Naomi Watts reveals ‘intolerable’ menopause symptom that made her develop a skincare brand ‘from scalp to vag’

When she started speaking out about “the change,” Naomi Watts was worried about branding herself as a “menopausal lady” in Hollywood.

“Agism is alive and well. I was nervous about it, but I thought: If I can help a few, that would be meaningful. And it turns out it wasn’t career suicide,” she said at an event at Credo Beauty in Manhattan on Tuesday.

At 56, her acting career is still thriving — but she’s also got a whole personal care company, Stripes Beauty, that she says address menopause issues “from scalp to vag.”

Watts started going through menopause earlier than most. This was 20 years ago — long before it had been rebranded as “cougar puberty,” and even before the term “perimenopause” was widely ised.

“At 36, I was trying to start a family and I wasn’t getting pregnant,” she recalled.

Her doctor ordered some bloodwork and told her she was “close to menopause” — not something she was happy to hear.

“And it was just ‘boom.’ And I left the office in pieces,” she said.

Fortunately, she was able to get pregnant not once but twice. But once she stopped breastfeeding her second child, she began experiencing “hardcore symptoms” and started on hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

“I dealt with my symptoms pretty early, which I was very happy about. But I still didn’t know much about it, and I still didn’t know [about] all of these other things that were happening in my body were related to menopause,” she said.

“One of the main things that really was intolerable for me because of my work was itchy, aggravated, sensitive, raging skin,” she went on.

The loss of estrogen during menopause can lead to lots of symptoms, including dehydration. That’s why so many women experience vaginal dryness — but that dryness doesn’t just happen down below. It can also affect your skin, your scalp and your body as a whole.

“I didn’t know that,” Watts admitted. “And so I was messing around with my products, going, ‘Oh, well, this one, I’ve always used it. It’s been fine,’ ‘No, that’s not working, get rid of that one.’ And then I realized nothing was working.”

On top of that, she was mostly dealing with the issues solo — and in a “very ageist industry,” leaving her feeling “alone and ashamed.”

So she wanted to do something about it, dreaming up her own brand, Stripes Beauty.

“I decided that I would just take a risk — it could be a terrible idea or a good idea — and I cold-pitched this idea to a bio-tech company and said, ‘Hey, a woman in perimenopause has been left out. She’s either been overpromised to, lied to, been told that there’s such a thing as anti-aging.’ It’s just not true,” she said.

Stripes “speaks to the dry points, from scalp to vag,” with ingredients that target hydration issues and sensitive skin. Products include face creams and serums, a hair mask, supplements, and a “hydrating gel for intimate moisture” punnily named “Vag of Honor.”

“We want a woman to feel confident, because there’s a lot going on at this stage of life,” she said. “A woman should feel like she’s still important. She should invest in herself.”

This is especially important to Watts, who didn’t feel like people were talking about menopause and perimenopause when she was going through it. Worse, everything she has heard about menopausal women was

“I wished there was a handbook, some kind of guide, that could tell me it’s not the end — that you can still be sexy, you can still be fun, and still work and do all of these things,” she said.

“Because the messaging from the patriarchy was that it was all over once you can’t push out babies anymore. And it was just terrible messaging.”

Fortunately, things are changing. She’s not the only star sharing her experience: Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek and Halle Berry are among the growing roster of A-listers speaking out.

“I don’t think the stigma is gonna hang around for too much longer,” Watts said.

The star also shared her advice for women who are heading into perimenopause themselves: Don’t fear it, and keep her “5 Ts” in mind:

• Timelines: “We all put timelines on ourselves… We have got to be married by this age, I’ve got to have a baby by this age,” she said. “I love plans, but you don’t have to fixate on them. Let them change, let them alter.”
• Teachers: “Fine teachers, good mentors is what we need all through life.”
• Tribe: “I need a tribe of women around me, the women I trust that keep me authentic.”
• Tenderness: “Be kind to yourself and expect that from others as well. Trying to be compassionate.”
• Truth.