The Real Story Behind Shay Mitchell’s New Lob Haircut

“I’ve gotten really into wigs lately,” Shay Mitchell told me yesterday afternoon. Of course, I already knew this information because, well, she was wearing one. And for the record, the razor-sharp, slightly-asymmetrical lob could have fooled anyone — it was that good in person.

Mitchell is just one of many celebs who have developed a major love of wigs this past year. There's also Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Lucy Hale, and more — many of which attribute the looks to hairstylist Christopher Appleton. We sat down with the actress yesterday to talk all things beauty, but it was her wig that we kept going back to. "I love playing around with different looks — it's all about having fun with it," Mitchell explains. "I’m not necessarily going to cut my hair, or dye it, to look like this, but I’ll play around with a wig and wear it for a couple hours." For the record, the wigs aren't actually hers — she tells us she doesn't own any — but she wants to start collecting them ASAP.

"Christopher has hundreds, so when we work together I get to use whatever wigs he brings," she says. "Some are expensive, some are not. I have so much fun with wigs that I need to start building my collection — I could have a whole wig room!” The first one she would buy? "Probably a long, light brown one, like the one I wore to the MMVAs in Toronto," she says. "I was inspired by Ciara. I had fun with that one because I felt like Shay-oncé for the day.” [Laughs]

Of course, this isn't the first time Appleton and Mitchell fooled everyone with a faux 'do — who recalls the bob that almost broke the internet? "I loved that one,” she says. "All of my Google alerts said ‘Shay cut her hair!’ I was like, is that really news?" Our answer, of course, is a resounding yes.