Huda Kattan is the latest UAE name to be awarded a Dubai Star. The beauty mogul, who is behind the successful brand Huda Beauty, has long lived in the Emirates. She has found global success in the cosmetics industry, selling everything from lip kits to false eyelashes and Instagram-perfect foundations.
"Congratulations to the influencer-turned-entrepreneur who built a beauty empire, Huda Kattan," the organisers of the Dubai Walk of Fame project wrote on Twitter. "You are a Dubai Star."
The beauty entrepreneur, who along with her sisters, Mona Kattan and Alya Kattan, is the star of Facebook Watch reality series, Huda Boss. The second series, set in Dubai and Los Angeles, premiered on the social site on August 20, 2019.
Huda Kattan: Instagram's 'richest' star
Kattan, who has an enormous 39.2 million followers, recently topped Instagram's 2019 Rich List, according to scheduling tool Hopper, despite never monetising her posts on the social site.
The founder of Huda Beauty has the ability to charge $91,300 (Dh335,344) for a sponsored post on the photo-sharing app, the report found, with Kattan worth an overall $45 million.
However, she says she simply "cannot" bring herself to feature "#sponcon" posts. She does regularly promote her own products in posts.
"I'm not looking to directly monetise our Instagram. Directly being able to do shoppable links – when that happens, sure, why not? But now, I don't want it to feel like it's not real," she told Entrepreneur magazine last year. "I don't think you should feel shame making money off that, as long as you're doing it really naturally as opposed to something that is forced."
"I had been looking at a car I was ready to buy, but I ended up turning it down," she continued. "It was painful for me and my husband to reject it, because it was a lot of money. I know you have to identify it as an ad, but I just didn’t feel comfortable with it. I thought about Oprah. I was like, would Oprah do that? No, she wouldn’t."
Kattan is now best known for her tongue-in-cheek and off-beat beauty videos, and re-posting how-to videos from fans:
What are the Dubai Stars?
The Dubai Stars will decorate Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard when they are unveiled in October.
The stars, which will form Dubai's upcoming Walk of Fame project, will pay homage to local and international personalities from various fields including music, film, art, architecture, sport and literature, as well as social influencers.
Ahead of the official launch, the project has been unveiling some of the famous names that will decorate the stars.
In total, there will be 10,000 stars on the walk, however, to begin with, there will be 400, which will be voted for by the public.
Kattan isn't the only name to be announced in the last month. Bollywood legend Anil Kapoor, Wolf of Wall Street star Margot Robbie and Emirati director Ali Mostafa have all been given a nod by Emaar.
A-list names who have been honoured with a Dubai Star:
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Deepika Padukone has been honoured with a Dubai Star. AFP -
Huda Kattan has been honoured with a Dubai Star. Getty Images -
Hazzaa Al Mansouri has been honoured with a Dubai Star. AFP -
Nadine Labaki has been honoured with a Dubai Star. Getty Images -
Cristiano Ronaldo has been honoured with a Dubai Star. AFP -
Oprah Winfrey has been honoured with a Dubai Star. AP -
Lewis Hamilton has been honoured with a Dubai Star. Getty Images -
Umm Kulthum has been honoured with a Dubai Star. Courtesy of Al Ittihad -
Zinedine Zidane has been honoured with a Dubai Star. AFP -
Selena Gomez has been honoured with a Dubai Star. EPA -
Ali Mostafa has been honoured with a Dubai Star. Khushnum Bhandari / The National -
Margot Robbie has been honoured with a Dubai Star. EPA -
Anil Kapoor has been honoured with a Dubai Star. AFP -
Beyonce has been honoured with a Dubai Star. Instagram -
Jacqueline Fernandez has been honoured with a Dubai Star. Subhash Sharma / The National -
Mona Zaki has been honoured with a Dubai Star. AFP -
Actress Priyanka Chopra. Getty -
DJ Armin Van Buuren. Getty Images -
Singer Hussain Al Jassmi. Courtesy DCT -
Tennis player Sania Mirza. Paulo Vecina -
Footballer Riyad Mahrez. Getty Images -
Poet and lyricist Gulzar. Courtesy DCT -
Actor Ranbir Kapoor. Courtesy Zee Cine Awards -
Actress Shilpa Shetty. Reem Mohammed/The National -
Egyptian singer Amr Diab. EPA -
Sprinter Usain Bolt. AFP -
Actor Amitabh Bachchan. EPA -
Actor Chris Evans. AP -
Musician Nile Rodgers. AP -
Tennis player Serena Williams. PA -
Footballer Sergio Ramos. Getty Images -
Footballer Mohamed Salah. AFP -
Actor Idris Elba. AP -
Actor Chris Hemsworth. AFP -
'Aladdin' star Will Smith has appeared in more than 35 films over his career. EPA -
Coldplay frontman has penned hits such as 'Yellow', 'Fix You' and 'Viva la Vida'. AFP -
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi rose to fame in Ang Lee's 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. Getty Images -
Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar for his performance in 'The Revenant' in 2016. Getty Images -
Rami Malek is the first actor of Arab heritage to win an Best Actor Oscar. AFP -
Aamir Khan is a Bollywood actor and producer. Shutterstock -
Abdel Halim Hafez was a popular Egyptian singer. AFP -
Robert Downey, Jr is best known for starring as Iron Man. Getty Images -
Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram is one of the Middle East's best-selling female performers. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National -
Zachary Levi is a Marvel and DC actor, who has appeared in the 'Thor' franchise and 2019's 'Shazam!'. AP -
Chinese actress Ni Ni made her film debut in 2011, giving a much-acclaimed performance in Zhang Yimou's 'The Flowers of War.' She also starred in the Chinese-French fantasy blockbuster 'The Warriors Gate', written by Luc Besson. AFP -
Lebanese singer Fairuz is one of the Arab's world beloved performers and she has sold more than 150 million records worldwide. AFP -
Lebanese-American writer Kahlil Gibran is the author of 'The Prophet' and is regarded as one of the world's best-selling poets. Getty -
Lebanese designer Elie Saab was the first to receive a Dubai Star. His label has dressed many famous faces from Jennifer Lopez to Catherine, Duchess of Sussex. Reuters -
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has more than 80 films in his distinguished career. He's also the face of Dubai Tourism's 'Be My Guest' campaign. Courtesy Dubai Media -
Barcelona star Lionel Messi is the all-time highest goalscorer in La Liga and the youngest football player to win four Ballon d'Or awards. Reuters -
Saudi Arabian singer and composer Abdul Majeed Abdullah has released numerous albums over his lengthy career and his track 'Ensan Akthar' features on the Dubai Fountains' playlist. Facebook / Abdul Majeed Abdullah -
Cricketer MS Dhoni captained India to their last World Cup triumph on home soil in 2011, scoring an unbeaten 91 in the final against Sri Lanka. AP photo -
K-pop boy band BTS have made history on a number of occasions, including being the first Korean act to top the Billboard 200 with their album 'Love Yourself: Tear'. AFP -
Martial artist and actor Jackie Chan has appeared in more than 150 films since breaking into the film industry in the 1960s. AFP -
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, the former WWE-star-turned-actor, is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. He was one of the highest-paid actors in 2018. Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP -
One of Bollywood's most recognisable actors – and snappiest dressers – Ranveer Singh has starred in hits such as 'Simmba', 'Gully Boy' and 'Padmaavat'. He's also married to Deepika Padukone. Getty -
Exo were the first Korean act to have their song 'Power' featured into the Dubai Fountains' playlist and are one of Asia's biggest-selling music acts. Courtesy Dubai Tourism
