Gwyneth Paltrow: Turning 50 is a breeze compared to 40

With a business that offers myriad, often bizarre, remedies for ageing, Gwyneth Paltrow has admitted she once feared she’d have a ‘full meltdown’ when she turned 50.

But with that landmark just days away, the Hollywood star says she feels ‘amazing’ – and is keen to celebrate the way she looks. ‘I wore the shortest skirt I’d worn in ten years just the other day,’ she said in a blog post on her Goop website. ‘It was this old Chanel dress I found in the basement, and it worked.

‘I don’t think there are rules around when you stop wearing certain kinds of clothes at a particular age. For so many women… this is the peak time of their lives. So I’m happy at this big birthday.’

Ms Paltrow turns 50 on September 27, but instead of the expected dread, she said: ‘I feel so good, I’m so grateful I’m alive, I’m so happy that I’m healthy’ – in stark contrast to how she felt turning 40.

In an interview with the Financial Times yesterday, the Shakespeare In Love star admitted: ‘At that point I was wrestling with what it meant to my life and career to be a woman who was no longer desirable in a way that made me commercial.

‘I was letting go of needing to be reproductively viable, because that’s really what sexiness in culture is. Things fundamentally change in terms of how society regards you, especially if you’ve been objectified since you were 20.’

The Mail on Sunday understands Ms Paltrow – who marked her 48th birthday by posing naked on Instagram – will spend her big day on a Goop cruise, a festival of clean living and ‘alternative healing’ promoted by her lifestyle brand.

The nine-day Mediterranean trip is marketed to those with ‘an open-minded approach to self-optimisation’. A source said: ‘Gwyneth will celebrate her milestone birthday with the people who have helped her turn what was a modest lifestyle blog into a £220 million brand.

Looking good: Ms Paltrow marked her 48th birthday by posing naked on Instagram

Birthday in style: The Mail on Sunday understands she will spend her big day on a Goop cruise, a festival of clean living and ‘alternative healing’ promoted by her lifestyle brand. The nine-day Mediterranean trip is marketed to those with ‘an open-minded approach to self-optimisation’. Picture: file image of Celebrity Beyond cruise ship on its way to Southampton

‘She’s planning a party at some point. But she will be on the cruise for her birthday, and couldn’t be happier. She is a CEO, so spending her birthday working is who she is now.’

The cruise, which costs between £1,300 and £7,000 a head, departs from Barcelona on September 24.

On board, there will be mindfulness sessions, workouts and healthy cooking classes. Ms Paltrow is expected to join husband, Brad Falchuk, 51, for a romantic dinner when the ship visits the Italian port of Santa Margherita on her birthday.

Goop’s products include a £60 jade vaginal egg a £65 scented candle called ‘This Smells Like My Vagina’ and an £85 ‘viva la vulva’ vibrator. A source said: ‘It’s easy to ridicule some of the outlandish things Gwyneth sells, but she’s one of the most genuine people I know. She works incredibly hard, and it doesn’t surprise me that she’ll be working on her birthday.’

She added that Gwyneth is planning a 50th party on another date with celebrity pals in Los Angeles, but Ms Paltrow’s publicist declined to comment last night.