Chat with Saša Zor
Instagram is flooded with countless topics, but once in a while you may stumble upon creators posting only the best and the most valuable content. It doesn’t take long to find the profile of Saša Zor, whose heartfelt posts boost our everyday lives, give us food for thought and, naturally, lots of ideas for what to put on our plates. Saša is one fascinating woman who makes the most out of her life over and over again, looking for opportunities for personal growth and development. At the same time, she is the Director of Sales and Marketing at InterContinental Ljubljana, a true culinary connoisseur, a devoted mother to her son Mark, who’s about to become a big brother soon, and a wife, to mention just a few of her roles. We’re really excited that Saša joined us on our journey as our fifth ambassador. Several weeks ago, we spent a couple of hours together and chatted about beauty, healthy diet and much more. Enjoy the read!
1. Can you share some of your beauty rituals with us?
My initial response would be that I have none, but someone who really has no rituals would probably disagree. My beauty rituals are so ingrained in me that I perform them in autopilot mode. Nonetheless, meditation is definitely my greatest beauty ritual. It not only clears your mind and spirit, but also releases all face muscles and tension in the body. I do this ritual every single night and I believe it greatly affects our face and our overall presence. I love my long hair, so if you asked me about hair-related beauty rituals, I’d say that I pay a lot of attention to hair, especially because it is heat treated, long and thick. I follow a few golden rules – for example, I colour my hair at a hair salon every 10 weeks, have been going for the same combination of highlights and hair tint for 10 years, and I alternate between touching up the roots and colouring the entire length of hair. I don’t use hair straighteners and choose only the best hair products. As for skin care, I routinely use the double cleansing method every night and never leave my house without wearing sunscreen. Everything else depends on my day and the situation.
2. When do you feel most comfortable in your own skin?
When I’m at peace, happy and content, when I’m present here and now and truly aware of my life’s privileges. When I don’t let the things I don’t have overpower the gratitude for what I do have. This is when I feel that I’m in charge of my life and nothing depends on external circumstances, I’m the one who’s in control. I smile more and feel relaxed, and when I smile more, I like myself better. I start radiating this energy that people around me can feel and begin giving it back, so it’s a two-way process. And as any other woman, I feel great when I get myself ready. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to use a ton of make-up and always wear heels – it simply means wearing clothes that, in my opinion, suit me and add some colour. I really don’t like wearing all-black outfits. Even a tiny bit of make-up and a good fragrance can significantly improve how you feel.
3. Where do you most often see beauty, be it in people, life or things?
I’m an aesthete at heart, so these things mean a lot to me. I’m doing my best to make my life symmetrical, it’s just who I am. Some of my friends often make fun of me when they say that I live in an Excel file. I look at life through a series of tiny squares, assembling them into images in my head and processing my days. Aesthetics is important to me, but not in a nonchalant way – I even find the beauty of expression important. I notice things like proper use of language, kind faces and warm smiles. In my line of work, the nuances and shades of grey play a significant role, nothing is black and white and everything depends on the feeling and experience. So I believe that there’s much more to beauty than what you see in a picture, it’s all about the feeling.
4. What role does nutrition play in your well-being and good looks?
I have experienced first-hand that food can be a medicine and I think it’s much more important than meeting some physiological needs. I primarily see it as a source of rituals and a basis for cultivating certain family values. In this day and age, we’re all trying to find instant shortcuts, everyone talks about stress and a fast pace of life. We could say that sitting down with your family twice a day to enjoy a home-cooked meal, the ingredients of which had to be bought in advance and come from a reliable source, and the process of cleaning everything up, is a tradition in its own way. A home where you can smell homemade food has a completely different character. That’s why I devote a lot of attention to food and I try to pass it on to my child, who’s already responding to it. All three of us are actually foodies and our favourite moments are when we sit down at the table. We also love inviting our extended family and friends for a visit on the weekends. We always have a great time over food, which is why I appreciate it, respect its origins as well as each and everyone who has helped grow and pick these crops. I don’t take this for granted.
5. Have you always liked your hair and what does it mean to you?
I guess I’ve always taken it for granted because my entire family has good genes hair-wise. It seemed normal to us to have thick hair with no major problems. I may have realised during my adolescence, when different things bothered me at one time or another, that I’m quite lucky in that regard. I wanted to be a brunette at one point because I always admired the Amazonian women who are a complete opposite to me, a blonde. But it was just one of those phases I went through. I have never experimented with hair, be it colour, style or length, which has been the same all my life. I have never had those phases or felt the need to show changes through my appearance.
