Shay Mitchell has it all figured out. The actress and lifestyle expert has traveled a ton throughout career, and is now channeling that into her latest documentary venture, Shaycation. Mitchell took a small crew to India recently to capture her travels — and she sat down with Stylish to talk all things globe trotting, even sharing how she edits her suitcase to the essentials, what she likes to wear while she’s on a a trip and her number one rule for when she is taking a flight. Read on!
Stylish: What were your favorite parts of India while shooting Shaycation?
Shay Mitchell: It’s a huge country and we spent most of our time in Jodhpur, but we traveled around a fair amount. We went down to Varanasi, which is the oldest living city — that’s what they say there. A lot of the Hindus there believe if you go there and you die, and they cremate your body and put it under the water you go straight to heaven. We witnessed life and death there in one day.
Stylish: So tell Us, what are your tips for not overpacking for a major trip?
SM: I’m the worst! I overpack, so maybe I can say what I do wrong. To stop myself from packing too much, I take photos of my outfits, accessories included, so I have them. This way I don’t have to wonder what with goes certain items — it’s all laid out, I bring the photos with me and that’s how I know what everything goes with. It’s easier when I’m packing up, if we’re going to one place and I want a couple different outfits, I already know everything that I want to bring.
Stylish: Do you have any mix-and-match essentials that you always pack?
SM: I think sweats, but I still like to be cute, so when I’m traveling I’ll wear a matching outfit from Cotton Citizen. Or I’ll be in my silk PJs all day. Even when I’m traveling I try to get a workout in, if that’s hiking and going on a walk through the city, so I always pack workout clothes, too.
Stylish: What makeup items do you pack?
SM: I have a good organizer and I make my own with little bags and big bags. I like to bring fun makeup — that’s the time when you can play around, of course you’re taking a bunch of photos while you’re on vacation, so I’ll bring tropical items, bright lip shades. I love travel bags.
Stylish:What did you bring to India beauty-wise?
SM: I brought some Huda Beauty eyeshadow palettes so I have fun colors and jewel tones to wear. And bright lipsticks!
Stylish: What are your tips for airport style and beauty?
SM: Don’t wear makeup while you’re on the plane — that’s so important! I swear by not wearing makeup on the plane and I don’t care who sees me if I run into someone. I bring my iPad and I have an app, Newsstand, with a bunch of magazines and I’ll have books on my iPad so I’m not carrying too much.
Stylish: What about photos, how do you remember your trip after you take a million pictures?
SM: Well I’m pretty active on the ‘gram, so I post a bunch. I’ll do my day and then I edit my pics in bed at the end of the day — it’s an in-bed thing. Then, I use VSCO and Afterlight for photo editing, just to correct the colors and everything to make them pop!
Be sure to check out the new Shaycation on Shay’s YouTube channel!
