All the best beauty looks from Normani and Cardi B’s ‘Wild Side’ video

From super long, super sleek mermaid hair to sculptural nails, the hair and make-up looks will give you serious envy

16July 2021

There is nothing like a music video to really get the creative beauty juices flowing. From Missy Elliot’s jump rope hair in the video for “Throw it Back” to Lil Nas X channeling Marie Antoniette’s towering rococo hair to lap dance for the devil in “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” to every single look in Beyoncé’s Black is King, we’ve witnessed some veritable beauty feasts for the eyes over the last few years.

Now there’s a new video to add to the list: Normani’s latest single “Wild Side” featuring Cardi B and a plethora of amazing hair and beauty looks. Directed by Tanu Muino and choreographed by Sean Bankhead, “Wild Side” is Normani’s first solo single since 2019’s “Motivation”. The homage-paying “Motivation” video featuring tributes to icons like Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez set the bar high, but the “Wild Side” video does not disappoint and even led Lil Nas X to tweet that it is “the best video I have ever seen in my entire life”.

From super long, super sleek mermaid hair and sculptural nails by Sojin Oh to a Debra Paget in The Indian Tomb reference, Normani and Cardi look head-to-toe incredible. The looks come courtesy of the beauty team including make-up artist Priscilla Ono and hair stylist Yusef Williams for Normani, and longtime collaborators hairstylist Tokyo Stylez and make-up artist Erika Roman for Cardi.

Here are the best beauty moments.

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Normani and Cardi B’s ‘Wild Side’

Jaunty Ponytail

First up we have this gravity-defying ponytail from Normani which she pairs with a black smokey eye and one of fashion’s hottest trends: a sexy, spidery cobweb outfit here courtesy of Isa Boulder. Whether she’s sideways, upside down, right ways up, or leaning back, the hair stays impeccably, jauntily, in place.

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Normani and Cardi B’s ‘Wild Side’

Crimped Hair & Purple Eye

More is more with this next look where Priscilla Ono combines a two-toned jewel purple eye with a red lip. Writing on Instagram, the make-up artist called the video shoot the “most magical three days”. “I adored working with such a talented group of creatives! When I tell you we just flowed and ideas ran like water,” she said.

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Normani and Cardi B’s ‘Wild Side’

Red Rum

Next we have this monochromatic all-red-everything scene during which Normani rocks a look I colloquially called “lamp head” in my notes and will more professionally refer to as a sculptural cubed red headpiece here. All in all I’d say it’s giving Vegas show girl meets Bauhaus lamp.

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Normani and Cardi B’s ‘Wild Side’

Leopards & Baby Curls

To writhe around in a tiny helicopter Normani wears head-to-toe leopard print: platform boots, corset dress, and headpiece. For the beauty, she rocks some water drop nails – a Sojin Oh signature – a sleek, bum-skimming ponytail, and pristine baby hair curls all across her forehead.

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Cardi Bared

For her verse, Cardi B appears in the video wearing nothing but her long-ass (I believe that’s the technical term) extreme quarantine hair which falls past her knees. And that’s about it apart from some transparent Sojin Oh talons which look like crystallised butterflies. Make-up artist Erika Roman broke down the look she did for Cardi on Instagram which involves pretty much all Pat McGrath products including the Mothership VIII Divine Rose II Palette for the eyes and Lust Gloss in Earth Angel on the lips.

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Normani’s nails

A close up look at Sojin Oh’s crystallised butterfly nails for Normani.

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Normani and Cardi B’s ‘Wild Side’

Bonus: The Cover Art

It’s not technically in the video but I couldn’t not mention the cover art for “Wild Side” which sees the two posing completely naked and covered only by extreme mermaid hair which loops and curls around their bodies in the most exquisite way. The supersized hair extensions came courtesy of Kendra’s Boutique.

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