A minor modern tragedy: it's 10 p.m. on a Monday night. You're finally cozied up on your couch, glass of wine in hand and/or cute furry pet to cuddle by your side. You're too emotionally exhausted for a true crime binge and not into the idea of rewatching Seinfeld for the fortieth time.
You want a show that makes you feel like your go-to pair of sneakers: warm, fuzzy, and comfortable. You're in the mood for a breezy reality show others might call a "guilty pleasure," except you feel no shame. Think early seasons of the Kardashians or America's Next Top Model.
Enter Huda Boss [1], the Kattan sisters' new Facebook Watch show. You probably know this budding empire through the popular brand Huda Beauty, which has released cult-favourite products [2] such as the Rose Gold Eye Shadow Palette and metallic matte Lip Strobes. In just five years, the brand has gone from founder Huda Kattan having to hand-pack her own fake eyelashes [3] to making as much money for one Instagram post [4] as some people do in a whole year. The sisters — Huda, Mona, and Alya — have now set their sites on reality TV, and all you have to do to is bring the popcorn.
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I'll admit, I watched the first episode mostly because I've given myself the title [7] of "Senior Huda Reporter" at POPSUGAR. I'd received a few press releases about the show, but I wasn't sure what to expect as its description was vague. Given Huda's background — she started as a vlogger — I assumed the show would be one long tutorial. Instead, my extra ass was delighted to see that this is a full-blown reality show that features all the elements required for a small screen treat. There's plenty of drama, tons of direct-to-camera interviews, and ample eye-candy in the form of both new beauty products and a hot personal trainer named Jeremy.
I wasn't prepared for the show to be so raw. In the first episode, we get a peek inside the creation of Huda's new concealers. The formula is first described through a voiceover as "really luxurious," but as it cuts to Huda testing a sample the next shot, things start creasing. The snafu is not only a financial defeat for the brand (Huda's husband Chris estimates that pushing back the release could cost them over a million dollars in losses), but a personal one, too. At a recent event, Mona told POPSUGAR that her sisters work "16 hour days, almost every day" to make things perfect, so seeing how the setback affects them in such a visceral way can be at times hard to watch. The show isn't an overly branded puff piece — you actually get a glimpse of the blood, sweat, and tears Huda sheds over her work. (And through all that, her mascara almost never runs — she's a true pro).
Future episodes will have the sisters travelling to LA, meeting with other brand founders such as Too Faced's Jerrod Blandino [8], and working to finally perfect their concealer formula. But it's not all work and no play. As previously mentioned, there's hint of a romance between Mona and her alarmingly attractive personal trainer, plus we get a peek inside Huda's domestic life with her husband and her daughter, Noor. The family's patriarch, a college professor named Ibrahim, also makes some certifiably adorable cameos.
Want in? Episodes are released via the streaming platform on Mondays at 9 p.m. EST, and the first one premiered on June 11.
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