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Kayali

Kayali was born in Dubai in 2018, launched by sisters Huda and Mona Kattan under the wing of Huda Beauty. The house built its catalog on gourmand fragrance and on the layering of several juices, carried by an audience that came from social media. It has been independent since February 2025: Mona Kattan and the fund General Atlantic hold its capital.

Kayali perfumes

A brand born in the orbit of Huda Beauty

Huda, Mona and Alya Kattan, three American-Iraqi sisters, founded Huda Beauty in Dubai in 2013. Kayali arrived in 2018 as the group's fragrance branch, launched by Huda and Mona. The latter holds its creative direction and becomes its public figure.

The house was built outside the classic circuits of perfumery: no license with a beauty group, distribution through Sephora, Boots and ASOS, and an audience that came from makeup rather than perfume.

Gourmand character and layering

Kayali embraces the gourmand register where niche perfumery kept it at a distance. The catalog counted about twenty references at the time of the 2025 separation, designed to be worn together: layering two or three juices is the method the house proposes, not a diverted use.

This stance explains the shape of the catalog, where the juices answer each other by families rather than each covering a distinct territory. It also explains the place of sugar, vanilla and dessert notes in references that selective perfumery would have kept at a distance.

The independence of February 2025

On February 17, 2025, Huda Beauty announced the sale of its stake in Kayali to Mona Kattan and to the American investment firm General Atlantic. Kayali became an autonomous company; Mona Kattan remains its chief executive.

The same transaction allowed Huda Beauty to buy back the stake held since 2017 by the fund TSG Consumer, and to become once again fully owned by its founders. The two sister brands have since operated separately.