Inside A Mega-Famous Beauty Blogger’s Massive Makeup Closet

I thought I knew beauty until I moved to the Middle East. Even though I have more than 10 years of experience writing about products, ingredients, trends, and covering backstage at Fashion Week in NYC, beauty in the Middle East feels like it's in a league of its own. I quickly learned that if you want to really know beauty in this region, you would be amiss not to get to know Dubai-based beauty expert Huda Kattan, more commonly known by her IG handle @hudabeauty.

The American-born Iraqi makeup artist has tended to famous faces like Eva Longoria and Nicole Richie, as well as members of the Emirati royal family. She grew to be one of the most successful and recognized Instagram stars and businesswomen after launching her lash designs at Sephora.

I’ve met a lot of people in the industry in my years as a writer and editor at Allure, but I can say, hands down, that she is easily one of the biggest connoisseurs of beauty I've ever encountered. I first met Kattan when I interviewed her for a story during a short stopover in Dubai. She impressed me so much that five months later, I decided to pack my bags and move from New York to Dubai to join her team. What I’ve learned during my day-to-day in the office is that Kattan is really and truly a well of beauty knowledge. I learn something new from her every single day. (Rubbing potatoes on your skin twice a day to lighten your underarms? Yep, it works.) Having spent so many years in the industry, it’s refreshing to see that she still gets giddy when she comes across a great new product.

So when Kattan shared that she converted her master bedroom into her “dream closet,” complete with an attached bathroom, I had to see for myself how someone who owns over 10,000 beauty products (and that’s not even counting the ones in her office) organizes her life.

“My closet is my sanctuary,” she says. “We didn’t grow up with a lot of money, so it’s the small things that make such a difference to you as a person and give you that fuel to work hard. My closet is one of those things. That’s why I put so much energy into this.”

Keep clicking to get an exclusive peek into Kattan's personal beauty wonderland. Our tiny medicine cabinets are seething with jealousy.