Amrita Hepi is a lady of innumerable talents. If there’s someone we’d want to call a perfect embodiment of what our generation stands for, she’d be it.

The local hero spends a lot of her time throwing shapes and, in the process, teaching some of Australia’s most unco humans how to dance like Rihanna and Beyoncé. She also choreographs dances for festivals and events, writes for places like Oyster magazine and SBS, and gives #inspiring talks on a string of important topics surrounding the arts.

We’re longtime fans of her work and so obviously jumped high at the chance to hang out with her at her Sydney home. We poked around her beauty cupboard, chilled in her bedroom, copped a good look at her book collection and got the low-down on everything from her skincare routine, plans for 2017 and feelings about the future. Get acquainted.

What’s your skincare routine?
I wash my face with with a cleanser (Cetaphil or Mario Badescu), then tone it if I’m feeling extra oily (Kate Somerville toner), put stuff on pimples if they rise — because somehow they are still around in my mid-twenties, the mother f**kers (Benzac) — and then Cetaphil moisturiser. Then maybe a serum (Mario Badescu or Glossier).

Do you wear make-up? What’s your go-to product?
Yep! And it’s the most annoying thing when I hear people say, “But you don’t need it, you’re beautiful without it!” and I’m like, “Bish I know that, but it’s fun and I like to look as expensive and fresh as the moon does!” My go-tos are: MAC foundation OR YSL tinted moisturiser, NARS duo blush orgasm/bronzer laguna, Hourglass eyebrow pen, Benefit mascara.

What’s your hair care approach, and what products do you use?
Now this is where I’m not fancy at all. I sweat a lot with work, and my hair has a thick mind of its own. I try to use shampoo and conditioner that doesn’t have nasty shit in it. At the moment, I’m using OM conditioner and shampoo.

What’s the biggest beauty mistake you’ve made?
GETTING CHEAP FAKE EYELASHES! They tore my real ones out. Bad idea. Very bad.

How do you unwind?
I do luxurious stuff by myself — take myself to a movie solo, eat yogurt in the bath solo, go shopping solo, go to get a massage solo. Also, I read. Read, read, read… Very unwinding ~~~

What’s your favourite breakfast food?
Lol, atm I’m addicted to Weetbix Bites with the fruity bits in them. I’ve never loved a cereal so dearly. I mean, uhh, green juice, lol.

What’s the one word you can’t stop saying at the moment?
“AYEEEEE”.

Favourite online shopping spot?
Alibaba, lol.

Netflix or Spotify? And what are you loving right now?
Spotify. Tinashe/Bryson Tiller/Joni Mitchell.

What’s your favourite travel destination and why?
Seriously anywhere as long as there is a place to swim good, sleep good, read good, tan safe.

Who was your first celeb crush?
Fred Astaire <3.

What’s your most treasured item of clothing/jewellery?
My partner bought me some Marni sandals for my B’day and I never thought I would say this, but I’m sayin’ it — I love them and they speak to me.

What does ‘beauty’ mean to you?
Resilience and good skin.

How do you feel about the future?
That it will curve into my will of black matriarchal plans.*Cackles.*

What characteristics do you think define our generation?
Responsive, adaptable, underestimated, changing, rapid.

What cultural / social shifts do you hope will happen in the next 10 years?
That intersectionality is seen and heard, that the offer of a treaty is made in Australia, that we acknowledge that having a vagina is not what makes “women”, that feminism isn’t seen as “intense” just as, like, what you do, and that Married At First Sight is off the goddamn television.

What are you most excited about for 2017?
Lawd, so much!  I’m doing a lot of travel this year and making work in new spaces. I’m also very interested in how I can integrate more tech into my dance practice ~watch this space~.

What would you like your legacy to be?
A movement that is as iconic as the dougie or the bend & snap.

Words, Madeleine Woon. Photography, Darren Luk.