This Is Why Shay Mitchell Really Wears Wigs

It’s no secret that actress Shay Mitchell is a beauty chameleon in every sense of the term. Aside from always taking risks with her makeup, we’ve seen her hair color and cut change within the same day. So when we caught up with her to chat about her new gig as the face of the Smashbox Cover Shot Eye Palette, we had to ask her about her ever-changing ‘do.

“My hair is my security blanket,” Shay told us. “So I don’t like to swap out my natural color or cut my hair too drastically. Rather, I have brilliant hairstylists who create these amazing wigs. They are so much fun to wear, without the commitment. Most recently, my stylist Chris [Appleton] gave me a super long pony, then we [switched] it to a short shoulder-length wig about an hour later.” (Side note: Refinery29 recently floated a theory that Appleton, who also works with Kim Kardashian, uses the same wigs on multiple celebrity clients.) Ahead, see Shay’s dramatic—and nearly instant—hair transformation.

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Shay wore this textured ponytail to a Smashbox Cosmetics lunch last week.

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Then she was spotted the same day sporting this lob.

Aside from constantly trying new hairstyles, Shay is often photographed in an array of makeup looks. Although she likes to swap her shadows as often as she changes clothes, she tells us if she could only wear one makeup look for the rest of her life, it would undoubtedly be her staple smoky eye.

"Creating the looks for this shoot were so much fun, and I loved every single one," she told us. "I really took each personality to the next level, but if I had to choose one palette for life, it would be the smoky palette since a smoky eye is definitely my go-to." Wise choice, Shay.