Building a Menopause Brand: Naomi Watts on HRT, Hot Flashes & Hollywood

9 snips

Feb 17, 2026

Naomi Watts, Academy Award–nominated actress, entrepreneur and author who founded Stripes Beauty, shares her menopause journey. She discusses an early menopause diagnosis, desperate fertility searches, and navigating night sweats, brain fog and migraines. Naomi explains choosing long-term HRT, launching a menopause-forward brand, and pushing candid conversations about midlife health and aging.

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ANECDOTE

Childhood Shaped Adaptability

Naomi grew up moving frequently after her father's death and credits that adaptability for her resilience.
She moved to Australia at 14 and the changes shaped her identity and ability to adjust.

ANECDOTE

Early Menopause Diagnosis

Naomi Watts was blindsided when a doctor told her she was approaching menopause at 36.
She initially blamed herself and embarked on a desperate fertility journey before having children later.

ANECDOTE

Symptoms Before The Diagnosis

Naomi experienced night sweats, migraines, brain fog and recurrent UTIs long before she recognized menopause.
Those symptoms worsened after her second child and led her to learn about estrogen-related changes like vaginal dryness and skin dehydration.

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This week on unPaused, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Naomi Watts, Academy Award nominated actress, entrepreneur, and New York Times bestselling author of Dare I Say It. Naomi's career spans decades in Hollywood, from her breakthrough role in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive to recent work with directors like Ryan Murphy and Lena Dunham. After receiving a shocking early menopause diagnosis at 36 while struggling with fertility, Naomi spent years navigating untreated symptoms in silence before becoming an unexpected advocate for millions of women facing midlife transitions. In 2021, she founded Stripes Beauty, a menopause focused skincare and wellness brand built on community, education, and celebrating womens earned wisdom rather than promising to reverse time.

In this conversation, Dr. Haver and Naomi explore the reality of growing up across continents after losing her father at eight years old, the decade long struggle to break into Hollywood, and the moment at 30 when her acting career finally launched. Naomi opens up about the devastating news from her doctor that she was approaching menopause at 36, the desperate fertility journey that followed including traveling to China for herbal remedies and extreme dietary changes, and the perimenopause symptoms she dismissed as allergies or stress in her late twenties including night sweats, migraines, brain fog, and sleep disruption.

Guest links:

Naomi Watts (Instagram)
Naomi Watts (IMDB)
Stripes Beauty

Other Resources

Davina McCall (Instagram)
Stacy London (Instagram)
Dr. Jen Gunter

Books

“Inconceivable, 20th Anniversary Edition: A Woman's Triumph over Despair and Statistics,” by Julia Indichova
“Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause,” by Naomi Watts
“The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver

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