I don't think anyone works harder than Cardi B's nail tech. The rapper just released the music video for her newest single, "Imaginary Playerz," on Aug. 15, and I'm fully in awe of just how many stunning nail looks she was able to fit into three-and-a-half minutes. The video itself features exactly what I've come to expect from Cardi B these days, which is a ton of stunning imagery of her sailing on a yacht, flying on a private jet, and in general, just living a life of luxury. While it's pretty obvious that everything about the visual was expensive, I'm more focused on what the glam budget was.
The morning after the video dropped, Cardi's longtime nail tech, Coca Michelle, took to her Instagram Story to share a handful of behind-the-scenes videos and close-up photos of several of the manicures that the rapper wore in the video. One of the looks featured short, square-shaped nails that were painted with a black base and had emerald-cut gems glued to the top.
Cardi's "emerald cut" manicure from the "Imaginary Playerz" music video.
In another slide, Michelle shared a collage of two other nail looks. One was a medium-length almond manicure with a black base and white polka dots that were accented with what appears to be the Chanel logo. Another featured a photo of long, black stiletto nails with two curved white lines drawn across the middle of each nail. Judging by the photo, it's safe to assume that most of the looks were pre-painted by Michelle onto a set of tips before being applied when it was time to shoot.
A collage of Cardi's polka dot nail look and her black stiletto nails.
But, of course, that's not where things stop. In another slide, Cardi is seen wearing a long, oval look that features teal nail polish with "melted gold" borders. The melted gold looks like it was achieved with 3D gel that was applied to the borders of the nails before they were either painted with a metallic gold polish or dipped in gold chrome powder. Either way, it looks both stunning and expensive.
A close-up of Cardi's teal manicure with gold 3D borders.
Michelle shared a handful of other behind-the-scenes pics from the video, and to my surprise, some of the looks shown were outfits and glam that Cardi happened to also be wearing during her many appearances at Paris Couture Week last month.
Let's face it, Cardi B's nail looks will always be one-of-a-kind, but if you want to achieve at least somewhat similar that you can wear at home, shop a few must-haves ahead.
