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Naomi Watts is a silver screen icon for the ages. From her turn as a David Lynch ingenue in "Mulholland Drive" to her recent work as lawyer Liberty Ronson on "All's Fair," Watts' talent and beauty have captivated audiences for decades.
These days, Watts has expanded her repertoire well beyond Hollywood. In 2022, she founded Stripes Beauty, a brand committed to helping women entering perimenopause and menopause "age comfortably," as stated on its website.
"GMA" recently sat down with Watts in person to discuss the newest addition to the Stripes Beauty family, the Rich & Tight Ultra Hydrating & Firming Peptide Body Butter.
Like many, Watts said she had ample time during the COVID lockdown to "sit at home with [her] ideas."
"I'd talked about menopause privately with friends and my boyfriend at the time, who is now my husband, and I was sort of gaining confidence in being more open about it," she said. "I had said I wished there was a book about it and the fear of navigating it. I wished there was some source of guidance that told you it wasn't the end, that you could feel supported by your community, you could have fun, you could still be sexy, still have lots of energy."
When a friend suggested Watts write a book to address her concerns, she said her initial reaction was to veto the idea.
"I was like, 'I'm not a writer, and I'm not telling anyone I've got menopause -- I'm in the most ageist industry of all!'" she recounted.
Instead, she said she formulated a pitch around her concerns and took that idea to a biotech company. Eighteen months later, Stripes Beauty was born.
Watts' first experience with menopausal symptoms came when her skin became reactive and irritated while working on set -- something she didn't realize could be attributed to changing hormones.
"I'd go to the dermatologist, and he'd say, 'Here's some ointment, maybe you're just allergic to something. Maybe you're too stressed,'" she recalled.
She said changing her skin care routine helped marginally, but other symptoms popped up that pointed to underlying causes. One of those, she said, was a newfound sensitivity to fragrance.
"If you're like me in your menopause journey, you get sensory overload," she said. "Perfumes I used to wear in my 20s and 30s I was obsessed with, now I'm like, 'Tone it down! I can't! I can't.'"
To address those concerns, the development team at Stripes leaned into key, gentle ingredients that appear throughout the line -- squalane and ectoine -- as well as a light, gentle fragrance that aims to soothe the wearer rather than overwhelm them.
"People love this fragrance because it's a well-balanced one," Watts explained. "It's not too musky and not too earthy, just a bit of both."
Conversations about health can get uncomfortable, and Watts' experience with older generations avoiding the topic of menopause was a catalyst for her to be bold in sharing her story and listening to women who want to do the same.
"The messaging that I was getting -- our generation, [Gen X] -- is that it's the end. 'Go to the corner, you're done.' I hated that," she said. "That's why women weren't talking to each other and sharing their stories, because they didn't want to be told, 'Sit the rest of it out.'"
These days, Google searches for the terms "perimenopause" and "menopause" are seeing breakout numbers, along with symptoms that can be attributed to these conditions. Watts said she is pleased that many doctors have switched gears to be more proactive about these conversations than others have in the past.
"Now we're living longer, and it has to be up to us to change the narrative," Watts said. "It was long overdue. The door has been cracked open, and yeah, women did want to talk about it. They don't want to feel like they should suffer in silence and just suck it up."
"So much of feeling your best is about confidence," said Watts, "and what gives you confidence? Comfort, community, hydration and education."
This Stripes body butter offers comfort and hydration in spades thanks to the key ingredients squalane and ectoine mentioned above, as well as a rich mixture of shea and cocoa butter that melts into skin instantly without leaving a greasy feel.
In addition to the moisture and hydration it can provide, Rich & Tight also claims to reduce the look of sagging and crepey skin thanks to peptides that can potentially increase collagen and elastin production.
"I think people are really craving the experience of a luxurious body butter for ultra hydration and firming," Watts said. "Not many products out there on the market are going to be doing the two things at once ... it's quite hard to do!"
The packaging and product names are also a selling point, as Watts wanted something that felt luxurious, cozy and warm, rather than leaning into a more common neutral palette that might fade into the background.
"We wanted something that was bold," she said, "because it's all about owning your story and not hiding anymore."
"Also the cheeky names," she continued. "With the Rich & Tight and The Full Monty, you can see there's a nod and a wink and hopefully some lightness, because it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom for this time."
In addition to hydrated and nourished skin, Watts said her goal with Stripes Beauty has always been to make women "feel seen and spoken to authentically" as they age.
"That's the thing I was looking for -- hope and community and something that was aspirational," she said. "...She can have the confidence, and with product solutions that create the hydration, she can thrive."
She added, "It was important to me that it's not just about the product, it's about bringing stories together. We want to reflect you, make you feel seen. Be bold and daring and unapologetic at the same time."
Shop the full Stripes Beauty collection here, and browse some of our top picks below.
