Early fame taught Shay lessons that go beyond skin deep. She gained recognition when “filters were just starting to come out,” an experience she reflects on. “My twenties were hard for me when I was on Pretty Little Liars and I was on social media heavy and it was all kind of new to me,” she says. “Instagram was really heavy, all of that. It got to a point where I was in my thirties, wondering, Why am I feeling not the greatest when I’m on this app? Why am I jealous? Am I insecure? Why am I feeling some type of way about the content I’m seeing? I don’t know what’s actually true in this person’s life.”
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Now, Shay hopes to pass down the same wisdom to her daughters. “If I have a good life, that’s what I should be focusing on, not what I’m missing, not what I don’t have. I would tell my girls when they get to that age—when it inevitably happens and they go on social media—do not compare yourself. There’s so much that goes into it. And I know from shoots and all of that.”
Ahead, Shay Mitchell talks about her must-have beauty products, raising her daughters Atlas and Rome, and the surprising way she loves to unwind—plus, what she really thinks about the Sephora kids craze.
I’ve switched to applying my makeup with my hands
I don’t know if it’s a hack, but before I wasn’t into putting on makeup with my hands and now I do it all the time. Everything I do is going to be surrounded around kids, but watching Atlas and obviously the makeup artists that I work with, who are so incredibly talented, apply different products with their hands. For example, I’m really into liquid blushes and using my fingers to apply. It’s the heat of your skin, just being able to press it in more gives it a really natural look.
My makeup has to come off every night (sleeping in it doesn’t work)
I will always take my makeup off. I can say I have, on two occasions, kept my makeup on. I got my makeup done by one of my makeup artist friends, and I absolutely loved it. And I had something the next day so I slept with it on. I still took it off the next day just because I was like, “I can’t do this.” It’s not the same. I put the air conditioner to 63. I tried to fridge my face. It does not work. It’s better to start over. Even if I have incredible makeup on, it must come off every single night. I’m a big fan of removing and going to sleep with a clean face. And then I always clean my makeup brushes. I will not go longer than three weeks or something without cleaning my makeup brushes.
I feel most beautiful when…
I feel most beautiful when my daughters look at me, when they just have that gaze. And honestly, Atlas is really into trying on makeup herself and using my products. When I’ll get my makeup done, sometimes for an event, she’ll just look at me, and it’s just this one look. It’s a little bit of a gaze, where she’s just taking it in, and I’m like, Oh my gosh. Or when she says, “Mom, you look beautiful.” Ah, heart melts! Definitely that. It’s after being in front of my girls and then feeling like I look pretty.