There is no doubt that Naomi Watts is a stunning woman and a brilliant actress. Her impressive work in movies such as “The Impossible” and “King Kong” has earned her two Academy Award nominations, and her most recent project, the Netflix series called “The Watcher” is currently the No. 1 most-watched show in the United States on this streaming platform. 

However, Watts doesn’t shy away from stepping into new roles as well. The actress recently revealed that she is coming out with a beauty and wellness brand called Stripes. The goal of her brand is to embrace the strength and beauty of women reaching menopause and making it clear that our lives don’t end when we lose the ability to reproduce.

Menopause doesn’t make you irrelevant 

Naomi recently revealed that she hit menopause much earlier than the majority of women. Her experiences with perimenopause began when she was in her mid-30s, and trying to get pregnant. She explained: “That’s when I started to hear from my doctor that my hormones were changing at quite a drastic level, and it put me into such a terrible panic.” Luckily l, she was able to get pregnant and is now the proud mother of two teenagers. However, she revealed that after her second pregnancy, the symptoms of menopause had increased: “I started feeling extreme symptoms after the second baby. And I sort of tested the waters, trying to talk to my peers about it, and wasn’t met with a huge reception, because I just didn’t think they were there yet.”

Even though she reached menopause earlier than most women, she didn’t let this stop her from fulfilling any of her goals. Naomi said: “I reject the notion that [menopause] marks the end of one’s life. Just because it’s the end of one’s reproductive life doesn’t mean to say you’re invisible or irrelevant. I wanted to have it be reminded that this is the beginning of a new point. Every woman will experience this at some point in their life — and obviously, they will be hit with it in different ways — but why not make it the best it can be? Even the better half?”

Menopause and dry skin 

Naomi revealed that her biggest challenge with menopause was the fact that she experienced severely dry and irritated skin. She explained: “This was something I saw every day play out as being an obstacle for me because I’m in front of the camera and my skin became irritable and itchy. I heard about hot flashes, I heard about night sweats but I hadn’t really heard about things like migraines. I certainly hadn’t heard about skin issues. I mean, 90 percent of women experience painful sex as well after menopause. And that’s the most taboo subject area.”

“Aging is a privilege” 

Naomi Watts

Aging is a privilege 

Naomi also made it clear that she isn’t scared of aging, and that there isn’t any reason to be. Remember, aging is a privilege, not a curse. The actress explained: “In my industry, it’s so polarized, the whole aging thing. I do see a lot of change since I began in this career, which was considered late by Hollywood standards. I really got going in my early 30s and I was told, once you get to your 40s it’s pretty much done. And here I am in my 50s and still going. And I look at women like Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Jessica Lange, Susan Sarandon, multiple fantastic, talented, intelligent people and I’m just so impressed by them. So I’m just, I’m just trying to make the most of it and celebrate this time.”