Mona Kattan is bonafide beauty royalty (sister to Huda and co-founder of Huda Beauty and Kayali perfume) and she may well be the world’s number one perfume fan.
The beautypreneur and fragrance collector let us snoop inside her perfume closest, and it’s as OMG as they come. Yes, it’s a walk-in room of perfume with thousands of bottles.
She also shares what she loves to ‘geek’ out on; the challenges and triumphs of working with family and why manifesting is her key to success.
I think there is a fine line between beauty being empowering and it making you obsessed with perfection. It’s about celebrating who you are as an individual and making the best version of yourself, and not obsessively trying to create someone else’s looks or features.
I accepted my perfume obsession a long time ago
I just really love the way perfume can make you feel sexy or energised. Its ability to impact your mood and feelings and evoke memories is really powerful! I started collecting perfume the first moment I could afford it. I was 14 and had just started my first job. From that moment I continued working even harder because that initial purchase turned into an obsession, leading to my current collection. My perfume closet now holds between 1,500 and 2,000. It’s pretty insane when you think about it, but I’ve always loved perfume.
A power lip is my go-to look
I love a great power lip. The right lipstick will instantly change how you feel and I love that. [Huda Beauty Liquid Matte in] Heartbreaker is just a really poppy, beautiful, punchy red. Whenever I put it on I find people instantly look at you, it draws attention and I feel really energised when I wear that colour.
I love the power of perfume to evoke memories
For me, I love rose fragrances as it makes me feel feminine and sexy, the perfect balance, but it’s Kayali Citrus that brings back the best memories for me. It reminds me so much of a mixture I used to create with Huda that we wore when she was going into beauty and moved to LA. It’s super energising ad reminds me of new beginnings and courage, so that’s super special.
Working with family can be challenging and amazing every single day
It is myself, Huda, our other sister, Huda’s husband, my dad so it’s like the entire family working together. The best part is, it’s our family, so we trust each other so much, but on the flipside we have no boundaries. We say it how it is, we don’t think about people’s feelings before we give criticism, but we’ve learnt not to take it personally. You do have to become very thick, fast, and if you can do that, it works incredibly.
My job is a childhood dream come true
Me and my sister have been close every since we were kids, we shared a room for at least 12 years. We dreamed together about how we were going to take over the world. I really always had a gut intuition we were going to create something amazing together and I knew if there was anyone I’d do it with, it would be Huda. She’s a force.
I geek out on new challenges
My number one thing is I love to learn – I’ve always been the geek in the front row taking notes, so being able to learn every single day in this dynamic industry is so exciting. To go from being self-employed, to being a company where we’re creating dream jobs for people, really excites me.
The sisterhood is everything
It’s so so important for me and for Huda. She’s always been a big feminist and I am too. It’s not like we don’t like men, we love men also, but we think it’s a great time for women right now. People are recognising things were unfair for a very long time and we’re finally getting the right platforms to speak our voices and show that women are just as talented, if not more talented. We have an amazing [business] team full of badass women and amazing feminist men, who love and respect women too, so we have a team of feminists.
Huda and I are polar opposites
Initially it caused a load of friction because we constantly challenge each other, and it took us a long time to get to that point where we made our differences positive, but they are really positives. Huda is an artist. She’s extremely focused on the vision and is detailed orientated. I am able to be a little bit dynamic and see the bigger picture so when she’s stressed out over the small details, I can prompt her down. We balance each other out.
Reading is my relaxation
For me, my best time ever is when I have get to stay home and read a book. I’m telling you I’m a big nerd, and just love reading I’m thinking of starting a book club. Right now I’m reading 5AM Club by Robert Sharma. It’s an incredible book, I’d definitely recommend it. It’s super inspiring, it’s all about seizing the day and being ahead of the world, because waking up a couple of hours earlier changes everything.
I usually wake up around 6am everyday then go and workout, but now I’m going to start waking up at 5am so I can meditate before, rather than after work. I would love to wake up first, pray and meditate and then get started. I think it changes everything.
Daily visualisation keeps my focus
Sometimes we get so busy with the hustle and bustle of everyday life that we actually aren’t even doing what we want to be doing, so I like to realign with meditation or manifesting every single day. I do different things – sometimes I’ll look at my Pinterest vision board and visualize what my goals are. Pinterest is amazing for that.
I also have a list of affirmations that I’ll say out to myself. I think if you say it out loud first thing in the morning and really think it, it helps you get there, so I’m a big believer in reaffirming to yourself who you want to be. I do it a lot with Huda.
We’ll manifest together and we’ll talk about our dreams and goals. We’ll talk about them out loud and really imagine it’s already happening. It’s been a big driver to us achieve our goals. If you’re not talking about them constantly, how are you going to get there?
Grooming is my self-care ritual
I love getting body scrubs. We have amazing Moroccan scrubs here in Dubai. They literally get every single bit of dead skin off your body. You’re 3 pounds lighter when you leave, it’s the best feeling ever so I’ll do that and get a massage. I also get a manicure, pedicure, a wash and blow dry on a weekly basis. Again it’s a great empowering tool, it’s about taking care of yourself and feeling good.
My starting out advice is find your mission
Think about why you’re doing it first and figure out a mission statement for yourself, because that will energise you every single day to be excited. Then when you face challenges and hurdles you won’t feel defeated and you’ll last the distance.
I’ve had to up my selfcare to balance my work life
Watching season one of our reality show Huda Boss [on Facebook Watch] I realised how much weight I’d gained since I started working. I became a work-a-holic. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh I need to start caring better for myself.’ So last year I started the Keto diet, cutting out sugar, and working out almost every single day and I’ve lost 35 pounds. I work out almost everyday, it’s such an important part of my day.
