Update: Even though Cardi B's manicurist said nothing would be changing when the baby arrived, the rapper still chose to file down her signature claws for safety reasons. But, it seems like she might have found an excuse to bring back her favorite look —for one unexpected purpose. "Ok so if you noticed I changed my nail shape from pointy to square so I won’t hurt my baby," she explained on Twitter. "I’m thinking about only changing my pinky nail shape back to pointy so I can take my babies little boogers out." Very clever, Cardi.
This story was originally published July 13, 2018.
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From her front-row fashion to "baby strobing," you shouldn't expect anything short of extra from Cardi B — over-the-top is just her expertise. With no intentions of toning down her "a little something-something" style, even now that she's added motherhood to her resume, Cardi's nail artist, Jenny Bui of Nails on 7th, confirms that her elaborate two-inch nails are here to stay.
"Nothing is changing," Bui tells us. "She should be here in the next two or three weeks."
Cardi may have already made up her mind to keep her signature manicure style, but she still has some concerns about handling her claws and a newborn. "I wonder how I’m going to manage after my baby comes," Cardi wrote on Instagram just before baby Kulture's arrival, comparing herself to the Puerto Rican singer — and long-taloned trendsetter — Ivy Queen. But Bui, who's been doing the rapper's nails for over five years, has faith that her client will be just fine. "She's had those nails for so long, she'll know how to manage," she says.
True to form, Cardi welcomed Kulture Kiari Cephus earlier this week with long, colorful nails, which made an appearance in the birth-announcement photos she shared to Instagram. As if blooming from the flower garden around her, Cardi rocked a set of acrylics in vivid orange and yellow, colors that the star hand-picked herself. "This time she said she just wanted colorful," says Bui. "She picked those colors because she said she wanted it to be bright."
Bright, indeed. And while her priorities have probably shifted just a bit since that Ivy Queen post, Cardi has one more thing to think about as a new mom (you know, with everything else that comes in welcoming motherhood): How will she get to her New York-based manicurist while nursing in Atlanta? Bui has no doubt that Cardi be on her way to her home city soon, no matter what. "She's already called me saying that she misses me," she says. Now, that's loyalty.