Dolly Parton used to create her own makeup with 'stuff that grew wild in the fields'
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1970-01-01 08:00
Dolly Parton says that she had to utilise what she could forage during her rural upbringing to create her own makeup.

Dolly Parton made her own make-up out of "stuff that grew wild in the field" when she was younger.

The 77-year-old singer didn't have many cosmetics of her own growing up in Eastern Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains, so she resorted to using household items and foraging outside to come up with different ways to enhance her features.

Speaking to People magazine, she said: "I'd find ways to create my own make-up with pokeberries and stuff that grew wild in the fields. I think all people that grow up in the mountains learn how to improvise with what you don't have.

"I would strike Mama's old kitchen matches to make eyebrows and my beauty mark."

And even now, the 'Jolene' singer likes to personalise her products.

She explained: "Still, I find myself mixing and matching different make-ups for different colours."

Dolly's beauty hacks continued while she was singing on radio and on television, but once her career took off in the '60s, she has been able to buy "every great line of make-up that's ever come out, but despite her vast wealth, the '9 to 5' hitmaker favours cheaper brands.

She said: "Maybelline was always a biggie, especially with eye make-up. I didn't have to burn the matches anymore.

"There's so many of the products that don't cost a fortune that are just as good as the most expensive things you buy. And believe me, I know, because I am about make-up."

Fans can learn more about Parton's fashion and style choices in her new book 'Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones', which will be released on 17 October.

When quizzed about the decision to release the book, the singer replied: "The older I get, the more I think, 'Well, people really want to know about how you become who you are once you kind of reach a certain status.

"So, I thought, 'Why don't I do [a book] about my clothes, my fashion, my hair and all the looks that I've had — good, bad and indifferent?'"

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