Is sleeping with your make-up on, like Dolly Parton, bad for your skin?

Dolly Parton may be renowned for her glamour, but the 73-year-old country singer recently admitted to one big beauty faux-pas: not taking her make-up off at night.

“I leave my make-up on at night and clean my face in the morning,” Dolly recently told the New York Times.

Explaining her logic, she added: "You never know if you’re going to wreck the bus, you never know if you’re going to be somewhere in a hotel and there’s going to be a fire.”

In addition to staining our pillowcases, we’ve always been told that sleeping in make-up is bad news for our skin.

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So does this beauty rule hold true, or is sleeping in our war paint a la Dolly actually fair game? We asked consultant dermatologist Dr. Justine Hextall.

“Sleeping in makeup – especially foundation – can block pores and have a comedogenic [ie blackhead causing] effect.

Leaving make-up on overnight can also cause dryness and irritation, particularly around the eye area, she adds.

But the more prevalent issue is that not washing your face before bed deprives your skin of valuable healing time.

“Overnight is an excellent time for skin repair. I maximise mine by applying hyaluronic acid and ceramides, as well as applying antioxidants to mitigate against free radical damage,” says Dr Hextall.

“So, leaving make-up on means there’s a missed opportunity to repair and hydrate the skin barrier.”

Dolly’s not the only celebrity who’s admitted to a rather unusual skincare routine.

Last year, Elizabeth Hurley claimed she moisturises 10 times a day.

Nigella Lawson, meanwhile, has spoken about her love of exfoliating her whole body with special washing up clothes.