Country Icon Dolly Parton Reveals Her Biggest Skincare Secret

“I’m a showgirl, and I’ve lived on the road my whole life — and I’ve had to be dressed for daytime,” Dolly explains. “I do my own makeup. I hardly ever use makeup people. I do on occasion, if I’m doing a big show where I’m in all the numbers, but I still put on my basic makeup, then I’ll hire some professional person to keep it up.”

Dolly says she was involved with the line every step of the way, especially when it came to testing the products. She notes that it was a collaborative process throughout, from the decision to launch with lipstick to deciding on the names for each shade. “A lot of that was a mix and match. I love throwing out names and having fun ideas, but we also have a lot of great people that work with us on those things that do know all that,” she says. “I’m one of those people that if somebody knows more than me about a thing, I try to listen.”

The singer adds that makeup “just seems like a natural progression” for her, especially after venturing into fragrance with her Scent From Above perfume and the four fragrances in her Front Porch Collection.

“I’m all about makeup and hair and clothes, and so eventually I’ll probably get to all those others. But right now, the makeup is something I have to have every day, and I know it’s something that’s fun for all women to have access to: good, fun makeup.”

Dolly tells us that asking her to choose a favorite product from the line is “like asking a mother which one of her kids she likes the most,” but she says the Jolene Red lipstick seems to be “the star of the show.” “Everybody that likes red lipstick, they’re really loving it … because of the name, and it is a beautiful color.” When our beauty pros tested out the shades, Jolene Red was also their favorite.

Although Dolly doesn’t often wear red lipstick because of her fair complexion, once the holiday season and the winter months come around, she tends to pair it with a wardrobe of whites, greens and reds. Her go-to lip combo — and the one she donned for our interview — is the Honey Plum lipstick with the Gold Dust lip gloss over top.

When asked about the biggest beauty secret she’s learned over the years, Dolly says it all comes down to taking care of your skin and being gentle with it. The 78-year-old stresses the importance of removing and applying makeup properly “so you have something pretty to put it on … knowing that you will be getting older and those things are going to happen anyway, but you don’t have to rush them along.”

A woman after our own hearts, she doesn’t believe people should “have to spend a fortune on good things.” In her own skincare routine, she reveals that she focuses on a good cleanser, makeup remover and face mask. “I do a mask at least once a week to clean everything off and get the skin back in with a better texture,” she shares.

Check out our top Dolly Beauty picks below:

Jamie (she/her) is the news and SEO editor at Good Housekeeping. She oversees GH’s digital news strategy, assigning and editing celebrity and entertainment news content. Before joining Good Housekeeping in 2024, she was the digital editor at Woman’s Day. She has over 6 years of professional experience writing and editing lifestyle content for the Rachael Ray Show, The Knot, Martha Stewart Weddings, Insider, Elite Daily and more. She holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College and lives in Brooklyn with her cats, Lumos and Linus.