Amanda Seyfried Shares the Story Behind the Bangs She Almost Wore for ‘Long Bright River’ (Exclusive)

Amanda Seyfried is sharing her beauty secrets. 

The Lancôme Global Ambassadresses, who joined the brand in 2019, was among the VIP guests at the brand’s Idôle House pop-up opening in New York City on June 6 celebrating fellow ambassador Olivia Rodrigo, her three new shades of the iconic Juicy Tubes and the 90th anniversary of the brand.

In between mixing and mingling with guests, including Rachel Bilson and Ed Westwick, who all appeared in the recent Juicy Kissing Web campaign, Seyfried spoke to PEOPLE exclusively about her beauty POV and that very real-looking recent Instagram she posted of herself sporting bangs. Turns out, there’s a reason it was so convincing.

“They’re my own hair!” she told PEOPLE — though they weren’t actually cut on her. (“Bangs are not suitable for some people. I’m one of them.”)

So how did she end up sporting bangs on the set of Long Bright River?

“I have this fringe that somebody made for me with my real hair that I had cut off and I was going to give it to Locks of Love. And I forgot and it was in a drawer for a year,” Seyfried, 39, explains. But while working with a weave maker during the making of Apple TV+’s The Crowded Room, Seyfried realized it was the right moment to have faux bangs made: “Oh, my God, I have my hair.”

Seyfried wore the faux real fringe for that show, and kept the clip-in for other opportunities that might strike. Though it wasn’t ultimately a fit for her character in Long Bright River, Seyfried says her hairstylist Renato Campora has plans for it: “[He] really wants me to bring it next time I have a press event. Because you can just clip it on.”

So rest assured, if you see her in bangs again, they’re not the real deal: Seyfried’s not going there again. “I did it once when I was pregnant. And I don’t see myself doing it. Yeah, it was a mistake,” she says.

That’s not to say she doesn’t love having fun with hair changes for the night. “You can buy a fringe on Amazon. Trust me, I put them on my kids all the time. It’s nice when it’s not permanent, or at least when you’re not stuck with something,” she says.

Seyfried says bangs are one one the many aspects of beauty that are not “one size fits all.” That’s why, throughout her beauty journey, she’s grateful to have had Lancôme. 

“What [they have] been able to do for so many years, since I was little, is make you feel like you have access to whatever you need. They have classic skincare and also technology. And then you have the makeup that’s always evolving as well.”

The actress continues, “Lancôme gives you the tools to feel like you have everything you need and you’re able to so easily enhance how you look, which eventually enhances how you feel. There is an art to makeup and it does have an incredible purpose. And skincare as well. I feel like it’s just a trusted brand, run by very wonderful women.” 

Seyfried says she feels like “everyone can feel at home with Lancôme. As we all evolve, the brand evolves, but it still has that luxury, that accessibility and that fun and that inspiration and that art. I feel really lucky to still be able to talk about it [and to] wear it with excitement and ease.”

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And if there’s one Lancôme product she can’t live without right now, it’s the brand’s famous Juicy Tubes, which originally launched in 2000 (and has been doing a viral campaign to celebrate with some of your favorite ’00s icons).

“It’s always been Juicy Tubes,” she says of loving the formula. “I can’t live without my Spring Fling. Day and night, it’s an exceptional tool to gloss and to add shine and life to my skin,” she adds, sharing, “I cannot sleep without it or else I will have dry lips.” 

Her close runner up is Idôle mascara. “I am blonde, you know what I mean? It packs a punch. When I put mascara on, it really changes my face in a good way.”

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Seyfried says when it comes to style eras and trends, there’s one that she feels always stands the test of time: the ’90s.

“There are certain pieces that will just never go out of style. And then some years it’s just more nineties than ever before, like this year and the last year. But there are certain things, like Dr.  Martens and floral spaghetti strap dresses, that don’t seem to be going anywhere and maybe even just getting better,” she says. 

“I think I feel most like myself in the ’90s looks. Makeup-wise too. It feels good to have been a child of the ’90s too. I mean, I was born in the ’80s, but I really was a child in the ’90s and I just love it. I look around and I’m like, I’m home.”