Billie Eilish covers the latest issue of British Vogue. Having covered Billie’s interviews since she was, like, 15 or 16 years old, I often feel like a proud aunt whenever I read her interviews these days. She’s calmed down so much, and she’s grown into a really cool young woman. This piece wasn’t a traditional magazine profile – British Vogue got several celebrity friends to submit questions to Billie, and those are the questions she answered. It was actually nice, because she was asked some stuff that no magazine has ever asked her. Some highlights:

Why she doesn’t have long nails anymore: “OK, well, God, I love having long nails so much but I can’t play any instruments with them. I love to pick up a guitar or play piano when at home or on tour and I just can’t do that when I have insanely long nails. I pop some on every now and then though. I miss them so much.”

What makes her the happiest: “You know what my answer is to this one: dopamine. [Laughs.] I love activities. I love doing stuff. I can’t be stagnant. That’s what really makes me happy, things that make me feel activated and stimulated and alive. So… anything that involves dopamine.

Whether she & Finneas can read each other’s minds: “Yes, all the time! I mean it’s the sibling thing, you know? We look at each other in silence and we both know we’re thinking the same exact thing. It happens constantly, especially with other people around. He can also read my mind when writing and creating together. He knows what I’m thinking and feeling before I even know it.

How she feels about her name: “I love this question! I absolutely hated my name when I was a kid. “I thought Billie was a boy’s name.” That’s all I ever heard every day of my life. I remember just being so mad, and all I wanted was to have a girly name, like Violet or like Lavender, some sort of, you know, pretty flowery name. And it’s so funny because now there’s no other name in the universe that could be my name besides Billie. I love my name so so so much. It really is the only possible choice for who I am. I just feel like it’s exactly perfect for me and who I am. I was named after my grandfather, who was named William. So technically the first Billy I ever knew was my grandfather, but I never met him. The first female Billie I think I knew of was Billie Piper, from Doctor Who. I loved Doctor Who, so I was very, very excited about that. But then at the same time I was jealous and mad because I was like, “Why would anybody say my name and mean someone else? Unacceptable!”

What makes her proud of her generation: “I feel proud of my generation [when] I think of the acceptance and mostly welcoming nature that says it’s OK to be who you are. You know, [I’ve talked] to my parents about their parents, and how anything traumatic or intense that happened was completely never spoken about. And I think that it’s so important to talk and be open and communicate, and not be ashamed to fucking feel. I appreciate that about my generation, even though it can be extensive. We Gen Z-ers are big, big feelers and emotional people. But I appreciate it at the same time.

Her gas station order: “I don’t hit the gas stations that much anymore because I drive an electric car but I’ll always, always get gum. I’ll buy gum anytime I see it. Good old spearmint. Never fruity, never a bubblegum. Disgusting. Also a Monster energy drink… hehe.

Her favorite hair colors: “Well, I really like to romanticise two specific periods in my life: the green roots and the red roots. Green and black especially felt like such a personal and career-defining look for me. I felt so exactly who I was at that time. I’d never really seen anything like that before and it felt really nice to have something that felt like mine. That shade of green was like my colour for so long. I loved it so much. Hair, nails, clothes. It was such a magical period for me, and it was so intense. I felt like I was becoming who I am.

Should you floss before or after brushing your teeth: “Amazing question. I used to always floss first, then brush, then mouthwash. But that was more an OCD thing: small, bigger, biggest. But I do think the correct way would be brush, floss then mouthwash. Way too much sh-t in there if you start with floss.”

[From British Vogue]

Re: floss… sometimes you’ve got to floss first because you can feel the food stuck in your teeth. But if you’re just flossing as part of a nighttime ritual, then I agree, the order should be brushing, flossing and then mouthwash. As for her name… I was the same way with my name, I disliked my name when I was a kid and wished I had a floral or girly name like Summer or Violet. But I grew into my name and now I love it, and it’s cool that Billie grew into her name too. I’m also obsessed with gum, but I don’t buy gum at gas stations, I buy multipacks at the grocery store.

Cover courtesy of British Vogue, additional photos courtesy of Cover Images & Avalon Red.