Venus Williams Perfects SPF Beauty, Talks Entrepreneurship and EleVen
Venus Williams has enough on her mind when she’s serving on the tennis court. The last thing she needs to worry about is sun protection. Of course, the perfect sunscreen is hard to come by. You’re either protected but ghostly, sweating stingy chemicals into your eyes, or you’re forced to reapply with every set.
The seven-time Grand Slam singles title holder says enough to that stuff and ushers in her own game-winning SPF formulas via her athletic lifestyle company EleVen.
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Meet Game. Set. Match.; a new, clean-formula body lotion with SPF 50. Not only does it moisturize, it keeps you safe from harmful UVA and UVB rays. Designed to outlast water and sweat for 80 minutes, it’s made from reef safe ingredients and won’t leave any white cast.
This summer, Williams follows that with the Ace The Day Face Lotion. Formulated with vanilla fruit extract, ginger lily and vitamin C-rich Mandarin, it's a daily spf that moisturizes, protects and fits perfectly into any routine.
We caught up with Williams to hear more about these new SPF beauty products and what else is coming up with EleVen in 2022.
First of all, thanks for your time! Tell us how this latest launch with Credo came about? What inspired these new formulas?
I’ve always been a huge fan of Credo beauty, and with the way clean beauty has taken off in the past few years, we couldn’t wait to create more. Using clean products has always been a priority for me, and I’ve learned so much about the industry from Credo’s incredible team. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work with them again and bring more clean, inclusive and effective SPF products to the marketplace.
It’s so exciting to have a body lotion with SPF. What was most important to you when approving and perfecting the formula?
I’ve found that many natural sunscreens leave a white cast, so for myself and Credo, it was a priority for our formulas to not only protect, but to be lightweight, adaptable and work for every skin tone. It’s compatible with the darkest of skin tones and the lightest of skin tones, because sun protection is critical regardless of the color of your skin.
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What about the Ace The Day Face Lotion? How does it handle life on and off the court?
The face lotion contains so many amazing ingredients: a powerful emollient, Lecithin, which helps smooth the skin and restore hydration; skin-calming Bisabolol, to help reduce redness and irritation; and Rutin, a powerful antioxidant, to help protect the skin against UVA radiation. The combination makes for an incredible face lotion that can keep up with me, whether I’m on or off the court.
What is the overall guiding ethos behind EleVen, and how do these new sunscreen products fit into that vision?
EleVen is built on the idea of always striving to be better than your best and continue to push boundaries. I want women to feel empowered, and part of being empowered is making sure we’re taking care and protecting ourselves and our skin. I believe when you feel good in your own skin, it positively impacts your mood and confidence—and you’re ready to take on anything!
EleVen is of course much more than just sunscreen, and you’ve always been one to merge style with sport. How do you go about designing the apparel and accessories for EleVen?
Our customer comes to us because we are at the intersection of fashion and performance. EleVen’s mission is all about the pursuit of your best self through the lens of wellness, so our clothing is designed to be both fashion-forward and to help women perform at their highest level so they can reach their wellness goals.
Does feeling confident with your look help when it comes to performance?
Of course! Feeling good in what I’m wearing always adds a layer of self-confidence that empowers me to achieve my highest performance on and off the tennis court. I’ve found that when I feel good in what I’m wearing, I perform even better.
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What have you learned from running EleVen?
Developing and running EleVen has been an extremely fulfilling aspect of my life. I pushed myself to learn as much as I could, immersed myself in every element of building a business and a strong team to help it grow and continue to adapt to the evolving industry. One thing that I learned early on and reinforced to my teams is that our path to success is knowing who we are and always staying true to that.
Any other exciting things on the horizon we should look out for?
Lots of exciting things are coming up, especially with the EleVen activewear collections! We have one dropping later in May that I know people are going to love, with galaxy-inspired patterns, colors and textures. Stay tuned!
Shop SPF products, activewear, accessories and more at elevenbyvenuswilliams.com.
