Shay Mitchell on Embracing Her Filipina Heritage | Pretty Unfiltered

I'd like to believe Shay Mitchell and I would be best friends. Aside from the fact that I'm not a big pizza person (and Shay is obsessed!), we have a lot in common. Our favorite esthetician is Shani Darden. We both create content for YouTube. She's really into skincare and makeup, as am I! And she's a total girls' girl, but can get down with the boys, too. (Plus, she's on one of the most scandalous and morbid shows on the tube, and I love anything creepy or horror-genre related.)

Shay joined us on this week's episode of #PrettyUnfiltered while promoting her new partnership with Bioré, and having interviewed her once before, I knew that she was going to be fun, but also genuine — something that's absolutely necessary for our series. After an outfit change on her part, we kicked off our shoes and got to talking.

Shay is half Filipina, and growing up, Shays she felt like she didn't fit in. She explained that she felt insecure in school, which most of us can relate to, but her insecurities were mostly due to the fact that she didn't look like most of her friends. She had darker skin and features; everyone else was white and blonde.

I was also totally blown away to hear that Shay used to dye her hair blonde and wear contacts in an effort to alter her image. She explains how she came to embrace herself, how she built up her confidence and told us an amazing quote her mother shared with her as a kid. Check out the interview with Shay and then let us know what empowers you by hashtagging #PrettyUnfiltered.

On Kirbie: Rebecca Valance top and skirt.
On Shay: Hair by Rod Ortega, makeup by Mario Dedivanovic

POPSUGAR Girls' Guide is your guide to living your '20s in style! We cover everything from DIY fashion and beauty, pop culture and comedy, recipes and food trends, celebrity news, and more. We also LOVE YouTubers and are lucky enough to have featured some of our favorites on PSGG, including Tyler Oakley, Ingrid Nilsen (Missglamorazzi), and many others.

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