You might know Zoe Saldana as a green, extremely strong extra-terrestrial or a large-and-in-charge blue royal Avatar. Although she doesn’t actually look like the characters she plays in Guardians of the Galaxy and Avatar respectively, their fierce and playful personalities match her’s perfectly.
It makes sense that the 39-year-old actress blends power and play in her everyday life because she has a ton on her plate: work, activism, and three baby boys— twins who are three and a one-and-a-half-year-old. Amidst her busy schedule, we had the pleasure of catching up with Saldana as she enjoyed an Italian getaway with her family.
Source: Instagram
In between talking in Italian to her children, telling us she wishes she could send us photos of them dressed as jaguars and tigers, and eventually sending them outside to play, we found out quite a bit about the Saldana. Ahead, in her own words, she tells us how she treats herself, how she and husband Marco Perego find time together, and most importantly, her comfort food.
Her Definition of Self-Care
I think it’s a mixture of definitely having good hygiene while trying to work with your body’s natural scents. Like whatever your body’s natural essence or scent or smell it is that you have, match it with the products that you use. I think there are so many products that we like to use for ourselves that don’t necessarily match our chemistry, like our physical chemistry. That means taking the time to go and invest in good brands, finding them, and going through different products and testing how everything is on your body— how it smells in the morning, and the afternoon, and then in the evening. I think it’s the best thing you can do for yourself because self care is always being super clean and taking a bath, washing your face, and flossing right before you go to bed no matter how late you get home, but also trying to match your body’s natural temperature.
I like nurturing myself by paying close attention to what I’m doing with my body.
Learning to Invest
I think it’s a combination of both [learning self-care from a young age and have it change as grow older]. I was always taught to take pride in the way that I clean and maintain myself. I think using a lot of home remedies and natural products like olive oil, and things that are super pure like shea butter, are things I learned growing up as a New Yorker. But I’ve also learned as I grow older to invest in brands, not necessarily expensive or inexpensive brands, but to look into how these brands are put together, the pride that the company takes into making their products for their consumers. It’s important to know what you’re putting on your body or skin, the specific ingredients. I like nurturing myself by paying close attention to what I’m doing with my body.
Hero Beauty Products
I really like Davines, it’s an Italian brand, and I like them because they use a lot of organic ingredients for their line. And for face, I’m a huge fan lately of Dr. Hauschka, but I also like to wash my face with regular Cetaphil from the pharmacy. I love it.
Her Ultimate Day Off
Oh my God, I would sleep. I would sleep in the most comfortable bed that’s not too soft and not too hard, with pillows not too thin but not too thick, the perfect temperature, and perfect darkness in the room so my mind won’t just turn on. And I would sleep maybe 18 hours. I haven’t slept for eight hours straight in like three years— ha!
Source: Instagram
Self-Care as a Mother
It has to do with the fact that our children are still so very young, we have a set of twins [3 years-old] and a one-and-a-half-year-old. So, their demand for their mommy is exceptionally high right now. They’re so vulnerable and so codependent and I know as they get older it’ll get easier. I’ll be able to go back to my earlier routines and things that I used to do when I had a lot more time to dedicate to myself. But right now, my husband and I we do what we can, and we’re grateful— even if it means staying up later so we can spend time together and have conversations. Right now, the best thing that we do when we have those 30 minutes off, is that we reminisce on how fun it was when it was just us— ha!
They [her three kids] are so vulnerable and so codependent and I know as they get older it’ll get easier.
On Her Go-To Comfort Food
Oh my gosh, there’s too many, just too many. But so many of them have rice in it. I love rice, I grew up with rice it’s a part of my heritage. I also married into a culture where rice and pasta are comfort food. Anything with rice I completely live for!
In our series, “Operation Recharge,” we task celebrities and influencers with sharing what self-care means to them, as well as the activities, products, and treatments they indulge in for downtime done right.