Naomi Watts at the New York premiere of “The Watcher” on October 12, 2022
Photo: Dominik Bindl/Getty Images
It’s a busy time for Naomi Watts. Her New Animated Series “The Watcher” Streams on Netflix; she is contemplating which actor she would like to play her in a biopic; and, like so many other celebrities, she is launching a beauty and wellness brand.
On Tuesday, which is also “Menopause Awareness Day,” the beloved British actor introduces Stripes, a line of products that addresses menopause health. The name Stripes, Watts tells me in a pre-launch Zoom interview (which he joined from his impressive living room), references the brand’s DNA, similar to how thread-like chromosomes are embedded in each one of us.
“Those women [going through menopause] must feel unapologetic. They should feel proud of this time they have spent on earth and that all their accumulated experiences mean something,” he tells Fashionista. “This is not the end of life where we should be invisible and irrelevant. It’s the start of something wonderful, actually: we’ve earned this time, we’ve earned our stripes.”
Unlike the many celebrity-endorsed beauty and wellness brands that are already (over)saturating the market, Stripes differs in that it’s mission-driven, seeking to spark frank and nuanced conversations about menopause itself. Most of the menopausal transition occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, and usually lasts around seven years, but can last up to 14 years.
As a beauty veteran who co-founded “clean” beauty retailer Onda Beauty in 2014, Watts says that, sadly, this topic is still pretty stigmatized. Now 54, Watts feels a deep-seated personal connection to the brand’s mission: “I came up with Stripes because [menopause] It was a sore point in my life and a time when I didn’t feel like my best self. I felt very alone and confused by the fact that people just didn’t talk about it.”
For Watts, this topic is, at its core, about empathy. “We’re on the precipice of learning a lot more about what it means to be an empath. Before, women were categorized as ‘crazy old ladies’ who were just being ‘weird,'” she says. “You probably remember when you were going through puberty and how much empathy there was for you at that time from your parents because puberty was something that we all understood and it was well explained to us. [For menopause]we must understand that this is a natural phase of life and that everyone is headed there, and those who are not headed there will be affected in one way or another, even if it is indirectly.
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For its debut, Stripes presents an offer of 11 products priced between $40 and $85; this inaugural line is divided into four categories covering face, hair and body, supplements and vaginal wellness. Created in collaboration between Watts and beauty biotech company Amyris, Stripes offers lightweight hair serums and “thickening” hair masks, soothing body oils and facial serums, all with ingredients that lock in moisture and strengthen the skin’s barrier. skin. (Dehydration is a common symptom of menopause, with many women experiencing moisture loss as estrogen levels deplete.)
Stripes is also unique in that it directly addresses vaginal health, confronting a taboo fact of menopause: 50% of menopausal women may experience painful sex due to thinning and weakening of vaginal tissues or vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA). “It requires education and getting rid of shame,” says Watts. “And Stripes wants to be a one-stop shop. We don’t want you to have to go to several different places to look for several different products.”
Watts’ favorites from the debut range are the Power Move Serum ($85), a light, hydrating serum, and the Full Monty Body Oil ($65), which leaves a velvety, non-greasy finish. The collection was also carefully infused with an intentionally subtle scent, as those experiencing menopause may have sensory changes that make them sensitive to fragrance, notes Watts.
Overall, Watts hopes Stripes will start a meaningful dialogue around menopause and give people with a uterus the opportunity to feel more empowered to take charge of this part of their lives.
“It seems like we’ve all signed this secret code of silence and that’s probably due to the fact that we didn’t live that long before,” he says. “We’re now living as the first generation of internet users going through menopause, where we’ve been able to do some private research and find that there’s a community that wants more of this experience right now, and we don’t want to exist in agony anymore.” .
See the full range of inaugural Stripes products in the gallery below.
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Source: news.google.com