EAU DE PARTON

I Tried Dolly Parton’s $500 Birthday Perfume—Here Are My Thoughts

This exclusive signature scent is worth every penny.

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Caramelized amber, anjou pear, and bergamot are just some of the notes in Dolly Parton’s Crystal Edition Parfum, a $500 limited-edition birthday fragrance—and by limited edition, I mean only 1946 bottles of the fragrance were made to commemorate her birth year. When I think of Dolly Parton, I think of an icon in every sense of the word. She’s a country music legend, a philanthropist, and an advocate, but it doesn’t end there. Her signature platinum blonde hair, her everyday glam that’s never complete without lashes and a bold lip, and the glitzy rhinestone getups she always wears make her the ultimate style and beauty icon.

Naturally, when I first heard about Dolly Parton’s beauty line—Dolly Beauty—I knew I had to get my hands on it. As a fragrance addict, the limited edition Crystal Edition perfume was at the top of my wish list. Dolly Beauty also offers a slew of more affordable fragrances, but it was the super-concentrated Crystal Edition I was after. I’ll admit, I was dying to score a bottle mostly because of the gorgeous packaging (I can never say no to sparkles!) and the exclusivity, but I was also dying to know what Dolly’s signature scent smelled like. Plus, thanks to the limited quantity (I snagged bottle #1571) and the lofty price tag, this isn’t a perfume that everyone is going to smell like.

Dolly Beauty

$500

Dolly Beauty Crystal Edition Parfum

The bottle includes a rhinestone-encrusted butterfly, and the fragrance is applied to the skin with a glass rod—not an atomizer, making it the ultimate vanity candy. But it’s the scent itself that really stands out. It’s rich, decadent, and elevated—not what I expected based on the bottle.

See At Dolly Beauty

My nose picks up on the jasmine, amber, and pear, and a dash of patchouli. Patchouli can be polarizing, but it works beautifully in this fragrance. I typically go for sweet, vanilla, gourmand-type scents, and I adore it. My mom, who prefers something citrusy, fresh, and light, happens to be just as obsessed as I am. She describes it as “exquisite,” and I couldn’t agree more.

It’s also one of the longest-lasting fragrances I own (think 12 hours or more of wear time), and it projects. The scent can be smelled by those around you, but not in a migraine-inducing kind of way. Sure, it’s a pretty penny, but for the quality, the packaging, and the performance, I think it’s well worth the investment—especially for Dolly fans.

Dolly Beauty’s lineup doesn’t stop at perfume. The collection also includes lip liners, glosses, lipsticks, eye pencils, and mascara in the same sparkly rhinestone packaging as the Crystal Edition Perfume. As with the fragrance, I had high hopes for the cosmetics because Dolly is never without a full face, and it didn’t disappoint—especially the super creamy and line-blurring lip liner and lip gloss. Overall, Dolly Beauty isn’t just another celebrity beauty line with less-than-impressive formulas. In fact, I think it’s incredibly underrated.

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Reece AndavolgyiFreelancer

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