Shay Mitchell may play sporty, low-maintenance Emily on the hit show Pretty Little Liars, but IRL, her beauty knowledge is way more extensive. "I would say that most of the girls [on the show] probably come to me for beauty tips," she tells us. This is our kind of gal.
And as the newest spokesperson for skin-care brand Bioré, the 28-year-old now gets to share her beauty wisdom with a much wider audience. Ahead, we chat with Mitchell about her newest endeavor, her love of wigs, and her straight-out-of-a-movie biggest beauty regret.
You're the newest spokesperson for Bioré. What's your favorite product from the brand, either past or present?
"Past products, I've fallen in love with the charcoal line. I'm a fan of unique ingredients in general, and when they came out with the baking soda products, I was so excited to partner with them to launch that. They have the scrub, which is amazing, but the cleanser is something that I use on a daily basis — morning and night." You grew up in Toronto. Do you have any pointers for keeping your skin fresh while it's freezing outside?
"I would say moisturizing is one of [my] biggest tips. Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer is something that I'm in love with right now. I leave it in my shower so I don't forget. As soon as you turn off the tap, you put it on. It's just another step in my beauty routine that I do. I think, especially when you go through different climates, it's really important to moisturize and keep your skin hydrated." You have really great hair — tell us everything. What products do you use? How do you take care of it?
"Honestly, when I'm not working and when I'm not on set, I like to let [my hair] air-dry. I think leave-in conditioners are huge. The one that I have with me at all times is the John Frieda Daily one; it's really light, it doesn't leave my hair feeling heavy or greasy. "I'm really bad with [going to the salon], but I do have friends that are amazing hairstylists. Any time we get to work with them, I'll just say, 'Hey, can you give me a little trim?' So that's how I do it."
From the Pretty Little Liars crew, you and Troi are the only ones who haven't chopped your hair off. Would you ever follow in Lucy or Ashley's footsteps?
"Never say never, but I feel like wigs are there for a reason. They allow you to experiment and switch up your hairstyle without actually having to [commit]. I'm probably more of a fan of a short wig than of cutting my hair. I just like having long hair. To me, it suits my personality and I like doing different hairstyles."
"Past products, I've fallen in love with the charcoal line. I'm a fan of unique ingredients in general, and when they came out with the baking soda products, I was so excited to partner with them to launch that. They have the scrub, which is amazing, but the cleanser is something that I use on a daily basis — morning and night." You grew up in Toronto. Do you have any pointers for keeping your skin fresh while it's freezing outside?
"I would say moisturizing is one of [my] biggest tips. Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer is something that I'm in love with right now. I leave it in my shower so I don't forget. As soon as you turn off the tap, you put it on. It's just another step in my beauty routine that I do. I think, especially when you go through different climates, it's really important to moisturize and keep your skin hydrated." You have really great hair — tell us everything. What products do you use? How do you take care of it?
"Honestly, when I'm not working and when I'm not on set, I like to let [my hair] air-dry. I think leave-in conditioners are huge. The one that I have with me at all times is the John Frieda Daily one; it's really light, it doesn't leave my hair feeling heavy or greasy. "I'm really bad with [going to the salon], but I do have friends that are amazing hairstylists. Any time we get to work with them, I'll just say, 'Hey, can you give me a little trim?' So that's how I do it."
From the Pretty Little Liars crew, you and Troi are the only ones who haven't chopped your hair off. Would you ever follow in Lucy or Ashley's footsteps?
"Never say never, but I feel like wigs are there for a reason. They allow you to experiment and switch up your hairstyle without actually having to [commit]. I'm probably more of a fan of a short wig than of cutting my hair. I just like having long hair. To me, it suits my personality and I like doing different hairstyles."
Do you guys exchange beauty tips or tricks on or off set?
"I would say that most of the girls probably come to me for beauty tips [laughs]. I may be the most athletic one as far as my character [on Pretty Little Liars] goes, but when it comes to beauty, they usually come to me. I've learned a lot from the makeup artist who I've been fortunate to work with. I think the biggest makeup tip I've learned about is blending — that's really key." What's one beauty trend you would never try? And what's one that you're dying to try?
"There's that new Japanese one — the hangover look. I don't know that I would be a big fan of putting that under my eyes. I try to get rid of dark circles, but I think it's cool to look at on other people. "Maybe I'd want to do a fire-engine red hair color but, then again, I'd probably just do that with a wig. Any time I have that urge to change up my hair color, I just go to the wig store for a couple of hours and have fun with that." What would be your biggest beauty regret?
"That would definitely be when I ironed my hair off back when I was 15 using a real clothing iron. Like, for clothes. I got my best friend to do it and she's felt so bad ever since but, literally, she took like a quarter of my hair off with the iron." What was the resolution?
"The resolution was a lot of screaming at her for a minute. But it was really my fault because I told her to press down harder because I really wanted it straight. Then, it involved a lot of deep conditioning and a lot more trimming and a lot of patience to wait for my hair to grow back."
"I would say that most of the girls probably come to me for beauty tips [laughs]. I may be the most athletic one as far as my character [on Pretty Little Liars] goes, but when it comes to beauty, they usually come to me. I've learned a lot from the makeup artist who I've been fortunate to work with. I think the biggest makeup tip I've learned about is blending — that's really key." What's one beauty trend you would never try? And what's one that you're dying to try?
"There's that new Japanese one — the hangover look. I don't know that I would be a big fan of putting that under my eyes. I try to get rid of dark circles, but I think it's cool to look at on other people. "Maybe I'd want to do a fire-engine red hair color but, then again, I'd probably just do that with a wig. Any time I have that urge to change up my hair color, I just go to the wig store for a couple of hours and have fun with that." What would be your biggest beauty regret?
"That would definitely be when I ironed my hair off back when I was 15 using a real clothing iron. Like, for clothes. I got my best friend to do it and she's felt so bad ever since but, literally, she took like a quarter of my hair off with the iron." What was the resolution?
"The resolution was a lot of screaming at her for a minute. But it was really my fault because I told her to press down harder because I really wanted it straight. Then, it involved a lot of deep conditioning and a lot more trimming and a lot of patience to wait for my hair to grow back."
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