From Brushes to Bold Statements: Huda Kattan and the Political Potential of Makeup Artistry

In an industry where socio-political opinions seem to not matter, Huda Beauty founder, Huda Kattan is making waves! Ms. Kattan has used her platform of over 53 million followers to share her opinions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Kattan wrote in a post that she did not want “blood money” referring to a comment regarding her Israeli customer base. This ignited a change.org petition to have Huda Beauty removed from Sephora, to which Kattan responded by donating $1 million to humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Kattan isn’t the only celebrity using their platform to raise awareness of the issues happening in Gaza. Over 700 Hollywood stars signed a letter in support of Israel’s efforts last month and recently, 200+ celebs penned a letter to President Biden calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. But to some that’s not enough.

While Kattan isn’t alone in celebrities using their influence to bring awareness to Gaza, TikTok has become a battleground where fans demand opinions from all celebrities. Fans want to know if the person they’re following align with their beliefs. In a recent TikTok video, user aj r-g questions many fans that are begging creatives to speak up on these socio-political issues. Although I strongly agree with the opinion that these creators are not experts on a conflict that’s been boiling for centuries and these creators should not be held to more scrutiny than what we hold our actual political leaders to, I do think that creatives have far more influence than they realize. I think back to artists like Banksy, Maya Angelou, Pablo Picasso, Shakespeare, to name a few. These are all creatives whom used their chosen medium to criticize and critique the socio-political landscape at that time.

Makeup artistry is a medium that has the same power. MUAs create trends. Think back to model Twiggy who wowed the world with an exaggerated eye makeup look, a look recently recreated by Mario Dedivanovic in Kim Kardashians new Skims campaign. The look completely transformed the make up scene. We went from soft eyes with a bold lip to creative looks that brought attention to the eyes and eventually created headway for what we now categorize as editorial makeup.

So in this new age where fashionistas and their glam squad have insurmountable influence, is it possible that they will be the 21st century luminaries of a political revolution? It may be far too early to tell, but what I can say is I don’t think we have heard the last of Huda Kattan and I would not be surprised if she continues to use her platform and her artistry to make statements regarding the conflict in Gaza.