Megan Thee Stallion's 'Hiss' Promo Includes a Retro Beauty Look

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 31 January 2024

After rising to fame in 2019, Megan Thee Stallion already is a force to be reckoned with— something a scroll through her many music awards, nominations, and even world records (of which she holds two!) will quickly prove. The star most released "Hiss," an immediate sensation that's already hit number one on Spotify and arrived with stunning imagery. Just today, Megan posted an additional photo of herself in gorgeous, nostalgic hair and makeup to promote the song.

The rapper posted the image to her Instagram story earlier this morning. In it, she wears a retro, bright red lip that channels both the high-octane glamour of the 1950s and the dark lipliner that's dominating the beauty world right now. I love this creative combination of the two styles, and appreciate that Megan chose to make her top lip darker than her bottom lip. She's embracing the natural shade difference between the two while still indulging in bright colors.

Megan's hair also proved that bangs aren't always a bad idea, after all. Her blunt fringe channels 1950s pinup stars like Bettie Page, who wore her black hair with a distinctive fringe while the rest cascaded down her back—just like Megan's look here. The artist nodded to Black beauty and put a contemporary spin on this classic style, though, by laying her edges beautifully along her temple. The curved shape of the baby hairs subtly mimics the coil of a snake, referencing the serpentine imagery prevalent in "Hiss" and its music video.

This look, however, differs from how Megan wore her hair in other "Hiss" promotions. In a recent behind-the-scenes post from her music video, for instance, she wore her long hair slicked back on the top, then hanging in shiny curls down her back.

When it comes to music, Megan truly never misses. That seems to be the case with her latest beauty looks, too.

Gabrielle Ulubay is a Beauty Writer at Marie Claire. She has also written about sexual wellness, politics, culture, and fashion at Marie Claire and at publications including The New York Times, HuffPost Personal, Bustle, Alma, Muskrat Magazine, O'Bheal, and elsewhere. Her personal essay in The New York Times' Modern Love column kickstarted her professional writing career in 2018, and that piece has since been printed in the 2019 revised edition of the Modern Love book. Having studied history, international relations, and film, she has made films on politics and gender equity in addition to writing about cinema for Film Ireland, University College Cork, and on her personal blog, gabrielleulubay.medium.com. Before working with Marie Claire, Gabrielle worked in local government, higher education, and sales, and has resided in four countries and counting. She has worked extensively in the e-commerce and sales spaces since 2020, and spent two years at Drizly, where she developed an expertise in finding the best, highest quality goods and experiences money can buy.

Deeply political, she believes that skincare, haircare, and sexual wellness are central tenets to one's overall health and fights for them to be taken seriously, especially for people of color. She also loves studying makeup as a means of artistic expression, drawing on her experience as an artist in her analysis of beauty trends. She's based in New York City, where she can be found watching movies or running her art business when she isn't writing. Find her on Twitter at @GabrielleUlubay or on Instagram at @gabrielle.ulubay, or follow her art at @suburban.graffiti.art

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