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Chart-topping pop star. Broadway actor. Reality TV icon. Erika Jayne has worn a lot of crowns, but across every medium, one thing remains consistent: She delivers a look. On The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH), her HBIC energy and unapologetically over-the-top glam immediately made her a fan fave. “Every woman has a little bit of Erika Jayne inside of her; she’s just dying to get out,” she shared on the Bravo hit series in a viral confessional sound bite—a sentiment that reflects the larger-than-life persona she’s carefully crafted. And her commitment is anything but casual. When her onscreen fame started booming, she reportedly spent more than $52,000 a month on hair, makeup and styling. While some label this extravagant, for Jayne, glam isn’t an afterthought; it’s a necessity to embody the many main characters she portrays. Her obsession with beauty didn’t just appear out of thin air—it’s been brewing since her adolescent years in Georgia. One of her earliest memories is sneaking swipes from her mom’s Estée Lauder palette and dusting on cream blush with a way-too-big brush that definitely didn’t match her skin tone. “This was the late ’70s,” she notes. “I went to Catholic school from Grade 6 through 8, and I remember getting in trouble for wearing lipgloss and eyeliner.” [instagram-oembed url=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ91Qf8EoBg/?img_index=1″ /] Those early trial-and-error experiences made beauty an experimental pursuit. “People explore makeup through what they see at home,” she says. Witnessing family members play with products is where the initial curiosity begins—and for Jayne, that curiosity never faded. “I’m 54 now, and certain things will never change,” she says. “I have loved lipgloss since I was in kindergarten, and I still love it today”—proof that some beauty crushes are forever. With time, Jayne’s relationship with beauty evolved. “It’s really about placement—meaning that you know your face shape and the angles at which you put your makeup on,” she explains. “What looked great on your face in your 20s may not look great on your face in your 50s.” Looking back at old photos, she laughs at her own hits and misses. “Sometimes I look back and go ‘Wow, that was a real miss’ and other times I go ‘Huh, I was ahead of the curve.’” For her, that’s the whole point—makeup is about experimenting, evolving and having fun along the way. [instagram-oembed url=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DOPtPR6DjOw/” /] These days, Jayne’s routine is anything but one-size-fits-all. Whether she’s filming RHOBH (season 15 starts this Thursday, December 4), hitting Broadway playing Roxie Hart in Chicago or stepping onto a red carpet, her glam is a tailored production. Off the clock, though, it’s a total 180. “When I’m not working, I need to preserve my skin, so I don’t wear any makeup,” she says. “I try to get into my skincare regimen as much as possible.” During our chat, Jayne was at home—ponytail up, barefaced—and refreshingly candid about the toll that perpetual glam can take. Years of heavy makeup, she admits, left her skin barrier compromised, and she’s been working with a dermatologist to repair it. These days, her lineup leans heavily on soothing anti-inflammatory formulas. “I also have rosacea and eczema, so I have to be super careful about what I put on my face,” she adds. When she steps into her onstage persona—belting out bops like “Xxpen$ive”—makeup becomes a key part of the performance. That version of Jayne is, in her words, “over-the-top, glitz, glamour, fun and colourful…maybe a little more snatchy and cunty” than her Broadway counterpart. But whether she’s on tour or in character as Roxie, the through line is the same: makeup as transformation. [instagram-oembed url=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DNkasC1tWFS/” /] “When you start to put on the face, the hair and the costume, you truly transform into whatever character it is that you need to be at that time,” she says. “On Broadway, I transform into Roxie with red lipstick, eyebrows and eyeshadow or a particular shade of blush—these help the character come alive. The clothes, the makeup, the hair—they’re sending signals, whether you believe it or not. The great thing about beauty is that you can be many different people during the week, embodying a differing aesthetic from one day to the next.” Her personal preferred makeup style is the fabulous ’90s supermodel look, with a nod to Naomi Campbell, as well as the exaggerated glamour of the ’80s. Although these are two polarizing eras—one being more extreme and the other more minimal—she believes that differing tastes can coexist. [instagram-oembed url=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DRDMNNgEjR3/?img_index=1″ /] She’s quick to point out that her bold, show-stopping glam on RHOBH isn’t some made-for-TV act—it’s just Jayne being Jayne. “I was just doing what I was doing before I came on the show,” she says. When she joined the franchise in 2015, she brought her fully formed aesthetic with her—raising the style bar across Bravo in the process. “I do think, because we are on TV, especially with Beverly Hills in the title, that we owe it to the audience to look like a polished, upscale version of ourselves on camera,” she adds. Still, she doesn’t hide behind the glam. On off days, she skips makeup entirely, showing up barefaced and unfiltered. Behind the scenes, plenty of strategy goes into Jayne’s looks. She and her team comb through past moments, weighing what to revive, what to dial up and what to leave behind. “You’d better be your own muse in this life, or you’re not going anywhere,” she says with conviction. In a landscape crowded with sameness, she celebrates individuality. “There are too many people out here who look the same. And when you find somebody who’s really living in that creative space of their own that they’ve built and run with, it’s impressive.” Because if Erika Jayne proves anything, it’s this: Originality isn’t optional—it’s the whole point. [content_module id=”1″] This article first appeared in FASHION’s Winter 2026 issue. Find out more here. Continue Reading
