WNBA Star Cameron Brink Talks Beauty, Knee Injury Recovery, and Wedding Dress Shopping
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Aiyana Ishmael
Cameron Brink is entering her beauty era. The WNBA athlete has always been interested in makeup growing up, but now she’s an official ambassador for Urban Decay. The 23-year-old is part of a new crop of basketball stars that are not only reshaping the game but shaping the ways in which beauty is recognized in the sports world.
Brink, a small forward for the Los Angeles Sparks and former Stanford University standout, entered the league as the second overall pick. Early into her professional career, Brink suffered an ACL injury, keeping her from finishing her rookie season — and also playing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This was a challenging face of adversity for Brink, but she’s not letting that stop her. Now, Brink is looking towards the future, and it includes a lot of fun. Between returning to the game, her work with Urban Decay, and now planning a wedding, the star athlete has her hands full. We caught up with Brink to talk about all things beauty.
Teen Vogue: I wanted to start with your collaboration with Urban Decay. I know they previously partnered with the LA Sparks, so what has it been like getting to work with them?
Cameron Brink: It's been amazing. It just feels like a really natural and authentic partnership where I get to walk into Crypto every day, and their signs are up, and I get to see their reps, and it's just a really great partnership. Yeah. And their products are to die for obviously, so it's been really cool.
TV: Do you have any favorite products?
CB: I love to put a black liner in my water line, so definitely that product. The Urban Decay setting spray… I have to take [it] everywhere with me, especially during game days and their new Face Bond Luminizer.
TV: I'd really love to know about your own personal beauty and skin care journey. What was it like growing up for you?
CB: Growing up, I was definitely more into makeup than skin care, and I feel like just finding confidence in my skin has taken a long time. But yeah, I always watched my mom doing her makeup growing up. I was always amazed by her process, and still do think she's the most beautiful woman. So I just love to, every day, it doesn't matter what I'm doing, just take a little bit of time to put on a little bit of makeup because it just makes me feel so much better.
TV: Do you have a preferred makeup order of how you will do your makeup or how you like your makeup getting done?
CB: Yeah, so it depends. My order of makeup will either be eyes first if I'm going out. So I'll just focus on doing my liner, my lashes, if I'm putting on individual lashes. And then, if I'm just doing more casual makeup, I'll start with my base, so nothing crazy.
TV: As a professional athlete, are you a no-makeup person during games and practices, or are you a makeup person? What's your preference for both practice and games?
CB: For practice, I try to do no makeup just because we've practiced for three hours and I'll just sweat it off completely. In a game, we're on television, so I try to put on just a little bit of base. I like to focus on my eyes. Sometimes, I'll put a little individual lash on my outer corner and use a lot of setting spray. And yeah, hopefully, it just stays on throughout the game, but we have towels, and we can pat our face, so it's a little bit easier during games to keep it together.
TV: Everyone seems to be invested in women's sports, not just on the court, but wanting to have them be the face of beauty brands and clothing brands. What has that been like for you, especially after your first season?
CB: I think it still feels surreal, the support and backing that we've gotten as a league, I guess, in women's sports in general. So I'm just very thankful to be a small part of that, and it's changed my life and it's just a really cool full circle moment because my mom played back in the day. She was able to play in college because of Title IX, and now we've come so far from that. So yeah, I'm just thankful for obviously the women who have come before me because, without them, we would have none of this.
TV: With your rookie season, coming in and then having to deal with your injury, what was that like for you?
CB: It was really tough, honestly. I felt great going into the season. It was still hard because we go from a whole college, playing four years, 30 minutes plus a game. And then I went to Olympic tryouts for the three-on-three team, and then there's training camp, and then the season starts, and then I was named to the US three-on-three team for the Paris Olympics. And then two weeks later, I got hurt and it definitely felt like life was crashing down, but months have passed and everything's okay, and you just get more perspective for life as a whole, and you realize that injury's a part of sports. So it's definitely been a mental journey more so than a physical journey, actually, which I think people would find surprising. But I'm on a really good path right now.
TV: Are you back training? What has this next step looked like for you?
CB: The next step is just running more, just the basics. Getting more comfortable with running for longer periods of time, with more body weight, shooting more. Obviously, my new game day is the weight room, so I have to lift a lot and strengthen. So it's a fun process when you fully delve into it and I just have such a great team, so I'm very thankful for their support.
TV: I'd love to know what your advice would be to young people who are interested in fashion and beauty and finding a way to get into these things and feel confident in themselves. What would be your advice to them when trying to navigate their style and their beauty routines?
CB: To young people trying to find their niche and what they like to wear, I think not to listen to the trends so much because I feel like, even now, they're changing so quickly. I think also ignore the aesthetic. You don't need to have one aesthetic. I think just wear what makes you feel good, which is so cliche. Everyone says that. But wear what makes you feel good, know what suits your body type, what you like, I guess. And I think thrifting is really great, a great way to save money. It's hard to thrift when you're 6'5 because nothing fits you. But yeah, just be authentically yourself, I guess.
TV: I'd love to know, do you have any fashion faux pas, like wearing white after Labor Day or wearing black with brown or wrong shoe theory? Do you have anything that you actually love and live by?
CB: It's so hard because I feel like so many different things work on different people. For me, I can just speak for myself what I could never pull off is overalls. Those would never look good on me because I'm so long and lanky and I feel like it just wouldn't flatter my body type. But some people roll out in the cutest overalls, and it works for them. Or... Gosh, I don't know what else. I'm not a huge fan of florals, but that's just me. If it was for a gala, maybe that. This is my vibe, a little bit elevated, business casual. I like black a lot. I wear a lot of black, a lot of brown. Kind of boring.
TV: I just want to say congratulations on being engaged. I was obsessed. The ring is gorgeous. I don't even have a boyfriend, but I'm on Pinterest all day long looking at wedding dresses and makeup looks. Is that your world right now? Have you been planning and prepping?
CB: I am very excited to be engaged. I've been on cloud nine for the past four months because everyone's like, "Oh, you're engaged. Where's the ring?" But I think I'm looking forward to just shopping with my mom, dress shopping, finding the dress. But I also know I want a reception after the wedding dress, reception dress. This shows you how much I know about... I haven't started planning whatsoever, but I have started to think, okay, for my bachelorette, I want to do really fun outfits for everyone. So here and there. We'll do fun stuff, for sure. But I'm obsessed with everything white. A white suit would be really chic, I think.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
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