Dolly Parton Thinks the “Morning Shed” Sounds “Like a Nightmare”—Interview

Plus, I like to look pretty for my husband. I don’t want to go to bed with the rollers and the Clearasil and all kinds of stuff stuck on my face and then get cleaned up and leave the next day so everybody else could see me [looking] pretty, but he sleeps with a hag!

Allure: Have you heard of a new beauty trend called the “morning shed”? I feel like you would hate it.

Parton: No. What is that?

Allure: It’s when people go to bed and they put on all of this stuff like sheet masks and eye patches. Sometimes they tape their mouth shut or wear a chin strap. When they wake up in the morning, they take it all off—or “shed”—and feel like they’ve already done half the work of getting ready.

Parton: I think it sounds more like a nightmare than a ritual. Everybody’s got their own way of doing things. I can’t imagine that for me. I usually just get up, do my little rituals, then I put on my makeup and I’m ready to go.

But, of course, I understand the part about wanting to wake up and be beautiful all day. If that’s working for them, more power to them.

Allure: What are your little rituals?

Parton: I wake up early because I don’t require lots of sleep. I do all my spiritual work and read my scriptures, do my meditations, and all my little things like that. Then I go take my bath and I clean my face, like I said. Then I just put on my makeup and take my good, easy time. I have hours [to get ready] because I do get up so early. I take my time doing it. By the time the sun comes up, I’m ready to hit the road.

Allure: You’ve said in the past that you wear a wig almost every day. Is that still true? How many wigs do you think you’ve owned in your lifetime?

Parton: Oh, in my lifetime? Well, I can’t count that far back. I mean, I wear one a day. I must have at least 365.

But I really don’t wear a wig every day. Only if I’m out in the public doing things like this or if I’m doing shows. But if I’m home, I keep my own hair bleached and use the same length [as my wigs] so I can just pull it up in scrunches and do fun things with it. Wigs are just so handy. I am not the kind of person that can wait and sit under a hairdryer. It’s not healthy for your hair to use it the way that I [would have to].