I tried 6 viral beauty hacks shared by Huda Beauty. Here are 2 I loved and 4 that I'll never use again

During my evening scroll on Instagram, I often turn to videos from Huda Kattan, the beauty mogul behind the cult makeup brand Huda Beauty. Tucked between food recipes and Julia Fox's latest daring outfit, Kattan's videos frequently appear on my feed and offer me, and her 2.5 million other followers, the promise of easier makeup application.

As someone who wears the same beauty look every day, I wanted to have more fun with my makeup so I set out to try six viral makeup trends that Kattan approved on her Instagram page.

I typically use two small pumps of Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless foundation in my beauty routine. I put some on the back of my hand and then use my middle finger to apply it before blending the product across my face.

In June, Kattan posted a video trying a viral makeup hack where you pump foundation into a glass of water before picking it up with a brush and applying it. In the video, which has been liked over 172,500 times, Kattan says the technique is supposed to give the "longest-wear application" and "make your skin look more beautiful."

In the video, Kattan used Huda Beauty's FauxFilter foundation, which I also own and have found to offer full coverage with a matte finish.

With this in mind, I was eager to try the hack, especially as I find my coverage doesn't last throughout the day.

I found that the foundation clung to my brush all at once and didn't allow me to slowly build up coverage. The water also dripped down my face and make it hard to blend the product, so I allowed it to dry first.

Once dried, the foundation I had dotted around my face become too matte and dry to blend seamlessly with a sponge. Using a different tool to the one covered in the foundation is definitely the best approach, but the drying combination still makes this difficult to work with.

I used my fingers to blend after dabbing it on with the brush which was slightly easier, but not worth the added time and effort in my opinion. I use a full-coverage foundation but this method still left my skin imperfections exposed.

After trying the hack, Kattan said she noticed "a hint" of luminosity on the side of her face where she used water and that there was "very little" transfer.

"I do think this works, I just think that it's a little complicated, a little gross, and also a little wasteful," she said in the video.

I agree that there was less transfer because the technique was so drying, but this made my skin look dull and textured. The glass and brush I used were also drenched in foundation. This was, as Kattan said, very wasteful and took a long time to clean up.

In June, Kattan shared an Instagram video showing the "easiest way to a snatched face." The contour hack shows Kattan using concealer to draw an F shape beneath her eye and to the side of her nose, blending it out with a sponge, and setting it with powder. I tried this on one side of my face and used my usual sporadic method on the other.

The tip was simple and not dissimilar to what I usually do, but it would best suit those with already great skin as it only brightened the area and left the rest of my skin without coverage. I have a few acne scars and I like to dot Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer over these areas. With that in mind, the hack works but it's not the best practice for my skin's needs.

In May, I watched a tutorial video Kattan posted on Instagram showing how a touch of concealer could prevent smile lines from causing your concealer to crease. The method in the video, which has over 143,700 likes at the time of writing, looked simple and the difference was immediately visible.

When trying the hack, I used my concealer brush to form a small triangle beside each nostril, pointing towards my ears, and set it with powder. This only took me a minute to do and I noticed the difference throughout the day.

Kattan shared an Instagram video contouring her nose with a single action in August, which received over 26,000 likes and immediately caught my eye. I'm a big fan of contouring my nose and cheeks so I was excited to try this time-saving hack.

In the clip, Kattan was doubtful before trying it and struggled to make it work well. She quickly learned that she needed to apply the product to a mixing plate beforehand and found some success with that.

"I still would go in and contour my nose the way I want to contour it but yeah that did work," Kattan said in the clip. She added that it could be a great hack for beginners with a steady hand.

I used concealer and a cream contour to emulate her technique but I didn't have as wide a brush, so when I dragged the contour down my nose, it was too narrow and the product wasn't evenly placed. Much like Kattan, I had to go in and correct the harsh lines, which meant I didn't save any time at all.

If I had a wider brush in my collection I might have had more success with the method but as Kattan said, it felt like it complicated a process that I typically enjoy.

Kattan caught my attention in August when she posted an Instagram video trying eyeshadow as an alternative to lip liner. The video, which has over 68,000 likes, shows Kattan using a flat brush to apply a dark eyeshadow around the edge of her mouth, before applying lipstick.

"This makes sense because eyeshadow is more powdery, lip liners can tend to be really creamy so it can affect how long wearing one is," she said in the video. Once she finished the hack, Kattan noted that she loved the way it looked and it was "so beautiful."

I used Huda Beauty's eyeshadow palettes to recreate the technique.

I used the shade Henna from Huda Beauty's Rose Gold Remastered eye palette to line my lips with a flat eyeshadow brush for precision. I then added a purple-toned Huda Beauty lipstick to complete the look and I loved what I saw.

Lip liners can be an expensive product and you often only get one shade but by exploring the eyeshadow palettes you already own, you can create new color combinations without spending a dime. I also found that the powdery consistency clung to my lips for longer than the average creamy lip liner, as Kattan said it would.

Kattan tends to share useful and ridiculous beauty ideas in equal measure, but I was shocked that she tried black eyeliner as a lip liner for red lipstick and liked it.

In an Instagram video shared in May, Kattan seemed unsure about the trend but ultimately found success with it. "It's a little dramatic with the red but it's kind of sexy," she said, adding that with a little blending it looked really good.

I wasn't as convinced and even before I applied the red lipstick, I felt ridiculous wearing black lip liner as it's not something I'd usually do.

Once I'd applied the black edge around my lips, I went in with a red Chanel lipstick to match the colors used by Kattan. I then used a lip brush to blend the corners and reduce any hard lines, but this didn't make it look any better in my opinion.

The look was dramatic but I looked like I was comically wearing face paint rather than a strong beauty look. I decided that the hack might better suit someone with a different skin tone or fuller lips.

It was this sixth and final beauty hack that made me realize that when it comes to my beauty routine, simplicity might be the best option.