Elvis Duran’s Magic Makeup Moment

Sara Bliss
·Senior Writer
Updated

Photo: @huffpostlive

Elvis Duran’s been hosting Z100’s morning show since 1996. It’s the most listened to Top 40 morning show in the United States and the inspiration behind his brief SpikeTV series, Phowned. Today, he turns 50, and he feels pretty great about the big birthday. “I’ve always been weirded out by people who are weirded out by getting older because there is nothing you can do about it!” he says, laughing.

That doesn’t mean Duran isn’t down for some cosmetic enhancement, however. Both Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs have released cosmetics and luxury grooming products aimed at men this year, while brands like Baxter of California, Dr. Jackson’s Natural Products, and Dr. Harris, continue to give grooming a good name. After all, who doesn’t want concealer? Duran, however, is a bigger fan of bronzer—such a huge fan, in fact, that our EIC Bobbi Brown named a shade for the DJ. The love affair started when his publicist, Steven, insisted on amping up Duran’s glow for a TV appearance. “He would grab bronzer and blow it on me like a leaf blower, I have pasty white Scottish skin and he thought I needed a little color.” After one interview for Entertainment Tonight, the two went home to watch the show that evening. “I looked beyond orange, kind of like a big apricot,” laughs Duran. “Steven tried to tell me that maybe there was a problem with the color on my TV, but there wasn’t.”

Enter Brown, who taught him the right way to use the powder and developed a custom shade just for him, “J. Lo just came on the show and saw that bronzer and she stole it,” Duran says. “She said she had someone in mind to give it to, I’m guessing it was Ryan Seacrest.”

While bronzer’s the only makeup Duran wears, he admits to a long-standing skincare habit. “As a teenager I remember going to the Clinique counter for men and stocking up on toner, exfoliating beads, and moisturizer.” Now he loves his monthly membership to Birchbox, a company that sends him monthly samples of skincare products. “It’s $10 a month and it’s great because I never have to buy new products,” he says. Two of this month’s products qualify as favorites: Billy Jealousy Fuzzy Logic Strengthening Shampoo ($22) and Air Repair Rescue Balm for Lips ($12).

Maybe it’s that dedication to his skin that makes turning 50 A-OK. “I’m actually excited about 50,” he says. “I’ve never been a planner, but I think maybe it’s kind of a fun time to set some goals for myself.”