Huda Beauty Is Pledging $100k To Freelance Makeup Artists

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow, brands and influencers that rely on social media are scrambling to figure out how best to adjust their content (and tone) on their respective platforms. Certain brands have begun to push sales and discounts; others have boosted their Instagram Live presence with takeovers from celebrities, yoga instructors, and members of their community to keep followers and customers interested and engaged. For some, giving money to fans during this unprecedented time of uncertainty has been the move, and one that beauty mogul Huda Kattan has subscribed to. On March 23, the Huda Beauty founder announced the brand would be pledging $100k to support makeup artists— who, like other freelance and gig-economy workers, will be some of the most vulnerable to economic fallout of the coronavirus.

Kattan, founder of both Huda Beauty and Wishful Skin, took to the Instagram account of her eponymous brand to share an early six-minute video on IGTV, titled, "WE ARE GIVING $100K TO FREELANCE MUA." The video, now with over 2.8 million views, begins with Kattan expressing how "intense" coronavirus has been, noting that she had "knots" in her stomach just filming the video. After explaining worries of taking care of loved ones, or herself, should anyone in her life contract the virus, she began to elaborate on just how overwhelmed with emotion she has been thinking about its financial implications.

"If we get sick or not, everyone is going to be affected financially, and some people are not going to be able to survive that financial impact. That's for me the scariest thing right now," she said. "It's so scary to think about people who will get sick, but the people who will become homeless, the people who are going to lose their jobs, the people who are not going to be able to feed their children, to pay for the roofs over their heads. That for me has become, now, the scariest situation."

The beauty mogul went on to discuss the early days of founding Huda Beauty in 2016, sharing that she didn't take a salary, and paid employees with the money she made from influencer deals. "It is hard to run a business as it is, never mind adding a pandemic to a situation," she continued. The situation led her and her team to want to act and help out other freelance creatives in the industry — starting with her fellow makeup artists. "I started as a makeup artist, that's how I started my business," she said.

Kattan explained in the video that to start, she wanted to donate $100,000 to 100 different makeup artists, saying that it would at least help that many people figure out their situations during this uncertain time. To enter, the brand posted a clip of the video to its feed with a caption that read: "Please tag a freelance MUA that you know who is finding these times tough & share why you've put them forward. Please stay safe & healthy, I love you all."

The post, made on March 23, will be accepting entries through 12am GST on March 25th. See the full video, and instructions on how to enter, below.