Narins Beauty is building an empire one beauty product at a time

“This is what I would wear to my ex’s funeral,” Narin Ammara, founder of Narins Beauty, announces as she steps out wearing a studded face mask for her first solo cover shoot with Cosmopolitan Middle East. The whole room erupts in laughter. Instantly, Narin becomes all too real and relatable – a quality that’s made her one of the UAE’s biggest influencers, commanding over 16 million Instagram followers.

With a Syrian-Swedish background, the 25-year-old has carved out a distinctive space in content creation with her authentic lifestyle and beauty videos. With accolades including Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Women’s Leader Summit in 2025 and Beauty Influencer of the Year at the Emi Gala Awards in 2024, she’s collected titles as effortlessly as she’s collected followers. But whether she’s playing entrepreneur, sister, or newlywed wife, everything circles back to one thing: serving her community, the people who’ve followed her since her youth and are now her customers.

In an interview with Cosmo, Narin breaks down business, her love life, and her dreams, offering wisdom to all of us as we head into the new year.

Left to right – Dress: Femme Fatale, Headpiece: Lilia Fisher, Earrings: Ben Amun via Poison Drop, Shoes: Jimmy Choo; Jacket: Lime, Top: Kristina Fidelskaya, Headpiece: Lilia Fisher, Earrings: Lady D via Poison Drop

Cosmo ME: Can you tell us about your cultural heritage and how it’s influenced your aesthetic and philosophy behind the beauty brand?

Narin: In our brand, I have a mix between Arab culture and Scandinavian influence. I’m Syrian, but I moved to Sweden when I was 12, so I spent the most important years of my life growing up there (from 12 to 18). I grew up watching my mother and aunties wear bold Arabic-style makeup, with smoky eyes and deep, rich lips—something I always admired. Later, being in Scandinavia introduced me to a very different philosophy: the idea that “less is more.”

My style isn’t fully Arabic, nor is it entirely minimalist. I’m not a fan of extremes—neither too much nor too little. Instead, my approach finds harmony between both worlds, creating a balanced aesthetic that reflects my mixed cultural heritage.

Cosmo ME: What product are you most excited about that you’ve launched or are launching?

Narin: They’re all my babies, to be honest. It’s very hard to pick because every formula and product we’re coming up with is so precious. We dedicate so much time and energy.

Hat: Loro Piana

Necklace: Swarovski

Cosmo ME: You mentioned your husband and our readers want to know the tea! How did you meet him, and what advice do you have for all the single girls here in Dubai? (The dating scene is so rough.)

Narin: I have a lot of friends who tell me it’s very hard to date in Dubai, but I don’t agree because here I am. I found my dream husband. He was the guy I used to dream of when I was younger, and I thought that didn’t exist. I felt like I was just watching too many Turkish series, but then somehow we met here in Dubai at a birthday dinner. We had one common friend. He was there, we talked for about 20 minutes, and then straight after he said, ‘I’m gonna marry you.’

I went to my friends afterwards and they were like, ‘Yeah, that technique is old; they just want to play with you.’ And then on the day of my wedding, I went to my friends and said, ‘He meant it. He really wanted to marry me.’

Cosmo ME: What was the pivotal moment that made you decide to launch your beauty brand? Was there a particular gap in the market you wanted to fill?

Narin: I’ve been playing with makeup products for 10 years. The amount of makeup products I’ve promoted, used, and tried – I can’t count them. I feel like there’s a gap for people my age (Gen Z). I don’t feel like the products in the market are covering our needs. This is why I wanted to create Narins Beauty and have formulas that are skincare-based, but also makeup. I wanted packaging that’s fun to play with and formulas that aren’t very complicated. I think that shows in my launches. Bun Bun is like a lip jelly that’s 96% skincare, but also has this pop of colour. Aura is a cooling, skincare-powered lip gloss that hydrates, plumps, and reflects light for a diamond-like, multidimensional glow.

Headpiece: Lilia Fisher

Dress: Stylist’s own

Cosmo ME: How have you evolved as a woman through this entrepreneurial journey?

Narin: I’m evolving every day with every challenge I go through. It’s definitely not easy to shift from being a content creator to a businesswoman or founder of a brand where people are actually paying money to use your product. It’s so much responsibility. The pressure is insane.

This is why I’m very careful with every step I take and every decision I make. People trust me and I need to take care of this relationship between me and my community. The whole team is 100% aware that community comes first. I’m definitely evolving with time, learning so many things about the market and about my personality.

Cosmo ME: Can you talk us through the product development process? Do you go into a boardroom or lab to test things out?

Narin: I’ve been to Korea once; it was a fun trip with my sister and my team. We visited factories and explored formulas, and that’s where we got the idea for Bun Bun. Also, my team is always going to Italy to explore new formulas. Our main factories are in Italy and Korea.

All our meetings happen in my house. The whole team comes here every week to sit and explore formulas. We make adjustments to make it fit people here because our skin tone is different; our needs are different, and the heat and SPF requirements are very different. Every formula takes between one year to a year and a half for us to be confident to launch it.

Dress: Magda Butrym

Headpiece: Stylist’s own

Earrings: Sordo via Poison Drop

Cosmo ME: What’s one thing about the beauty industry that surprised or challenged you whilst building the brand?

Narin: Timing. It takes so much time to have a product ready.

Cosmo ME: Where do you hope the brand goes in five years?

Narin: I’ll tell you a story. On the first date I went on with my husband, he asked me that question and I told him I hated that question. He asked why, and I said, ‘Five years ago, I wouldn’t have thought for one day that I’d be sitting here owning a makeup brand that’s out there and that I want in retail.’ So I want Narins Beauty to be somewhere that I’m incapable of imagining right now. Five years ago, I was a completely different person, and I’m sure in five years I’ll be somewhere else that right now I can’t really think of.
I definitely want it to be a global brand. I want it in the market. I want people to have it in stores to play with, test it, and try it. I want the trust between me and my community to be stronger than it already is.

Cosmo ME: Are there any dream collaborations you’d like to do?

Narin: I would love to do something with Fenty Beauty. I love Rihanna. She hears her community. With all the shades she puts out, it’s for her community.

Cosmo ME: What advice do you want to tell Cosmo readers as we head into the new year?

Narin: This is something I’ve been telling all the girls my age and even women older than me (because for some reason, mums love me) is: to not be scared of trying things. Fear is what holds us back, and I feel like if we could only break that wall, you’re not aware of what you could do. I’m definitely scared when I try new things, but even with the fear inside me, I try to shift it to excitement. Feel the fear, but do it anyway. Don’t give up too easily and don’t expect to see results straightaway. Some things take time. Precious things take time to build.

Headpiece: Lilia Fisher

Earrings: Ben Amun via Poison Drop

Feeling nostalgic? Why not read about our past cover star here?