For every famous face there’s a fabulous makeup artist making magic happen, and for Serena Williams, that woman is Carlene K. The beauty maven was once the head of makeup for The Pussycat Dolls’ burlesque show before turning her focus on her celebrity clientele, which along with Serena includes Shay Mitchell, Kacey Musgraves, and Lauren Jauregui, to name a few.
While every makeup look she comes up with is as exciting as the next, each grounded in her signature “Carlene K” luminous glow, one particular creation for Serena stands out. “My most memorable red carpet look with Serena Williams was for the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2014. She wore a pale pink Michael Costello gown, and for her makeup, I wanted to create a really soft, romantic and glowing look.” Carlene recalls. “When we got her dress, we noticed that it was covered in see-through mesh cutouts which were meant to appear nude but looked pink on her skin tone…we needed to get really creative to come up with a shade that not only worked with her skin, but also worked with the mesh in the dress.”
Carlene got to work, mixing bowls and bowls of bronzer and foundation on the spot to get the perfect shade that would look natural with Serena’s skin and on over the mesh; the color they needed didn’t seem to already come in a bottle. “I sat on the floor painting every single piece of lace to match. We were all praying that it looked decent on the carpet, and I think we pulled it off,” Carlene continues. “She looked so gorgeous, and this was definitely my most unforgettable carpet with her!”
To recreate this timeless, day-to-night look (no bronzer-mixing and dress-painting required!) here’s what to do!
1.Tone skin with Carlene K Shine Bronzer—Carlene’s perfected, home-made bronzer formula loved by her celebrity clients is now available for purchase and comes in a variety of shades.
2.Give face a golden glow with Too Faced Bronzer in “Sun Bunny.”
3.On apples of cheeks, use NARS Blush in “Outlaw.”
4.Use rose-gold shadow tones on eyes—Carlene K often turns to palettes by Huda Beauty and Urban Decay.
5.Add winged liner + mascara in black.
6.Finish with MAC lipstick in “Kinda Sexy.”
