WNBA Star Cameron Brink Talks Makeup, Basketball, and More

As you may have noticed, the WNBA looks a whole lot different this year — and not just in the sense of its record-breaking viewership. Between high-fashion “tunnel fits,” countless beauty brand sponsorships, and women who are actively working against the idea that you must choose between being a fashion-and-makeup-loving girly and a competitor, the league quite literally does look different.

Enter Los Angeles Sparks rookie Cameron Brink. As the second overall pick in the 2024 draft, it’s clear that she’s a powerhouse on the court — but her boundary-bending accomplishments off the court are just as notable. She’s posed for high-fashion campaigns, attended Paris Fashion Week, and regularly shows up to games serving looks. She unabashedly wears makeup to play (occasionally, she’ll even pop on some individual lashes), routinely shows off her routine on social media, and now is the newest face of Urban Decay’s iconic All Nighter Setting Spray ($36).

“As early as elementary school, I was pinpointed to feel like the tall, athletic girl. It felt like I couldn’t be two things at once,” Brink tells PS, echoing the sentiments of numerous athletes we’ve spoken to this year. “At heart, though, I’m a girly girl who also loves sports and things that are ‘masculine’ as well.”

Like many other women, Brink first fell in love with beauty by watching her mom get ready. “I would sit and watch her do her makeup and think how she was the most beautiful woman ever, and that she just used makeup to enhance that,” she says. “She was such a confident figure in my life, and that motivated me to learn more about beauty.”

As she got older and — with the help of countless YouTube tutorials — found her footing with her own regime (which has included All Nighter since high school), she began to love the escape that came with putting on makeup. “Taking the time to have a routine [is so important to me], and it’s become almost meditative for me to get ready and feel like the best version of myself,” she says.

Now that Brink’s a full-blown superstar, “meditative makeup” has become even more critical — especially on game day. “Before games, there’s a whole routine that starts with me waking up from a beauty nap, then putting on a podcast or some good music and getting ready,” she says. “I sit down at my nice vanity in front of my little mirror, and I get very calm [putting on my makeup]. Instead of foundation, she applies longwear concealer (her favorite is Urban Decay’s Quickie 24-Hour Waterproof Concealer ($33)). “By the end of my routine, I feel ready to walk out the door confident.” It’s no wonder that shortly after she had surgery to mend her ACL injury this spring, she was “propping up [her] leg and taking the time to get ready.”

Season-ending injuries present physical and mental challenges for athletes — but Brink is “doing great” in rehab and resisting self-pity. “I haven’t let being injured box me into not living my life as a 22-year-old who lives in LA and wants to travel the world. I’m proud of myself for the way I’ve kept working with brands and that I’ve let this be something empowering instead of depressing.”

As a basketball star, fashion icon, and beauty ambassador, Brink intentionally shows the world that she’s more than just one thing. This holds true in her beauty routine, sure (“I have no one aesthetic — some days, I’m high glam; other days, I’m just a girl in California who likes to chill and be casual,” she says), but really, it exceeds that: “I’ve always had multiple dreams — of course, to join the WNBA, but also to be a model and to be feminine,” she says. “The ultimate goal is to inspire girls who like to compete and be aggressive on the court but also embrace their femininity.”

For Brink, self-expression is crucial to this mission — and often, that comes in the form of her #looks. “What’s so great about ‘tunnel fits’ in the league is that they show off how many different types of people and players we have and that they can be multiple things at once,” she says. “I can show up to each game feeling like a beautiful version of myself in an outfit and makeup that express how I’m feeling. I can express myself however I want, and to know that it’s accepted is a really beautiful thing.”

Zoë Weiner is a freelance beauty and wellness writer. Her work has appeared in Bustle, Byrdie, Cosmopolitan, PS, GQ, Glamour, Marie Claire, Allure, Self, Brides, and Teen Vogue, among others, and she was the senior beauty editor at Well+Good.