Dolly Parton says she sleeps in her makeup so she can always be camera-ready in case of emergencies

• Dolly Parton said in her new book that she's been sleeping in a full face of makeup since the 1980s.
• She said she began the tradition when she moved to LA "partly because of the earthquakes."

Dolly Parton is as well known for her signature look as she is for her musical talent.

And it turns out that the country music legend doesn't only put on her blond bombshell persona for audiences, as she makes sure she's made up when she's at home as well.

Writing in her new book, "Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones," released on Tuesday, Parton said that since the 1980s she has been sleeping in a full face of makeup to ensure that she is "ready to go" in case of emergencies that might force her out of bed.

"When I arrived in LA in the '80s, I started sleeping with my makeup on, partly because of the earthquakes," the "9 to 5" singer writes.

"I thought, 'I'm not heading out on the streets without makeup in case there are cameras out there! I'm going to be ready to go!'"

Parton's move to the West Coast coincided with her first taste of global fame, thanks to her pivot into movie acting.

Parton's debut film, "9 to 5," became the second highest-grossing film of 1980, and she followed it up with roles in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," costarring Burt Reynolds, and "Rhinestone," which also starred Sylvester Stallone.

While Parton's beauty routine flies in the face of conventional wisdom as most dermatologists will tell you that a critical step in skin care is washing your makeup off before bed, the 77-year-old star says she makes sure to cleanse her skin in the morning.

"It doesn't matter when you clean your face as long as you clean it once a day," she writes.

"After I wake up, I do all the little rituals, and then I start over again and go out every day and look good all day long," Parton adds.

"This is also true back home in Tennessee. I don't want to go to bed looking like a hag with Carl," the "Jolene" singer says of her husband of over 50 years, Carl Dean.

The Grammy Award-winning artist's love for makeup began when she was a young girl growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, as she recounts in "Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones."

Parton says she didn't have the money to buy cosmetics products but would make her own using household goods, such as matches, and wild plants like pokeberries.

"Pokeberries were major because you could mash them up and make a stain that — boy! — takes forever to come off. I would paint my lips with that," Parton recalls.

"I also used household goods to make homemade cosmetics. I'd strike one of Mama's long wooden kitchen matches, put a little spit on the end of it, and use that to color in my eyebrows and my beauty mark," she goes on to write.

"Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones" by Dolly Parton is available to buy now.