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We’ll be honest: Serena Williams's makeup line was not on Allure’s 2024 celebrity beauty brand bingo card. When Wyn Beauty arrived at Allure HQ several months ago, we were a little surprised and very skeptical (celebrity beauty brand fatigue is real). But we started using it—we’re here to do the work—and came to find we hit a makeup jackpot.
Since Williams retired from tennis in 2022, she has been busy in the lab and the boardroom— she’s also the founder of the body-care brand Will Perform and has her venture capital firm—but this makeup line was already in the works when she was winning grand slams. Six years and many reformulations later, Wyn Beauty is finally on shelves. “It feels like I've been working on this literally forever,” Williams tells Allure. The journey to producing Wyn started with the phrase “active beauty.”
“I'm an active person and it doesn't necessarily mean winning Wimbledons. I feel like I'm more active now than I was when I was playing professional tennis,” says Williams. It’s not feasible to pull up to the carpool circle in full red carpet glam, but Williams (who “doesn’t leave the house without concealer”) still wanted to serve looks at school dropoff, so she set out to create a line that would allow her to put on a face of makeup in “mom time.”
To those understandably raising their eyebrows at yet another celebrity beauty line, Williams says Wyn is for the everyday person. “I feel like I'm an everyday person. I know a lot of people would be shocked to hear that,” says Willams. “But even from the way I present myself on social, I'll take off my wig and I'll do whatever. That's just who I am, so this is something that really caters to the lives of everyday women.”
The brand’s initial launch features a lineup of 10 makeup essentials, including waterproof liquid eyeliner, pencil eyeliner, brow pencil, tubing mascara, lip oil, two lipsticks, a multitasking lip and cheek tint, matte concealer, and what we consider to be the brand’s hero product: a tinted sunscreen.
The sunscreen has already become a crowd favorite among Allure editors (it’s also Williams’s favorite), which was enough to earn the line April’s One to Watch title. Read on to discover why Wyn Beauty has joined our list of favorite celebrity beauty brands—a feat in itself.
- Amanda Lam is a Los Angeles-based cosmetic chemist.
- Joseph Carillo is a New York City-based makeup artist.
- Chidinma Asonye is the chief brand officer at Wyn Beauty.
- Christina Ximenez is the vice president of product development at Wyn Beauty.
Overview
You don't have to look hard to see Williams's image reflected in Wyn Beauty. The round, soft matte packaging in bright chartreuse resembles a tennis ball and the formulas are lightweight and hold up to a day on the move or a workout session: “You can wear our Glideline Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner for a marathon or two,” Williams says.
One of the most impressive things about the collection is the expansive shade range. The Featuring You Hydrating Skin Tint comes in 36 shades and the Nothing To See Soft Matte Creamy Concealer has 24. (These are Williams’s two favorite products in the line.) The MVP: Most Versatile Pigment cheek and lip tint comes in eight pigment-packed options. “The color payoff for each product is very well done,” says New York City-based makeup artist Joseph Carrillo. (Carrillo is not affiliated with the brand.)
After wearing the base products for about eight hours, Carrillo forgot he was even wearing makeup because it felt so lightweight. “I scratched my face, only to remember I had a full face of Wyn on, so it’s perfect for all-day wear,” he says.
The rest of the line is also really well-executed. The Glideline Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner has a tip that is thin enough to deliver even the most intricate graphic eyeliner looks (just keep in mind it dries down fast and doesn't budge). And the Glideline Longwear Eye Pencil is a worthy alternative if a creamy liner is more your jam.
Moving from the eyes to the lips, the Word of Mouth Max Comfort Matte Lipstick and the Say Everything Max Intensity Featherweight Lipstick deliver lasting color with a comfortable feel. The former is great for serious matte lipstick wearers, the latter is ideal if you want something more subtle. And if you’d rather forgo lipstick altogether, the No Words Needed Lip Serum delivers a light wash of color and a glossy finish. Our resident lip oil lover, associate beauty director Sarah Kinonen, was a fan from the very swipe. “It's super lightweight but still hydrating and has a pleasant vanilla icing scent,” she says.
No everyday makeup routine is complete without a touch of mascara and groomed brows and Wyn Beauty has you covered there too. The Big Vision Tubing Mascara gives lashes subtle length and volume, while the Taking Shape Brow Shading Pencil has an angled tip to create hair-like strokes and a brush to blend and shape.
The ingredients
At one point in the Wyn development process, there were a whopping 91 formulas across the 10 products in the line, says Wyn Beauty’s head of research and development Christina Ximenez. “Finding that balance of color, performance, and hydration was difficult.” Ultimately, the team nailed it. And while all the products were a hit among the Allure team, the Featuring You Hydrating Skin Tint SPF 30 is perhaps the most impressive.
I was immediately drawn to the soft matte finish, which cosmetic chemist Amanda Lam says is from sodium potassium aluminum silicate and silica that “help to create the blurring effect on the skin.” She says the formula also includes hydrating and soothing ingredients like smoothing urea, calming allantoin, and moisture-retaining sodium hyaluronate.
