Saudi Arabia conjures images of oil fields, sovereign wealth, and conservative religious codes. But beneath the sheen of black gold, the Kingdom is laying the foundation for a different kind of capital: aesthetic power. In its bid to rebrand as a hub of innovation and cultural sophistication, Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in the beauty industry as a deliberate soft power strategy.
In October 2023, Riyadh hosted its first-ever Fashion Week. But this wasn't just any regional style show. Held in the sprawling, high-tech King Abdullah Financial District, it featured collections by emerging Arab designers alongside global luxury houses like Jean Paul Gaultier and Iris van Herpen. International fashion editors, influencers, and buyers filled front rows, snapping selfies against holographic runways. The entire event was live-streamed with English subtitles and promoted on Instagram by the Saudi Ministry of Culture[1].
This spectacle of transformation was a meticulously choreographed invitation to see the Kingdom differently…from the lighting design to the social media hashtags, every element communicated a new kind of Saudi story: open, fashionable, youthful, and female-forward.
Saudi Beauty Week, held annually in Riyadh, similarly fuses commerce with branding. Alongside product launches and masterclasses by global makeup artists like Mario Dedivanovic, the event hosts government-supported panels on female entrepreneurship and cultural export. Saudi Beauty Week showcased beauty as a growth sector and a diplomatic asset.
The Political Economy of Blush
Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030, economic diversification has taken center stage, but so too has image diversification. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) has quietly acquired stakes in global consumer-facing luxury sectors, including beauty. In 2022, Bloomberg reported that the PIF had considered investing in Estée Lauder Companies. It already holds stakes in e.l.f. Beauty and other Western consumer brands via strategic fund placements[2]. These moves aren't driven solely by profit, but by positioning.
Domestically, the state has nurtured genuinely Saudi-grown beauty brands like Asteri Beauty, founded by Riyadh-raised Sara Al-Rashed, that blend high-performance cosmetics with cultural resonance. Asteri, backed by a wave of government incubator support, is celebrated for its "desert-proof" formulations—built to withstand intense heat, wind, and humidity—reflecting both geographic pragmatism and Saudi innovation ambitions[3]. Its sleek packaging incorporates subtle Islamic geometry, while lipstick shades like Razan and Noura pay tribute to notable Arab women, grasping the power of story in every tube.
Beauty tech startups, too, are finding support. Saudi incubators like TAQADAM and MiSK Innovation have funded apps that blend AR makeup trials, halal product curation, and social commerce features tailored to Gulf consumers[4].
Soft Power in a Compact
This strategy mirrors South Korea's global rise through K-beauty, where BB creams and sheet masks opened doors for K-pop and cultural diplomacy. Saudi Arabia is following suit, but with its own aesthetic language—one that blends modesty with glam, tradition with futurism.
Influencers such as Yara Alnamlah, who served as an ambassador for Charlotte Tilbury and L'Oréal Middle East, are central to this effort. Alnamlah, a trained architect, blends Saudi fashion with bold Western makeup in her posts. She has walked the red carpet at Cannes, spoken at Davos, and been featured in Vogue Arabia—functioning as both a content creator and an unofficial cultural envoy.
Even the scent economy is booming. Givaudan, a Swiss fragrance manufacturer, announced in 2023 that it would expand operations in the Kingdom, citing a surging demand for fine fragrance blending local oud traditions with Western perfumery[5].
Feminine Futures: Gendered Optics of Reform
The beauty industry is also a tool for domestic social engineering. Following landmark reforms such as the lifting of the female driving ban and the relaxation of guardianship laws, Saudi Arabia has rapidly repositioned women from the margins to the marketing department of its national brand.
Makeup, once a private act of rebellion, is now a public expression of citizenship in Saudi Arabia. Beauty tutorials, glam collaborations, and influencer content are forms of economic participation, narrative agency, and aspirational belonging. These are not trivial activities. In a country where female unemployment has long been a concern, the influencer economy has become one of the most accessible paths to financial independence for young Saudi women[6].
Government partnerships have emerged to support this new visibility. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has launched digital boot camps specifically tailored to female content creators, with modules on brand management, e-commerce logistics, and cross-border IP rights[7].
Yet this empowerment comes with boundaries. The vision of femininity being elevated is stylized, scripted, and largely palatable to state goals. While headscarves remain common, the aesthetic is shifting toward sleek abayas, sculpted cheekbones, and the kind of social presence that is performative but carefully contained[8].
Sources
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanrabimov/2024/01/30/inaugural-riyadh-fashion-week-makes-history/
- https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2022-worlds-richest-families/#:~:text=The%20wealth%20of%20the%20Lauder,its%20founding%20family%2C%20the%20Johnsons
- https://graziamagazine.com/me/articles/asteri-beauty-saudi-arabian-brand/
- https://themedialine.org/mideast-streets/saudi-app-allows-customers-to-try-out-beauty-products/
- https://www.givaudan.com/media/media-releases/2025/givaudan-unveils-future-of-fragrances-and-flavours
- https://digitalforwomen.worldbank.org/sites/gender_toolkit/themes/barrier/pdf/Toolkit-v2.pdf
- https://www.vitalvoices.org/program/visionaries/
- https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/metaverse-arab-region-future-choices-actions-english.pdf