Dolly Parton has no regrets when it comes to beauty. It’s a particularly touching sentiment, considering the 78-year-old has struggled (for decades) with criticism from the press about her appearance. “It may be embarrassing at times, but I don’t regret anything.” [beauty-related] I did what I did because everything led me here,” she tells me over Zoom in her instantly recognizable Southern accent. “Tomorrow I’ll probably do something embarrassing, but I’ll keep going.”
After talking to her, I realized that this musician is essentially a girl just like the rest of us, who wants to make herself beautiful and enjoys playing with hair and makeup.
So it’s no surprise that Parton, perhaps more so than any other star in the industry, has joined the ranks of celebrity beauty brands with her makeup line, Dolly Beauty, which launched in the summer. Through her products, which include mascara, lip liner, lip gloss, eyeliner, fragrance, and the new Heaven’s Kiss lipstick collection, the singer wants shoppers to feel pretty.
Parton will now open up about finding makeshift make-up before shopping for makeup, the beauty tips she learned from one of her sisters, and how her nieces influence her beauty routine. Masu.
I read that when I was a child, I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup, so I looked for things in nature that could be used in place of pigments. Remember the first time you could actually buy your own cosmetics?
I think the first time I ever bought cosmetics for myself was after I started singing on local TV and radio shows in Knoxville. Well, it wasn’t local. It was about 40 miles away. When I was young, I got a job singing there in the summer and started earning a little money for myself. One of the first things I wanted to do was buy cosmetics. So this is the first time I actually ended up buying my own tube of lipstick and a small powder compact.
Speaking of lipsticks, you’ve just released a lipstick collection. What does lipstick mean to you?
We all speak with our mouths, but [and] Everyone notices your mouth. Even women who don’t wear much make-up often feel like just applying a little lipstick adds a little color to their face. But I think it’s sensual and sexy and I just think it’s beautiful.
How has your approach to beauty changed over the years?
Well, since I can buy more, I wear more. And the older you get, the more opportunities you have to wear them. But I’ve always loved makeup. Like you said, when I was a kid, I was always trying to find drugs that would stain, like merthiolate or mercurochrome. I applied it to my lips so it wouldn’t peel off and acted like it was my natural color. Of course I couldn’t get it off even if I rubbed it.
My grandfather was a preacher, so he never thought I should wear makeup. But once I learned how to actually wear makeup, I started wearing things that suited me.
I like making my eyes bigger. I’m like an artist, like a child with paints and crayons. I love trying new makeup, new colors, and new designs. And I love lining my lips like this one day and going a little bolder the next.
Using makeup is really like creating art.
Well, especially the way you wear it is artistic. But basically, I wear the same makeup both during the day and at night. All you have to do is wake up in the morning, put on your makeup, and touch up your makeup throughout the day.
If I’m doing something at night, like a show, I’ll wear glitter or shadow to add a little sparkle here and there that I wouldn’t wear during the day.
Getty Images/Terry Wyatt/Correspondent
Do you like doing makeup when you’re relaxing alone at home?
i will do it. You will feel better throughout the day. When I’m engrossed in writing, I may wear makeup at first, but then I don’t care. So sometimes I don’t even think about it, or I end up thinking, “Oh, I have to get up and put on makeup.”
If I go out of the house, I always wear makeup. And usually, when I’m not writing, I get up, put on my makeup, and do my hair a little bit. Even if it’s your day off, you never know who’s going to come to your house, and you don’t want to show up at your front door looking like an old hag.
What is your go-to makeup look?
Now, let’s create the foundation. I always wear that. I apply a little blush, but use a different moisturizer. It depends on whether what I’ve used over the years is still useful to me. Ultimately, I intend to make it all my own. We start slow and build up little by little. But I feel like I have to start with the basics and stick with it.
Are there any beauty trends you’re loving right now?
I’m always looking for new things and that can happen through my nieces. I have many beautiful nieces and they are very interested in makeup. They always bring me something and say, “Did you try this?” Must try it. ”But I’m one of those people that sometimes I see what they use and think, “Oh, I might try that.”
In fact, I’m putting some of it on right now. These are some of the shadows brought to me by one of my nieces who loves to dress up and do makeup almost like a drag queen. I think she learned from me. Anyway, if they have something I’m fascinated with, I’ll try it myself. If you don’t like it, go back to what you’re familiar with.
I read that you are close with your sisters. Are there any beauty tips you’ve exchanged with each other over the years?
Of course, if one of us discovers a great makeup look or new trick that we read about in a beauty book, that’s for sure. I curl my eyelashes and sometimes wear false eyelashes as well. My sister Kathy said to me one day: “If you take a candle and put a little curler on it and heat it up, it really, really bends your lashes,” and it stays that way all day long. ”
I never curl my eyelashes without thinking about my sister, Kathy. And I’ll always be grateful to her too because that was one of the best beauty tips I ever got. [My sisters and I] We always give each other little hints like that.
I love it. I also read that you once competed in a Dolly lookalike contest and lost to a drag queen. What makeup tips did you get from drag queens?
When I first started wearing makeup, fancy clothes, and rhinestone chiffon, a lot of drag queens were dressing like me. And the contest I lost was one year in California. I lived on a hill above Santa Monica Boulevard where there were a lot of gay clubs. To do that, I just exaggerated my appearance earlier this year. I entered that contest just for fun because I got a free drink. All of these drag queens had beautiful makeup. I’ve learned tips and ideas from them over the years, just as they have for me.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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