At 25, Noor Stars has become accustomed to not only overcoming obstacles but shattering them. Born in 1997 in a refugee camp in Iraq, her family immigrated to America before ultimately settling in Dubai, where they are now based. She went on to gain worldwide attention for being the first Arab content creator to reach 10 million subscribers on YouTube.
Now, with global campaigns from PUBG MOBILE to MAC under her belt, Noor Stars has never looked back.
Cosmo ME: You’re Iraqi but you’ve lived in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, America, and Dubai. Tell us about your upbringing.
Noor Stars: Moving around that much wasn’t a choice. It started when I was a child because I was a refugee in almost all of these countries. I went from Iraq to Syria, Syria to Turkey, and then from Turkey to America. It was a long journey but Alhamdulillah, I learned so much from it.
Also travelling around all these countries gave me the ability to relate to so many different people and understand their energy, so I’m thankful for that. Dubai is a melting pot of all these cultures, so it’s the perfect place to end up.
Black bodysuit by MÉNAGE 07
Cosmo ME: Wow, that must have been hard. But you’re still so positive and optimistic…
Noor Stars: I try, Alhamdulillah. I feel like my childhood was so dark and hard in a way that I now appreciate every moment of being alive. When I wake up in the morning, I’m like thank God I’m alive. When you go through the dark things, they make you appreciate the good things in life. I never try to play the victim, because I feel like if you do, you fall into a trap that’s very hard to get out of. Everyone struggles. Everyone is going through their own issues and trauma. But I also believe in karma.
Whatever you go through, I feel like God will find a way to bless you with other things later on. I didn’t always have this mindset, though. In my teens, I was like, ‘Why me? Why is this happening to me?’ I was so angry. But I started manifesting and believing that something good is coming. I feel like that’s where I got my work ethic from. People always ask about my motivation to work so hard, and it’s because I literally know how it feels to have nothing.
Cosmo ME: Speaking of your work ethic, how did you first get into social media?
Noor Stars: It started as an escape. Being in an American high school without knowing proper English was pretty tough. Imagine joining a new school in a new country and not knowing the language. Social media became an escape, and it was actually a secret when I started it. I thought no one would find out. Then, somehow, people started following me and my audience grew. I like to believe that social media found me.
Dress by Zaid Farouki. Glasses is stylist’s own
Cosmo ME: Were you watching OG YouTubers like Manny MUA and Jaclyn Hill?
Noor Stars: I’m a hardcore YouTuber. I love YouTube so much. The first account I ever followed that inspired me to create my own videos was Michelle Phan. She is the OG makeup guru and I related to her so much. Her story was she wanted to work hard to help her mum because she raised Michelle as a single mum. When you hear stories that you can relate to like that, you start to love these content creators for more than just their makeup tutorials. I eventually met her at VidCon and told her that. Now we follow each other and we talk online.
Cosmo ME: Who else are you inspired by?
Noor Stars: My mum. She inspires me a lot because she could have played the victim and given up so many times, but she chose not to. She’s a fighter. She worked hard, stayed positive, and took care of us even though she was in a wheelchair and she was a single mom. When you have a role model like this in your life, you start believing that anything is achievable.
Jacket and gloves by MÉNAGE 07. Sunglasses by Balenciaga
Cosmo ME: You’re a Cancer, and we don’t know a Cancer that’s not sensitive and full of emotion. How do you manage that side of yourself when it comes to living so publicly on social media with trolls and haters?
Noor Stars: I love this question! Okay, so I’m born on the 21st of June, so I’m on the cusp of Gemini and Cancer. I have a lot of Cancer in me because I am very sensitive to the point where I hurt when other people hurt. I’ve been in this industry for four years now, so you get used to the pros and cons of the job. It’s kind of my job to accept people’s opinions and criticism.
They don’t think of you as a human, they see you as more of an object available for public scrutiny, so you get used to it. I’ve been working on not letting it affect me – the good and the bad comments because you need to work on both. These people don’t know me, and I need to remind myself that the good comments are not the reason that I am happy. Just like how you don’t let the bad comments be the reason that you’re sad.
Cosmo ME: Earlier this year, you won an award at Cosmo’s inaugural Arab Woman Awards Next Gen for your contribution to media. How does it feel to be an Arab woman at the forefront of this conversation?
Noor Stars: It’s a blessing. This award, I have it in my Insta bio, girl! It means a lot. You always think of how you started, and I started as a very young girl, a high-schooler, and it was on my vision board. Then it happened! I really appreciate Cosmo for doing an event like this because it gives you a push to keep doing what you’re doing. They notice it. A lot of people take what we do for granted. They think it’s all glam and no work, and they don’t see the effort we put into it. Your appreciation and recognition means a lot, it helps women get recognised for their achievements.