6. Do you ever think of cutting your hair?
Yes, I’ve been playing with this idea. I adore women with short hair. I don’t think I fit the profile, but I do like a medium length because it feels lightweight and I feel I might find the courage to do it at a certain turning point in my life. When I go to my hairdresser, who knows me really well, I always tell her that the day has come to cut my hair. But she keeps saying that I’d be sorry because my hair would never grow that long again. She would like me to wait because neither of us is truly ready yet, and she seems more interested in protecting my hair than me.
7. Do you have any beauty hacks up your sleeve that you could share?
I always use a hair mask as a pre-treatment. I apply the mask on my hair and put it in a bun, and before going to bed, I cover it with a warm muslin cloth I heated up in the oven beforehand. The next morning I wash my hair with shampoo. I find that the warmth works really well with the active ingredients, which nourish the hair from within. But I’ve never experimented with home-made face products. Another thing I find important is nutrition. Looking at myself, I believe that proper nutrition and carefully selected supplements help you age better. Skin looks nourished and hair is shiny and stronger than ever.
8. Is there a beauty ideal that calls your name?
No, I don’t think so. I tend to compare myself with me from different periods in life, but not in a radical sense, as in me today and 15 years ago, but from day to day and based on the way I feel. I like everything classic and am not the type of woman who would experiment with eye shadow or hair colour. I stick to the same set of products, make-up looks and fashion styles. If they make me feel good, I don’t need to change them. We could say that I work on some of my personal characteristics, for instance optimising certain personality traits, rather than my looks. Looks change as a consequence.
9. So you have never been insecure about your looks?
Freckles bothered me a lot in my adolescent years and I was so happy when we had our photos taken and had my freckles covered with foundation. I liked myself better without them. Today, however, freckles are a part of me that makes me stand out. Perhaps I look a bit younger thanks to them and they also hint at mischief and Pippi Longstocking. This balances out my responsible and serious side.
10. Which personality trait are you most proud of?
I had to think hard about this one. I know which trait I’m trying to eliminate and it’s perfectionism. It has brought me far career-wise, but I’ve also paid the price. I don’t think I can single out a trait; this is a group of traits that stand out, especially in relationships where other people affect you as well. I think your husband’s personality is extremely important if you are to spend lots of time together. Maybe one of my traits is not that superior, but combined with his opposing personality trait, the two produce the winning combination. That’s how we function and that’s why I cannot single out one trait. It’s the co-dependence that prevails along with enough flexibility to maintain a relationship, adapt to one another and work on oneself. I guess this is what I’m most proud of: continuous self-improvement. I’m not resting in a comfortable state of mind. Instead, I keep searching for ways to grow even more. Looking back ten years, I can say that I’ve made several steps that have nothing to do with what my business card says.
11. Can you share your first impressions using The Royal Affair products?
I like to stick to the principle of “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” and I’m usually a bit sceptical when it comes to using new products. I don’t feel like testing new things all the time. However, I wanted to give this brand a chance because it’s a local Slovenian brand unlike the products I was using before. With age, I’m becoming more of a patriot and ambassador of Slovenian inventiveness. I think it’s important to shift from praising only foreign products to taking pride in local ones, so I wanted to change that, too. My first impression of the shampoo was that it didn’t suit my hair. It felt I’d have to use half a tube in one go, my old shampoo foamed more because of sulphates it contained. But then it foamed a little and I realized that foaming is not necessary to clean the scalp, but rather a habit. The conditioner felt too weak at first because I was used to applying masks on my hair. Then I tried a combination of shampoo and mask, which blew my mind. I get excellent results with my hair-wrapping technique and leaving the mask on the hair overnight. Even my hairdresser noticed how healthy my hair looks. It doesn’t even need cutting because it’s nourished and moisturised from the roots to the ends. I love this mask and I can’t wait to tell a wider community about it, people keep asking me about these things. What I find particularly important, especially during pregnancy, is the fact that these products don’t contain any artificial ingredients. If I devote so much of my attention to the origin of food, why not consider the origin of products I use on my hair? At the end of the day, everything gets absorbed through the skin. I also like the sustainable packaging, this is definitely a plus.
