Producing a Diversity-Led Beauty Campaign for Mraya: Bringing Middle Eastern Beauty to the UK Market

When Mraya Beauty & Beyond approached me to lead the production of their latest makeup campaign, I knew immediately it was a project with real purpose behind it.

The brand — founded by Saudi entrepreneur Rana Banafa — was preparing to launch into the UK market and needed campaign imagery that was both contemporary and culturally considered. The brief was clear: diversity-focused visuals that would resonate with a British audience while staying deeply true to Mraya's Middle Eastern identity and values. It was exactly the kind of brief I find most rewarding — one where the creative and commercial goals are genuinely aligned.

My Role: Photographer and Producer

I worked on this project in a dual capacity, as both the photographer and the production lead. That meant I was responsible for the full shoot from the ground up: sourcing and booking the London studio, managing equipment hire, building the crew, coordinating logistics, and leading the model casting process. For brands expanding into a new market, having one person hold creative and production accountability tends to produce sharper, more cohesive results — fewer handoffs, faster decisions, and a visual language that stays consistent from brief to final image.

Working closely with Rana, we approached casting with real intention. We curated a cast of four women that reflected the brand's inclusive vision — representing a range of skin tones, ages and cultural backgrounds. For a brand whose entire proposition is that beauty belongs to everyone, the casting wasn't a box to tick — it was the campaign.

The Products: Lip Glosses and Multi-Use Cheek Tints

The shoot focused on two hero product categories from the Mraya range: their vibrant lip glosses and multi-use cheek tints, both formulated to complement a wide spectrum of complexions. Photographically, that meant thinking carefully about how different light sources interact with different skin tones — and calibrating the studio setup to ensure every model's skin read with equal richness and luminosity on camera.

Lead makeup artist Marie Reitner was instrumental on the day. Working at pace through four different looks with four different models, she delivered fresh, luminous results without losing polish — the kind of professional you want on a fast-moving commercial set.

The Result

The images we produced gave Mraya a visual identity for their UK entry that felt both aspirational and genuinely inclusive — not in a performative way, but because the casting, styling and art direction were built around that intention from the start.

It's a campaign I'm proud of, both for what it communicates and for how smoothly it came together. Full-service production and photography in a single London studio, delivered on schedule, for a brand that came to the UK market with something specific to say.

If you're a beauty or cosmetics brand planning a UK launch or campaign refresh and want to work with a photographer who can also manage production end-to-end, I'd love to hear about your brief. You can reach me at mail@kathrinwerner.co.uk or visit my campaigns portfolio to see more of my commercial work.