Forget Stiletto Shapes — Cardi B’s ‘Needle Nails’ Are The Next Manicure Craze

You know what’s actually brain-boggling to think about? The fact that technically, Cardi B’s only released one studio album so far. Sure, she’s produced heaps of singles, music videos, and a trio of mixtapes, but it’s wildly impressive to think about her reach and influence with a sole LP to her name. Part of it is her general charisma and fan-first approach, but there’s plenty to be said for her eye for visuals, too — even when she’s only guest-starring on another artist’s track. For a new song-video collaboration with rapper Rob49, Cardi B’s pointy nails and two-toned hair color are cool enough to launch a pair of fresh summer trends on their own. Some acts need a full album cycle to launch a new look, but Cardi just needs three minutes of film time and her own verse.

In the just-released music video for “On Da Money (With Cardi B)”, one of the central aesthetic themes seems to be a play on vintage, old-school opulence. Cardi is seen with retro cat-eye sunglasses and her hair wrapped in a scarf for some shots and a voluminous, ‘50-style lob in another. It’s all about the twist, though. While her hair is a glossy shade of deep raven, her bangs are bleached platinum blonde — like a glamorous (and animal-loving) Cruella DeVille. It’s her nails, though, that are really eye-grabbing.

Surely you’ve heard of a stiletto manicure, which are known (and beloved) for coming to a fine point at the ends. Cardi’s music video look, though, takes the style is such an extreme direction that they’re in their own category — you might as well call them “needle nails” for how thin and tapered they are. The set is impressively long, filed into a narrow, razor-sharp shape. She wears two different shades in the video, including a posh black matte and a very shine deep red.

Virtually everything Cardi does or wears ends up trending, so question is — will needle nails catch on with the general public? The combination of such an extreme shape and length might make it difficult for the average fan to indulge in the look on an everyday basis, but a shorter version could very well be the next wave. Cardi B helped usher in the resurgences of almond, stiletto, and square-shaped nails over the past few years, so it stands to reason that she can absolutely do it again.