Dolly Parton is a music icon, a beauty icon, and a philanthropy icon, to boot. Her music, acting, confidence, business acumen, and no-nonsense charm has established her solidly as one of the straight-up coolest celebs out there, and now she’s sharing some of her best life hacks with the world.
The 77-year-old country singer and feminist idol released her memoir, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, on Tuesday. In it, she shares an inside look at her life and career over the years, beginning with her upbringing on a tobacco farm in rural Tennessee and through her star-studded rise to world fame.
There are a lot of gems within the pages, but one little beauty secret she let fly was completely out of left field: she doesn’t remove her Makeup before she goes to bed at night.
"When I arrived in LA in the 80s, I started sleeping with my makeup on, partly because of the earthquakes,” she writes in an excerpt, shared by Insider. “I thought, 'I'm not heading out on the streets without makeup in case there are cameras out there! I'm going to be ready to go!'"
Now that is real dedication to your look. Are you listening, Pamela Anderson? Pillow cases be damned!
Apparently, even after she left Hollywood and moved back to Tennessee, where earthquakes aren’t a huge concern, the habit stuck. At that point, her motives changed and she started going to sleep with makeup for the sake of her husband.
"I don't want to go to bed looking like a hag with Carl,” she writes, referencing Carl Dean, her anti-social husband of 57 years. While she told ET Canada last year that her “warped sense of humor” is what has kept their marriage going strong since 1966, it’s hard not to think that constantly having her face on has perhaps helped.
"Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones" by Dolly Parton
As for clogged pores and poor skin health? Dolly is not concerned.
"It doesn't matter when you clean your face," Parton added, "as long as you clean it once a day. After I wake up, I do all the little rituals, and then I start over again and go out every day and look good all day long."
Whatever works for her! And that’s a lesson that Dolly has been teaching all of her life. From her openness about plastic surgery to her incredible ability to keep completely control of her career and music rights, if she wants you to know one thing, it’s that being yourself and doing it your way are the two best things in the world.
Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones is out now. The hardcover copy includes over 450 images, including many of Dolly’s iconic outfits, while the audiobook includes snippets from live performances, and of course it’s narrated by Aunt Granny too.
