Christmas can be an incredibly stressful time of year, with the pressure to buy loads of gifts and impress your loved ones with an elaborate spread, driving many of us into an anxious spiral.
But Turia Pitt, in her trademark pragmatic style, has chosen to ditch gift-giving this year in her family and forgo the tradition of giving out presents.
“We don’t do it,” the Avène skincare ambassador told The Australian Women’s Weekly.
No gifts at all?
“No, because if you’re an adult, if you want something you just buy it,” she explained.
The 32-year-old and her partner Michael Hoskin have made one exception with their two-year-old son Havakai, buying him a small Christmas present.
“We got him a train set. When he is eight he’ll be wanting an Xbox and a PlayStation, so we figure we can hold out until then,” she said.
“I don’t want him to grow up being really spoiled, and he is totally spoiled with love.”
Turia and her two-year-old son Havakai.
(Credit: Instagram)
Havakai, Turia and Michael in a cute family selfie while on holidays recently.
(Credit: Instagram)
Michael and Turia met before the fire that burned Turia’s body, and have stuck by each other’s side ever since.
(Credit: Instagram)Turia was just 26 years old when in 2011 she suffered horrific burns to 65 per cent of her body, after getting caught in a grassfire while running an ultramarathon through Western Australia.
She was placed in a medically-induced coma for a month, while all the fingers on her right hand, as well as two on her left, were amputated.
Even after she woke up, she spent the next six months recovering in hospital. Since then, she had more than 200 surgeries and took two years to fully recover.
Now, she is able to mostly live a completely normal life, competing in Ironman races and living an active lifestyle.
READ NEXT: The rare, intimate photos of Turia Pitt taken before the fire that nearly killed her
Turia is expecting her second child in February.
(Credit: Instagram)Turia is currently pregnant with her second child and says she is “excited” to add a new addition to her family.
“I’m excited about having another baby and I haven’t been that sick or anything,” she said.
“It’s been good except now I have a toddler now. During the first pregnancy, if I felt tired and I wasn’t doing anything I could sleep, but I can’t now because I have a child.”
She is due in February, and jokes that her son Havakai hasn’t quite grasped the concept of him having a sibling yet.
“He does know there is a baby in there, but I don’t think he thinks anything more of it,” Turia joked of her son.
READ NEXT: Turia Pitt and Michael Hoskin’s love story
Turia’s adorable little family.
(Credit: Instagram)Turia still needs to undergo regular operations, but pregnancy has halted her recovery slightly.
“If I wasn’t pregnant, I would have around three operations a year, and I could have more,” she explained, “but I want to balance getting better and having operations with having a normal life.”
“Say I was doing a surgery every month, I wouldn’t be able to do an Ironman event and see friends and do family things like go to my nephew’s birthday party,” she said.
“Three [surgeries] a year is a good number because I’m making progress and I’m getting better, but I’m not missing out on anything.”
Her last operation was on her nose to “make my nostrils larger”, as well as laser surgery to smooth out her skin.
Turia pictured during a skin treatment in France.
(Credit: Supplied)Protecting her skin, which was burned badly in the fire and required a huge number of skin grafts, is crucial to Turia’s ongoing recovery.
She is an ambassador for French skincare brand Avène, whose products she was first introduced to in 2013, when she visited a burns treatment facility in France to help fix her damaged skin.
“I wasn’t really into [skincare] before the fire. But as a kid, I always moisturised my skin excessively, so when I got told I would have to do that everyday on my scars, it wasn’t such a big deal,” she said.
“If you have burned or scarred skin, the doctors told me ‘You probably won’t be able to go outside much’ and that just didn’t gel with me, because I’m such an outdoorsy person. I love running and exploring.
“Now that in 32 I do have to take more care of my skin. I think that’s just the process of ageing, unfortunately.”
She’s been advised by her doctors to stay out of the sun, moisturise morning and night and use a healing balm on her skin after an operation.
“It’s kind of the stuff we should all be doing … don’t go out to the beach in the middle of the day, if you’ve got to be in the sun, wear a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeved shirt, and lots of moisturiser morning and night,” Turia said.
WATCH BELOW: Turia Pitt and Michael Hoskin’s love story. Story continues after video.
TURIA’S TOP FAVOURITE BEAUTY PRODUCTS
1. Go-To Skincare’s Transformazing Hydrating Sheet Mask
“Zoe Foster Blake is very clever and these sheet masks are really good,” Turia said.
“If I use one of these before I speak at an event or before I do my makeup, it kind of makes you look like you did when you were 25.”
“I use the Avène sunscreen everyday,” she said.
3. Avène Tolerance Extreme Renovation
“I use this on my face everyday.”
4. Charlotte Tilbury’s Wonderglow Primer
“I find this is a really good moisturiser under makeup. If I do the Go-To sheet mask, then primer, then I don’t need a lot of foundation,” she said.
“Avène has got foundations, but they’re not available in Australia yet, so I use an Avène foundation. But if I’m getting my makeup done, the makeup artist just uses whatever she’s got in her kit.”
5. Avène Cicalfate Restorative Skin Cream
“If my skin is fragile, I’ll put this on.”
6. Avène XeraCalm Lipid-Replenishing Balm
“I use this healing balm on my body after I’ve had an operation.”
7. Keratin hair treatments
“I have thick Tahitian hair, so if I don’t have a keratin treatment, I look like a wild woman,” Turia joked.
“Then it’s easier to just run a brush through it. You don’t have to blow dry it which is a long process and your arms get really shaky and sore.”