It’s easy to forget you’re applying sunscreen with this tint since it feels like a complexion product. The formula has UV filters (avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate, and octocrylene) that are soluble and make for transparent products that blend well into all skin tones.
The tint of each shade (from titanium dioxide and iron oxides) helps to offset any ashiness. “They also have some nice emollients like dimethicone and C12-15 alkyl benzoate [an ingredient that softens the skin and seals in moisture], which help blend the product on the skin,” she adds.
How I tested it
With 10 products in the lineup, you can do an entire face of makeup with Wyn Beauty. So I did. Most days I’m bare-faced or wearing very minimal makeup, so the Hydrating Skin Enhancing Tint fits well in my routine. I applied two pumps to my face and blended it in with a fluffy complexion brush.
For medium coverage, Carrillo recommends applying the tint with your fingers since a brush or sponge can absorb the product and give you lighter coverage.
The shade 480 Build was a perfect match for me and I loved how easily the creamy formula blended into my skin. The soft matte finish has to be my favorite feature. (I have oily skin, so dewy skin tints often leave me looking a little greasy.) I didn’t have that issue here.
I followed up the tint with the Nothing To See Soft Matte Concealer in the shade 330W Aim and immediately realized why the brand gave it that name. The concealer blended into my undereye area, balancing out my dark circles, diffusing into an undetectable finish. Next, I dotted the MVP: Most Versatile Pigment cheek and lip color in Push onto my cheeks. The bright pink was intimidating at first, but as I blended it out with a brush it mellowed out into a pretty, natural-looking flush.
My everyday makeup routine usually stops there, but I had a job to do. So I brushed up my lashes with the Big Vision mascara and filled out my brows with the Taking Shape brow pencil, both of which were just okay to me. The tip of the brow pencil wasn’t as fine as I would have liked it to be to enhance my thin brows, and while the mascara did a good job of fanning out my lashes, I don’t think it beats my current favorite, (Benefit Fan Fest Mascara).
Executive beauty director Jenny Bailly is adding Wyn’s mascara to her permanent rotation, though. “I consider myself a tubing mascara connoisseur, and I have now found a new favorite,” she says. “We all know that mascara is only as good as its brush, and this one has a scooper part that deposits the perfect amount of formula, and then rows of fine bristles that create silky, elongated lashes.”
Overall, applying a full face of Wyn Beauty, took me about 10 minutes. Williams wanted this to be an express makeup experience—and she delivered.
More Allure reviews
Jessica Cruel, editor in chief
“I was shocked at the level of coverage that this skin tint provides. I was expecting tinted sunscreen vibes, but it's more along the lines of a light-coverage foundation. I’m really impressed that there is SPF 30 and even the darkest shades don't look ashy. Now, I wouldn't go playing tennis in this makeup (it still feels like makeup), but I do think Serena has finally made a foundation with SPF that brown girls can trust.”
Talia Gutierrez, associate special projects manager
“The hydrating skin tint (in 300N Aware) has become a regular in my no-makeup makeup routine for the office. It gives skin-like, buildable coverage that just so happens to be a perfect shade match for my olive-toned, winter complexion. I often struggle with foundations that include sun protection because of the greasy finish they can leave, but I found that with this one just a few dabs of setting powder in my T-zone tamped down the shine. Plus, the silky formula blended seamlessly (and without splotching) with my cream blush.”
Hunter Lacey, associate director of special projects
“Most skin tints drip everywhere before I can apply them to my face, so I love the thicker, almost whipped texture of the Wyn skin tint. Applying the product feels like a traditional foundation, but lighter. It blends flawlessly onto my skin, leaving the slightest wash of coverage. The shade 90 Reach is a true neutral, perfect for my alabaster complexion, which unforgivingly clocks any complexion product that pulls too peach or yellow. If you don’t like shine, be sure to set with powder, though I enjoy the natural glow the tint gives me throughout the day.”
Jesa Marie Calaor, senior editor
“Wyn's tinted sunscreen gives me a healthy-looking glow while protecting my skin with an SPF of 30; that, alone, makes me feel like I'm winning. I tested 210 Commit (a good match for my medium skin tone), applying it with my dense, flat-topped Sigma Beauty F80 Flat Kabuki Brush. I loved how the liquid glided onto my skin with ease, dried down to feel silky, and evened out the different tones in my complexion.”
Pricing and value
The line ranges from $18 to $30 (the lip oil is the least expensive and the skin tint is the most expensive). Given what’s currently on the market, the skin tint is priced at the lower end, especially because it is also a sunscreen.
For comparison, SuperGoop!’s tinted SPF is $44, the Saie Slip Tint with mineral SPF is $36, Tower 28 SunnyDays SPF tint is $32, and Ilia’s Serum Skin Tint with SPF 40 is $48. Because the formula is sophisticated and the shade range is diverse, the 1-ounce bottle is well worth the price.
Where to buy it
The line will be available exclusively at Ulta Beauty stores and at ulta.com on April 3 and wynbeauty.com.
