarters is in Dubai, loves hitting the spa in her downtime. "[It's] the best," she says. "It's about going to the spas, enjoying the massages, doing the hammams, the facials. It's about investing in yourself for sure."

And Dubai's foothold in the beauty world is also growing. Dior opened its first spa in the city in 2024 and the five-star Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab hotel with its three-storey spa will open in 2025. "Dubai is definitely getting a lot more credibility in beauty," says Kattan. "I have big celebrities asking me, 'What is happening in Dubai? What are all the treatments that people are doing">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });