Huda Kattan to receive Beautyworld Icon Award at Beautyworld Dubai
The award will be presented during the Beautyworld Dubai Awards gala on 7 October 2026 at Le Méridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre.
UAE – Beautyworld Dubai will present its Beautyworld Icon Award to Huda Kattan, founder of Huda Beauty and a defining entrepreneur of the modern beauty era, recognising an individual whose work has left a lasting imprint on the global beauty industry.
The distinction underscores both Kattan’s personal achievements and the broader narrative of a region, Dubai and the wider Middle East, increasingly shaping the direction of global beauty.
Kattan expressed her gratitude, stating, “I’m so honoured to receive the Beautyworld Icon Award.”
“What started as a passion for beauty has grown into something bigger than I ever imagined and I am grateful to the region for being my home and the place where I was able to make a change in the beauty space, and I’m so proud of the journey we’ve been on.”
She added, “I’m incredibly grateful to our Huda Beauty team, our amazing community, and Beautyworld for this recognition.”
As one of the first creators to convert an online following into a serious global business, she helped write much of the playbook the industry now follows, and did so from Dubai at a time when few expected a global beauty brand to emerge from this part of the world.
At its core, the award recognizes that Kattan demonstrated the city and region could export beauty, not just import it.
Ravi Ramchandani, event director of Beautyworld Dubai, said Huda proved a global beauty brand could be built from Dubai, changing how the industry sees the region and how the region sees itself, and added that every founder attending the event this October is building on the path she opened, which is precisely what the award celebrates.
The Beautyworld Dubai Awards are the centrepiece honours program of Beautyworld Dubai, the Middle East’s largest international trade fair for beauty products, hair, fragrances and wellbeing, and in 2026 they will spotlight the year’s standout brands, products, people and innovations across the global beauty value chain.
The 2026 edition shortlisted 85 finalists across 17 categories, which an independent panel of 20 international industry professionals evaluated.
The awards span a broad spectrum of the beauty ecosystem, from cosmetic and haircare products to packaging, retail and beauty technology, reflecting the show’s role as a hub for the entire value chain.
The 17 categories include skincare, haircare, male grooming, packaging and technology innovation, as well as fragrance-focused honours such as Popular Fragrance of the Year and Niche Fragrance of the Year; among fragrance finalists are names like Assaf, Kayali and Lattafa in the popular segment, and Adamo Parfum, Clive Christian and Oman Luxury in the niche segment.
Another headline category is Innovative Packaging of the Year, which recognizes packaging that breaks from traditional norms through new materials, forms or functionality to solve real challenges and deliver impactful solutions, with judging criteria emphasizing exceptional creativity, problem-solving and a clear understanding of the target audience and intended use.
Sign up to receive our email newsletters with the latest news updates and insights from Africa and the World HERE.
