In 2012, Shimazaki appeared in the movie Gekijōban Shiritsu Bakaleya Kōkō, which was based on the 2012 TV series Shiritsu Bakaleya Kōkō. Later the same year she appeared together with Minami Takahashi in an automated external defibrillator (AED) training session, sponsored by the Japanese Red Cross. On February 23, 2013, she appeared on the cover of the April issue of the Japanese fashion magazine Smart. In October, the fashion magazine CanCam published an article about her signature look, dubbed the "troubled face make-up" (困り顔メイク, komari-gao meiku); this term went on to become one of the Top 50 Japanese Buzzwords of 2013, compiled by the publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha. In 2014, Shimazaki appeared in a recruiting commercial for the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Later that year, the phrase "salty treatment" (塩対応, shio taiō), which referred to her supposed apathetic attitude toward her fans during meet-and-greet events, was again included as one of the Top 50 Japanese Buzzwords for the year.
