We Tried Huda Beauty’s Ube Makeup Collection — & We Have Thoughts

With a massive following of over 10 million on TikTok, Huda Beauty’s makeup collection is practically preordained to go viral. The latest range that has gotten the beauty community buzzing? The Huda Beauty Ube Obsession Kit, £66, featuring a setting powder, liquid blush, and lip gloss in an electric lilac shade. According to founder Huda Kattan, the lineup is inspired by her favourite tradition of indulging in ube-flavoured cakes on her birthday.

If you haven’t heard of ube before, here’s a quick breakdown: Ube, also known as purple yam, is a type of vegetable known for its natural violet hue and subtle sweet flavour. It’s most commonly used in pastries and desserts originating from the Philippines, like pandesal (a type of fluffy bread roll) and halo-halo (a delightful mish-mash of crushed ice, sweet beans, fruit, and ube ice cream — somewhat similar to a sundae). The ingredient has taken off in recent years as an Instagrammable food trend, and now the hype has seemingly extended across to the makeup category.

The timing of this purple-hued collection feels well-considered: The term “lavender blush” blew up on TikTok last autumn, and a stream of swatching videos — from creators of all skin tones — gained millions of views. People are definitely curious to know whether this pale purple colour will work across the board, and that's precisely why we’ve tapped our team of editors to put these products to the test.

Ahead, we're sharing our unfiltered thoughts on each item from Huda Beauty’s viral ube-inspired range, and whether they are actually wearable IRL.

“Here’s the thing: I grew up thinking that purple is a colour that’d never work for me. I came to this conclusion after much trial and error with purple prom dresses and lavender eye shadows, both of which added a yellow pallidness to my skin. So imagine my surprise when I dusted on a layer of the Easy Bake Setting Powder in Ube Birthday Cake, £34, and witnessed my skin become instantly brighter and more even. The powder had a slightly intimidating neon periwinkle colour in the box, but on my cool-toned, light-medium skin, it added an almost imperceptible shade of icy pink. Kattan recommends applying this powder to the under eye area; doing so did fade away some of my discolouration and dullness. Packed with vitamin E and rice starch powder, the product took away my shine and set my makeup with a flattering, slightly blurred look all night. I’m so glad I gave this purple powder a chance.

“I also loved the Ube Cream Blush Filter, £24, which came with a doe-foot applicator that disperses the perfectly sized tiny dot for blending. Though the blush looked lilac when I first applied it on my cheeks, it transformed into pale pink once I blended it with a brush. No complaints here, as the colour looked so angelic and added a delicate flush to my cheeks.

“It was by the time I swiped on the Faux Filler Gloss in UUU-Baby, £17.50, that I became more confused by the naming of this collection and its positioning. Don’t get me wrong: The gloss was hydrating and had an adorable milky-pink pigment, and looked so Y2K with my pale pink lip liner underneath (I used Saie’s Lip Liner 101 in French). But does it have a place in an ube-inspired collection? Not quite.

“In fact, none of the products can really be categorised as ube-inspired, as they just turn into a cool pink once you’ve applied it on the skin. My friend Kristina Rodulfo — a Filipino-American beauty editor and content creator — sums it up brilliantly in Pearl, her Substack: ‘Ube in nature has more of a rich, violet hue instead of Huda’s light, pinky-pastel interpretation,’ she wrote. ‘The product description says it’s inspired by Huda's tradition of celebrating her birthday with an ube cake every year, but it does not mention ube’s origins or the Philippines.’ In a separate Instagram video, Kattan does mention that she was first introduced to ube by the Filipino community in Dubai, but this information is not included in the press release.

“Despite having good things to say about all three products, I’d personally love to see an ube collection that actually echoes the richer purple tones of the vegetable, and also gives the wider Filipino community the love they very much deserve — beyond a cute gimmick for the marketing.” — Venus Wong, senior writer

“I hate how most blush shades look on my light olive skin. Pink makes me appear too ruddy-cheeked and peach tones just look off, so I have to admit that I had quite low expectations of Huda Beauty’s new Ube Cream Blush Filter. I mean, it’s lilac! In fact, I was convinced I’d try it once and relegate it to the bottom of my makeup bag. How wrong I was! This is probably the only blush shade I’ve ever truly loved on my skin. I think it makes my face look alive — and that’s no mean feat considering that it’s the height of winter, I haven’t seen the sun in months, and I have a vitamin D deficiency. Three little dots was all I needed to create this pretty pastel veil of colour but you can dial it up or down depending on whether you’re feeling something subtle or bold that day. It blends like a dream, too: I used a flat foundation brush to pat it into my cheeks for a skin-like finish and it took all of a few seconds — no streaks, no craters in my foundation base.

“Now on to the powder. I’m not — and never have been — a fan of baking under my eyes for fear of appearing dry and cakey, so I used this to mop up shine on my forehead and down my nose, and to set the blush in place. If your skin tone is similar to mine, don’t let the colour put you off. It was like a subtle filter on my skin. It made me look matte without accentuating my parched patches and boosted the longevity of the cream blush. Don’t make the same mistake I did though: Peel the plastic cover back only half way to ensure you don’t lose any powder to the lid.

“The Faux Filler Gloss is such a light pink (ube where?), it virtually swipes on clear, so it complemented my lip liner (Rhode Peptide Lip Shape in Bend, in case you were wondering) perfectly. My dry lips drank it up quickly, so it appeared more like a balm than a juicy gloss, but I’m not mad about that. Actually, I much prefer this kind of finish, and now, I’m using it in place of my lip salve.” — Jacqueline Kilikita, beauty director

“Huda Beauty is known for having some of the shiniest, longest-wearing lip glosses on the market, so it’s no surprise that my favourite out of the collection is the Faux Filler Gloss in UUU-Baby. The product didn’t feel sticky on my lips at all and left behind a beautiful sheen, but on its own, the shade looked too milky white on my medium-deep complexion for my liking. That being said, it makes the perfect lip combo when paired with a mocha brown lip liner. I typically gravitate towards wearing brown lip liners with a glossy centre, as they work best with my skin tone and natural lip colour, and this gloss definitely ticks that box for me. The staying power was impressive, too. While it doesn’t need constant reapplication, I like to keep it nearby in case I want an extra boost of shine.

“My experience with the other Ube products was pretty mixed. I normally steer well clear of makeup in lilac hues. I’d seen rave reviews from people of various complexions, and I thought there might be a chance I’d fall in love with the products. The Ube Birthday Cake Setting Powder appeared pink on my skin tone, despite its lilac colour. Some might call this brightening, but it simply looked too ashy for me — even after lots of blending. To be fair, Kattan herself does state that the powder 'works best on medium to tan skin with golden undertones'. It’s not a product I’d reach for again; I’ll probably stick to a neutral loose powder to match my exact skin tone.

“I had similar thoughts about the Blush Filter in Ube Cream, which I didn’t think worked with my medium-deep neutral skin tone. I noticed several creators mixing their Ube Cream blush with the brand’s highly popular Black Cherry shade, and it did look amazing. But personally, I believe a product should also work on its own, not just when it’s blended in with another shade!” — Vanese Maddix, freelance writer