You'll Never See Dolly Parton Without a Full Face of Makeup

It's rare Dolly Parton is spotted in public without makeup, and she's going to keep it that way. In a recent interview with People, the country singer joked the only reason she'd be seen sans makeup was "death."

"You'd just have to see me laid out on a stretcher," she said, before adding that perhaps an emergency, like her husband being sick, would prompt her to go makeup free. However, she assured that she will never have a bad mugshot. "I'm going to clean up a little if I'm going outside, unless there's an absolute emergency, and it would have to be pretty serious. I would do it then, but that would be the only way," she told the magazine. In fact, Parton previously revealed she even sleeps with her makeup on, in case she has to leave the house in the middle of the night.

Parton's hilarious comments may sound silly, but makeup is personal to an individual. A week prior, another nostalgic icon, Pamela Anderson, drew attention at Paris Fashion Week when she sat front row at shows without a stitch of product on. The star, who's long been scrutinised and sexualised for her looks, made a statement about self-acceptance and embracing beauty on her own terms. "I feel like a relief; just a weight off my shoulders. And I actually like it better — I'm dressing for me now, not for everybody else," she said of the moment.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Parton is doing the same. For her, wearing makeup all the time — yes, even in her sleep — makes her feel like herself. She's always been passionate about makeup and recognised its significance to her early on. In the same interview with People, she shared that before she could afford beauty products, she used pokeberries and "stuff that grew wild in the fields" to create her own makeup, including kitchen matches to draw eyebrows and her signature beauty mark. Now that's someone who really loves makeup.

Whether someone decides to go makeup free or opts for a full face, it's not about the beauty products; it's about having that autonomy to choose what feels right for them. In a society where women are constantly judged for their appearance — damned if they do, damned if they don't — it's nice to see influential figures assured in their decisions to do whatever they want with their beauty.