Spotlight: Nicki Minaj

For the “Spotlight” post for March I wanted to feature an artist with really fun style and really fun music. My initial thought was to do Gaga, which I’m sure I will do eventually, but I am really tentative about because when I do Gaga I really want to make sure to do her justice. So, I scrapped that idea. Still, I wanted to feature an artist whose visuals were just as strong as their music and who would allow me to experiment with some really offbeat, off-the-wall sort of looks. Then it dawned on me: Who does imagery as strong as Gaga’s but also puts an emphasis on fun, bright colors and such in their looks and style? Katy Perry? Did her last month. Duh! It’s Nicki Minaj! The timing seemed perfect because her sophomore album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” is set for release next week and she is an artist who has been providing me with a lot of inspiration lately with the music leaking from this record and her brilliant music videos and general style. So, I set about finding different looks from Nicki that I wanted to recreate and really fell in love with so many that it was hard to narrow it down to few enough to not overwhelm myself and you, the readers, with trying to cram too much into one post. Still, I managed to select a few of my very favorites to feature here. So, let’s get right down to it!

 SUCKA FREE

I only included this look to kind of show the transformation Nicki has gone through since the beginning of her career. This was the shoot for the cover of her second mixtape, called “Sucka Free.” Nicki started her career in 2007 releasing a mixtape called “Playtime Is Over” and went on to release 5 more mixtapes prior to releasing her debut studio album. At the beginning of her career, Nicki’s look was much more “video skank” than actual superstar. Thank goodness, for her sake, that this period didn’t last very long! It did not take long for Nicki to take inspiration from the Harajuku looks of Osaka, Tokyo, and develop a really fresh, gorgeous style all her own.

BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY




For the artwork for 2009’s “Beam Me Up, Scotty” mixtape, Nicki really embraced the whole “Harajuku Barbie” niche she had carved out for herself. This mixtape also featured one of my very favorite Nicki songs, “Kill Da DJ.” Below you can see a fan-made video for this song featuring a lot of footage of looks from this period in Nicki’s career, including some footage of the photoshoot featured above.

 

HELLO, GOOD MORNING (REMIX) 

Nicki has also appeared as a featured artist in videos and songs by SEVERAL other artists. She has featured in tracks from artists ranging from pop stars like Mariah Carey, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera to some of the biggest rappers of today like Kanye West, Drake and Rick Ross and even featuring on dance tracks from David Guetta and  Madonna’s recent single “Give Me All Your Luvin’.” One of my favorite songs she has featured on was Diddy Dirty Money’s “Hello, Good Morning (Remix.)” This video also featured one of my favorite looks she has done. Check out the video below.

PINK FRIDAY

In November 2010, Nicki finally released her debut studio album, “Pink Friday.” I absolutely love this record, especially the way Nicki manages to incorporate elements of hardcore rap and bubblegum pop and electro/dance music, often all in one track. The album is pretty brilliant start to finish, and features 3 singles that I absolutely loved and wanted to recreate looks from the videos for. First of all, Nicki’s official first single from the album, “Check It Out (featuring Will.i.am,)” which is a really ridiculous, fun, pop track and featured a look that was a pretty perfect representation for the song. Then there is “Moment 4 Life (featuring Drake,)” a considerably more serious track, featuring a considerably more serious, classic look from Nicki. Last, but not least, is Nicki’s biggest hit to this day, “Super Bass,” an over the top, truly unique love anthem, which featured several great makeup looks in it’s video, including the one I recreated in the pictures below.

CHECK IT OUT

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
MAC Pro Longwear Foundation in NW20
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Concealer in Fair
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (highlight and pink blush)

EYES:
Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Delinquent
Sugarpill Cosmetics Eye Shadow in Dollipop
Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Naked
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (highlight)
L’oreal Infallible Eye Pencil in Black
L’oreal HiP Color Truth Cream Liner in Black
Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara

LIPS:
Rimmel Lasting Finish Intense Wear Lipstick in Dizzy
Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Glam

MOMENT 4 LIFE

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Foundation in Natural Beige
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Concealer in Fair
Guerlain Meteorites Perles Illuminating Finishing Powder in 03
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (highlight)
Urban Decay Afterglow Powder Blush in Score

