5 Beauty Lessons We Learned From The Iconic Dolly Parton

Country music icon Dolly Parton’s passing yesterday (August 25) set the world (yes, the world) into mourning. She was more than a singer — she was a movement in her own right, how used her fame, fortune, and platform to support racial justice, literacy and medical research, while also championing Black artists and investing in our communities.

She was also a beauty icon. She spent more than six decades pairing her musical genius and songwriting with larger-than-life blonde wigs, crystal-embellished costumes and long nails. Our beauty choices often tell stories about who we are, where we come from and how we want the world to see us.

Inasmuch, she told us to “never ignore your roots, your home, or your hair.” Her look was as much a defining part of her stage persona as it was a reclamation of what beauty meant to her. As a white woman born in the segregated South, Parton’s experience carried nowhere near the racial politics that are attached to Black women’s hair and bodies. But her refusal to show up as anything less than herself was inspriting. She showed us that beauty does not have to be natural, restrained or approved by others to be real.

Click through for five beauty lessons the “I Will Always Love You” legend taught us about knowing yourself, creating your own image and refusing to apologize for the woman you choose to become.