Flau’jae Johnson knows you’re talking about her — and she wants you to. At the age of 21, LSU basketball star Johnson has achieved more career slam dunks than most grown adults could ever dream of.
Her on-court performances have become the stuff of NCAA legend, her music is streamed more than 135,000 times per month on Spotify, and her social media successes have led to her becoming one of the highest-earning college athletes in history. But of course, with that immense social media following comes an immense amount of scrutiny and criticism.
No matter how many points Johnson racks up in a game, it never seems to be enough to satisfy her most outspoken detractors. If she turns up on the court sporting a full beat, they question her commitment to the game. But if she dares to represent LSU with a bare face? It means she doesn’t care.
The seemingly endless stream of judgment would be enough to make anyone want to turn their back on it all. But for Johnson, it’s simply made her more determined than ever to prove her critics wrong — and to propel women’s sports to even greater heights, whether she’s sporting false eyelashes or not.
“As women, we’re always scrutinized in everything we do,” Johnson says. “In the game, we’re told we’re just supposed to play basketball. But as women, we need to own our feminine side, even on the court.”
As far as Johnson is concerned, beauty in sports is going through a significant evolution thanks to the rising power players who are transforming sport as we know it, particularly in the NCAA. And for anyone who dares to criticize an athlete for daring to do her best on the court, the field, and the pitch while also killing the beauty game, Johnson has a very clear message: it simply isn’t about you.
“You see more women playing in makeup, playing in nails, having their lashes done. It’s controversial — but at least we’re always giving them something to talk about. When I’m on the court, if I look good, I play good. That’s what it’s about.”
“Beauty in sports is on an uphill trend,” she says. “You see more women playing in makeup, playing in nails, having their lashes done. It’s controversial — but at least we’re always giving them something to talk about. When I’m on the court, if I look good, I play good. That’s what it’s about.”
However, while Johnson is able to boost her self-esteem with the help of some lip gloss or a swipe of mascara, she has one much more powerful beauty tool in her arsenal: the natural sense of confidence that was instilled in her by her mother from a very young age.
“My mom gave me my confidence,” she says. “My mom always told me that I was beautiful, she built that confidence up in me. I see so many young girls who never really had that, whose moms never did that for them. But that was the most important thing my mom could have given me; that was the best beauty tip she ever could have given me — that I am beautiful in my own skin. Being a dark-skinned woman, you need that type of reinforcement. It’s the best beauty tool she ever gave me.”
Johnson admits, however, that she hasn’t been quite so diligent about following her mother’s other beauty tips, even when it came to maintaining what she describes as her most beautiful natural asset: her teeth.
“I had braces all my life,” she says. “My mom actually works in the dental field and she told me: ‘Flau, if you get braces and then you don’t wear a retainer, your teeth are going to shift.’ I don’t know why I didn’t listen to her, but I didn’t. And my teeth started shifting. But my smile is one of my greatest qualities. I love my smile. So I knew I had to get it fixed. Really though, I should have just listened to my mom.”
Johnson knows that there is power in those pearly whites and the way in which her smile makes her feel. “My persona on the court is that I’m an Energizer Bunny, I’m always smiling, all the time,” she says. “It’s one of my most amazing features. Even if my hair looks crazy or my makeup isn’t done, I know if I crack a smile, I’ll be alright. It’s a real confidence boost for me.”
It was that feeling that led Johnson to partner with Invisalign, a collaboration that represents one of just a handful of times she has partnered with a beauty brand. Of course, many have come calling, but the college junior isn’t interested in simply being a mouthpiece for any company willing to put dollars in her bank account — only in promoting products that she actually wants to use.
“Collaborating with Invisalign was a no-brainer, it’s something I align with,” she says. “With NIL [name, image, and likeness deals], especially when you’re really known, you get stuff thrown at you all the time. But I would rather work with a brand that I align with, something that I use every day.”
Johnson is also acutely aware of the impact that social media has on her young fans and tries to ensure that when she’s promoting a product, be it the Olay Cleansing Melts ($20) or Tampax Pearl ($6), she wants to ensure that she is doing it in the most authentic way possible.
“It’s hard living in the era of social media,” she says. “But I want to tell everyone, especially young women, that you cannot compare yourself to somebody else’s highlights. I think people get social media confused. It’s not the everyday version of someone’s life. You are looking at the best version, the edited version, the picture-perfect version. You can’t compare yourself to that. You have to love the skin you’re in.”
Charlie Lankston is a freelance beauty, fashion, and lifestyle writer and media strategist based in New York City, having relocated to the US in 2014 from her home in London. Charlie spent 10 years working at DailyMail.com, where she oversaw the website’s style, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content. Charlie also appears as an on-air royal and celebrity correspondent.
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