Despite her mega success as the founder of Huda Beauty, Huda Kattan struggles with an issue that most people prefer to hide: hair loss. The blogger-turned-mogul opened up to Allure about her hair loss journey that involved treatments, supplements, and techniques to tackle her insecurity.

Noticing hair loss in her early 20s, Kattan began to constantly cover it up and even admitted to putting eyeshadow on her scalp. Though she gained control of it by employing a super gentle hair-care routine (using hydrating skincare serums on her scalp and rinsing with bottled water when she traveled), she said the shedding started again in her mid-30s. 

It took a more serious turn during a campaign shoot for Huda Beauty. “I had been wearing a heavy, faux ponytail. My hairstylist Dom Seeley takes it out one day — and it just comes straight off, leaving a pretty nice-sized bald circle,” Kattan told Allure. In her case, the hair loss came from traction alopecia, which occurs from wearing the same style repeatedly. 

At that point, Kattan began using a derma roller — a tool that creates microscopic wounds on the skin with tiny needles to stimulate collagen and elastin growth — called the BeautyBio GloPro on her scalp. Though she noted it felt a little painful, the micro-needling seemed to work because hair began growing on her bare patch. And after taking Viviscal supplements for a long time that she said “made a difference,” Kattan decided to try Viviscal Pro to increase hair thickness. 

Since then, Kattan said she sees less of her scalp than she used to. “I realize that, for me, it’s been a lot of small steps that have made a difference — taking those supplements daily, being mindful of stress, using hair masks on the weekends,” she said. 

Though she maintains steady hair growth, Kattan said her hair remains frail. She rarely blow-dries it nor does she color it anymore. Instead, she’ll usually style it into a braid or leave it natural to flow on days she doesn’t need to glam. Additionally, Kattan now tries out wigs while filming to avoid the stress that styling can put on her hair. 

“It’s crazy: Hair can give you confidence when it looks good, but it can also create so many insecurities. There’s shame around hair loss, but almost every woman I know suffers from it,” Kattan said. “I’m going to start showing that more in my videos when we do use extensions. People need to know.”