You probably remember the boom. Back in 2018, it felt like every major influencer was pivoting to long-form reality TV. We had the Kardashians ruling cable, and then suddenly, the "Queen of Beauty" herself announced Huda Boss. But here’s the thing people often get mixed up: while everyone calls it the "Huda Netflix show," it actually lived on Facebook Watch. It was part of that weird, experimental era where social platforms were desperately trying to out-Netflix Netflix.
Huda Kattan didn't just stumble into this. She built a billion-dollar empire, Huda Beauty, from a blog. A blog! When she launched her reality series, it wasn't just about showing off fancy cars or Dubai skylines. It was a gritty, sometimes uncomfortably honest look at what happens when a family-run business scales too fast.
The show was huge. We’re talking millions of views per episode. But then, it just... stopped.
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What Really Happened with the Huda Netflix-Style Series?
If you go looking for ten seasons of this show, you’re going to be disappointed. There are only two. Most people assume it was canceled because of low ratings, but the reality is way more interesting. Huda Kattan has been pretty vocal lately about how the pressure of "performing" for a camera nearly broke her brand's soul.
Reality TV thrives on conflict. If Huda and her sister Mona aren't arguing about a product launch, the producers don't have a "story."
The problem? They are a real family running a real company.
When you watch the episodes now, you can see the cracks. There’s a specific moment involving the launch of their "Overachiever" concealer where the stress is palpable. It wasn't "TV stress." It was "we might lose millions of dollars" stress. Huda eventually realized that inviting a camera crew into the boardroom meant she was making decisions for the sake of the edit, not for the sake of the customer.
Honestly, she chose the business over the fame. That's a move you don't see very often in the influencer world. Most people would have ridden that reality TV wave until the wheels fell off. Instead, Huda pulled the plug to focus on reformulation, expanding into skincare with Wishful, and eventually, her own mental health.
The Dubai Context
You can't talk about Huda Boss without talking about Dubai. The city is a character in itself. At the time, Dubai was trying to position itself as the new global hub for fashion and tech. Huda was the poster child for that movement.
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The show gave us a glimpse into the "Dubai Dream" that felt a bit more grounded than the hyper-polished versions we see on Real Housewives of Dubai or Dubai Bling. It showed the logistics. The shipping delays. The heat. The intense cultural pressure of being a woman in leadership in the Middle East while maintaining a global presence.
Why We Still Talk About It
Why does everyone keep searching for the "Huda Netflix show" years later?
Because the quality was actually there.
Unlike a lot of cheap web series, the production value was insane. It looked like a premium network show. It also captured a very specific moment in internet history—the peak of the "Full Glam" era. Before "Clean Girl" aesthetics and "Quiet Luxury" took over TikTok, Huda was the blueprint. Seeing the behind-the-scenes of how she developed those massive eyeshadow palettes is still fascinating to anyone interested in the business of beauty.
The Pivot to Authenticity
In 2024 and 2025, Huda Kattan underwent a massive rebranding of her own life. She famously moved back into the CEO role of her company after stepping away for a while. She even started talking about "un-branding"—stripping away the filler, the heavy filters, and the corporate speak.
If she had stayed on a scripted reality show, she never could have done that.
The "show" now happens on her TikTok and Instagram. It’s raw. It’s unedited. If she hates a product, she says it. If she’s struggling with her self-image, she posts about it. It makes the structured, produced nature of her old series look like a relic from a different century.
The Business Lessons Most People Miss
A lot of viewers watched for the makeup tips, but if you’re an entrepreneur, there was a goldmine of info in there.
- The Danger of Scaling: Huda showed how hard it is to maintain quality when you go from a small team to a global corporation.
- Family Dynamics: Working with your sisters (Mona and Alya) and your husband (Chris) isn't just about "girl boss" moments; it’s about navigating deep-seated personal history while trying to hit a Q4 revenue goal.
- The Power of "No": Ending the show was a "No" that protected the brand's long-term health.
Huda Kattan basically proved that you don't need a traditional TV network to build a legacy. In fact, sometimes the network just gets in the way. While there are always rumors that she might sign a massive deal with a streamer like Netflix for a documentary, for now, the original series remains a time capsule of the 2018 beauty boom.
Next Steps for Fans and Creators
If you're looking to dive back into that world or learn from Huda's trajectory, don't just hunt for old episodes.
- Watch the "Huda Boss" archives on Facebook Watch: They are still there. It’s a masterclass in early long-form social content.
- Follow her recent "CEO Return" videos: She’s been documenting her return to the helm of Huda Beauty. This is essentially the "Season 3" we never got, but it's 100% real.
- Analyze the shift in content: Notice how she moved from high-production reality TV to low-fi, high-trust short-form video. That’s where the industry is heading.
- Study the rebranding: Look at how Huda Beauty is changing its packaging and messaging to reflect a more "human" Huda, rather than the "Boss" persona from the show.
The era of the "Influencer Reality Show" might be fading in favor of "Documentary-Style Transparency," and Huda Kattan was, as usual, ahead of the curve by quitting while she was ahead.