You know that friend who knows how to draw the smoothest cat eye without so much as a Q-tip or Bioderma on standby? The same one that can endlessly transform her beauty look for every occasion, and pull it off every. single. time? For us, that friend is Shay Mitchell. So when we caught up with her in L.A. to celebrate her recent crowning as the face of Smashbox’s Cover Shot Eye Palettes (honestly, could there be a more perfect pairing?) and her new show, Shades of Shay, which follows her life after Pretty Little Liars, we took it as chance to talk her six steadfast beauty rules, and the one beauty trend that turned her into Hitch.
1. You Can’t Have Good Makeup without Good Skin
“What I learned from working with makeup artists is [how important it is to] take care of myself. If I’ve been traveling a lot or I haven’t been drinking enough water, or getting enough sleep, my skin tends to get really dry and flaky. No matter what kind of makeup you’re putting on, it doesn’t sit right.”
2. Balance is Essential
“I wear a lot of makeup during the day, but then I’m sure to take it all off as soon as I get home. I try to get as much sleep and drink as much water as I can, too.”
3. Remember What Makeup is All About
“I don’t think there is any beauty trend that I hate because something may not work on me but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work on other people. That’s what makes beauty and makeup so fun! If everybody did the same thing, it would be such a boring world, so I love that people try different trends and play around with makeup—that’s what it’s meant for.”
4. Sometimes Things May Go Wrong
“What I’m not going to do again are the semi-permanent eyelashes. I tried to do that over the holidays and had a really bad reaction. I looked like Will Smith in Hitch [laughs]. It was bad.”
5. All You Need is 5 (er, 15) Minutes for a Makeup Routine
“[If I had five minutes to get ready] I would probably do an all-over light foundation. Using the matte Smashbox palette I would do a very natural wash into the crease, a little mascara, a little highlight, a little contour, maybe a little strobing. I don’t know if we’ve passed five minutes yet! My beauty routine is probably a good 15 minutes. Give me 15 minutes and I’ll be okay, give me five and I’m not coming out [laughs].”
6. Never Wear Makeup Here
“I never wear makeup on a flight. I’ll wait until the plane has landed, go into the bathroom and then I apply a full face, but not while I’m up in the air because that’s always when I get a little surprise. Pimple mountain comes out when I land. Instead, I’ll do a hydration mask and leave it at that.”