Jacket and gloves by MÉNAGE 07, Headphones by Razer, shoppable at noon.com
Cosmo ME: You are the Middle East’s biggest YouTuber and you’re Iraqi – you broke so many glass ceilings at once. That award was earned. Be proud of it.
Noor Stars: It means a lot to me. Me doing this cover is a milestone for me. It is the biggest milestone for me this year. This was also on my vision board. I don’t know how to express that. Being on the cover of Cosmo is forever the highlight of my life. I’ll cherish it.
Cosmo ME: You were the first YouTuber in the Middle East to hit 10 million subs. Did you always have this goal in mind? How did you achieve it?
Noor Stars: That was the goal when I first started. I asked myself ‘who did it before?’ The answer was no one. Even the team at YouTube told me it probably wasn’t achievable for someone from the Middle East, but then I hit 10 million, and I received that golden play button from YouTube. I always told myself I was going to do it, even if it took me 20 years. You receive a trophy from YouTube for each major subscriber milestone, so that motivated me to keep going, too.
Cosmo ME: So what comes after 10 million?
Noor Stars: 50 million! There are currently no YouTubers in the Middle East with that number of subs.
Cosmo ME: What is your ultimate goal?
Noor Stars: Being an Arab woman from America, I see how we’re portrayed in the media and I want to correct that. People tend to doubt me more because I’m a woman. They think I’m not educated in a certain way, or that everything I do has been decided for me by my family. My goal is to help change the perception of the Middle East and showcase the Arab world because we have achieved a lot. We have another side to our story: our culture. I want to show the world what Arab women and Arab girls are all about.
Top, pants, and blazer by Victoria Beckham, available at That Concept Store. PVC jacket by MÉNAGE 07
Cosmo ME: Do you think you would have faced fewer hardships if you were a man?
Noor Stars: There’s a Taylor Swift song, ‘The Man’ and it says, ‘If I was a man I’d be a fearless leader, they’d say I hustled’, and it’s true. A lot of the time, if we achieve something as a woman, we’ve only found success because we’re “cute” or we dress well. But if it was a man achieving success, he’d be classed as a hustler.
Cosmo ME: So you’re on the cover of our Gaming Issue. How did you get into this space?
Noor Stars: There’s a gamer inside everyone. We all play games. For me, I started gaming in hotel rooms after big events. I would meet hundreds – sometimes thousands – of people at these events, and when I’m back in my hotel room, I would feel lonely. But then you pick up a game on your phone and you’re instantly connected to people. I started playing PUGB, and no one in the gaming arena would know who I was, but you’d have endless conversations with all the players.
“What makes gaming really special is that you feel like you’re part of a group and a community. It’s also a place that fosters creativity. It has really become a lifestyle.”
Dress by Zaid Farouki
Cosmo ME: You’ve done a big collaboration previously with PUBG MOBILE…
Noor Stars: I have a few things in my life that are big moments for me, like being a Cosmo cover star, but working with PUBG MOBILE on their campaign was amazing. It’s a moment I’ll never forget. I worked with them on a song and my voice is in the game. The only other people they’ve worked with are BLACKPINK. Crazy! Alhamdulillah.
Cosmo ME: What was the inspiration behind the music video?
Noor Stars: We wanted to create a ‘wow’ moment. It was inspired by a lot of art, but in a way that makes fans and players feel like we’ve represented the game well.
Cosmo ME: Would you ever want to get into the music industry?
Noor Stars: Yeah, I like music a lot; it’s like therapy for me. Music is a great way for people to feel like they’ve got something to relate to, but it takes a lot of time, and I don’t have a lot of time right now, so we’ll see.
Cosmo ME: What else have you got in the pipeline for the rest of the year?
Noor Stars: We just released the MAC Maker project, which is something we were working on for over two years. The biggest project I’m working on right now is very personal to me, but I can’t say too much just yet. Other than that, I just want to maintain my success. I want to keep doing projects that inspire me, and I want to be happy while I’m doing them.
Editor-in-Chief: Milli Midwood
Photography: Esra Sam
Styling: Nour Bou Ezz
Senior Producer: Steff Hawker
Content Director: Rouhana El Hage
Digital Editor: Sara Alhumiri
Content Producer: Twinkle Stanly
DOP: Mohamed Hany
Videographer: James Martinez
Production Assistant: Ashford Fernandez
Hair: Betty Bee
Makeup: Mabs Khakwani
Beauty by Maybelline, shoppable at noon.com
Lighting Assistant: Seif Abdalla
Fashion Assistant: Dhara Gandhi
Cover Shoot Set Design: Stephen Ofori