While it would be next to impossible to find a female tennis player who whacks the ball harder than Serena Williams, the 37-time Grand Slam champ (yes, you read that right; 23 singles titles and 14 doubles, the latter all with big sis Venus) has always been the ultimate girly girl (as she previously shared with Alexa).
Case in point: that flouncy lavender Nike x Off White one-shouldered tutu she rocked at the 2018 US Open.
So it makes perfect sense that the iconic athlete — who rarely took the court throughout her three-decade pro run without at least a pop of winged eyeliner, mascara and lip stain — would one day launch a makeup line of her own.
It’s named Wyn (naturally) and sports packaging in a hue that’s a dead ringer for the Williams-autographed Wilson balls that are going for a small fortune on Ebay.
Launched at Ulta Beauty and also sold online at WynBeauty, Wyn is billed as “makeup you can move in.” As a busy entrepreneur, venture capitalist and mom of two pint-sized daughters — five-year-old Olympia and infant Adira — Williams, 42, is on the go 24/7. The last thing she needs? Business-as-usual cosmetic formulas that do nothing to improve the skin and require constant touch-ups.
Enter something called “Truly Unstoppable Hydra Complex,” a proprietary blend of ingredients woven into the Wyn lineup that purports to impart up to 72 hours of post-application hydration, even after the product’s pigment has worn off.
Another point of departure for Wyn is the fact that from its inception, the brand was created to cater to darker skin tones. The complexion shades, a hefty 36 for Featuring You Hydrating Skin Enhancing Tint SPF 30 and a sizeable 20 for Nothing To See Soft Matte Creamy Concealer, are spread across five color “families” ranging from deep to light.
Typically, makeup brands showcase complexion shades online and at retail using the opposite spectrum, working their way from light to deep.
On the Wyn website, three products get designated “hero” status: the aforementioned skin tint, a “buildable,” gel-cream formula; the double-dipping and cleverly named MVP: Most Versatile Pigment Multifunction Lip & Cheek Color, a smudge-resistant glow-getter that can be dialed-up with every dab; and Word Of Mouth Max Comfort Matte Lipstick, which has a soothing, velvet-cream texture designed to resist smudging.
Rounding out the tightly edited, 10-product collection are two more beautifiers for the lips (Say Everything Max Intensity Featherweight Lipstick and No Words Needed Lip Serum) and three for the eyes.
The eye category features two types of liner, a liquid (Guideline) and a pencil (Glideline), alongside Big Vision Lengthening & Defining Tubing Mascara. All three are offered in a single Serena-sanctioned shade, “Focus Black.”
At price points that won’t break the bank (ranging from $18 for the lip serum to $29 for the skin tint), packaging intentionally designed to nod to the sport she dominated and empowering shade names like “Momentum,” “Achieve” and “Strength,” Williams is serving makeup for far more than weekend tennis warriors.
