Serena Williams’s Glam Routine Has Taken a Big Leap Since Tennis Retirement

Her process has become more involved since she hung up her racket in 2022.

Serena Williams / James Lang-Imagn Images

A lot has changed for Serena Williams since she retired from professional tennis. She gave birth to her second daughter with husband Alexis Ohanian, she started her own beauty company, WYN Beauty, and she has devoted more time to her eponymous venture capital fund, Serena Ventures.

Those are the major changes. But there are minor ones, too. For example, ever since she stopped playing tennis every single day, she no longer has use for her old beauty routine.

On the court, Williams was a winner, there’s no denying it. But she was stylish, too. Several of her competition outfits are all-time greats in our book—and still talked about to this day. Glam was always part of her preparation routine, but at the time, her glam was simple; she knew she would be sweating and wiping her face over and over. Most of the time, she would just “throw on some heavy, heavy eyeliner and some eyebrows, like waterproof, and lots of hairspray,” she said in a recent “get ready with me” video posted by Allure magazine.

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Any other products would’ve been wiped away with each swipe of her towel. In other words, a comprehensive face of glam wasn’t worthwhile. But now that she’s hung up her racket, her glam routine has had the chance to evolve. “Now my beauty routine is a lot different,” Williams explained. “Obviously I’m using concealer and foundation and setting sprays and contours, all things that I couldn’t do while just being drenched and sweating and wiping my face all day.”

Just as playing tennis informed her beauty routine, it has likewise informed her approach to her new brand, WYN Beauty. She developed the line with the intention of creating “makeup you can move in,” according to the website. So, though sports will likely continue to demand a more simplified glam routine (like that of Williams’s playing days), with the help of her stay-in-place products, athletes and non-athletes alike can rely on their glam to stay put as they move throughout their days.