EYES:
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (highlight shade all over lid, contour shade in crease)
Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Minx
L’oreal Extra Intense Liquid Pencil Liner in Carbon Black
Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Liner in Perversion
Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara

LIPS:
Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart
Revlon Lip Butter in Cupcake

SUPER BASS

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
MAC Pro Longwear Foundation in NW20
MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NW20
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (highlight)
Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights in Tease

EYES:
Sugarpill Cosmetics Eye Shadows in Butter Cupcake, Midori, Afterparty and Tako
Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Naked
Rimmel London Soft Kohl Kajal Liner Pencil in Pure White
L’oreal Infallible Eye Liner Pencil in Black
L’oreal Lineur Intense Liquid Liner in Carbon Black

LIPS:
NYC Lip Liner Pencil in 956A
NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme in Addis Ababa
Tarte Vitamin Infused Lip Gloss in Serenity

PINK FRIDAY: ROMAN RELOADED

Next week, April 3, 2012, Nicki will be releasing her sophomore album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.” This record was preceded by a number of promo and buzz singles, including tracks reviewed in the January and February New Single & Leak Review posts, “Roman In Moscow,” “Stupid Hoe” and “Roman Reloaded.” While the album isn’t being released until next week, it happens to have leaked this past week and I have to say – it’s fucking brilliant! This album is like “Pink Friday” in the sense that it incorporates a lot of dance, pop and hip-hop elements all at once, although I will say that this album has a pretty clear division, much more than “Pink Friday” did. The first nine tracks are all heavier and more rap-focused then the following 9 tracks are much more dance/pop oriented and actually heavily feature Nicki singing, which she didn’t do a ton of on “Pink Friday.” I cannot stop listening to this new record! It is amazing and I definitely recommend picking it up when it comes out!

STUPID HOE

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Skin Corrector BB Cream in Light/Medium
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Concealer in Fair
Coty Airspun Loose Powder in Translucent
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (highlight)
Urban Decay Afterglow Powder Blush in Score
Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eye Liner in Brown (freckles)

EYES:
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (highlight all over lid)
Rimmel London Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil in Pure White
Physician’s Formula Magic Mosaic Multi-Colored Customer Blush in Soft Rose/Rose
L’oreal HiP Color Truth Cream Liner in Black
Ulta Lash Blow Out Mascara in Black

LIPS:
Nivea A Kiss Of Moisture Lip Balm
Sugarpill Cosmetics Eye Shadow in Butter Cupcake

MAC VIVA GLAM NICKI

Lastly, I wanted to feature Nicki’s look from her recent MAC ad for the release of her very own Viva Glam lipstick, Viva Glam Nicki. This makes Nicki only the 3rd person to have a Viva Glam Lipstick named after her, after Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga. This is a very high honor to receive, in my opinion, because MAC’s Viva Glam Lip Products were created to benefit the MAC AIDS Fund, going towards AIDS research and prevention efforts. Plus, MAC is kind of the industry standard for beauty products, so it is a really big deal to be honored by them. I decided to recreate the look from her ad, as well as featuring her namesake lipstick.

PRODUCTS USED:

FACE:
MAC Pro Longwear Foundation in NW20
MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NW20
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (highlight and contour)
Stila Convertible Color Lip & Cheek Color in Orchid

EYES:
Glamour Doll Eyes Circus Collection Eye Shadows in Oddity and Cotton Candy
Sedona Lace Contour & Blush Palette (highlight)
Rimmel London Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil in Pure White
L’oreal HiP Color Truth Cream Liner in Black
L’oreal Extra Intense Liquid Liner Pencil in Carbon Black
Ulta Lash Blow Out Mascara

LIPS:
MAC Lipstick in Viva Glam Nicki

There you have it – the Spotlight post for the month of March! The one thing I did want to mention about these looks, though, is that I don’t think I got the lips right on a single one of them, aside from the yellow lips for the “Stupid Hoe” look. For some reason, I could never seem to get the right pink. It is kind of a Nicki signature to have bright pink lips, so I tried to do that in every look, but it just never seemed to come across the right type of pink or with the correct opracity. So, that sucked. Beyond that, though, I was really happy with my Nicki Minaj looks and I hope you all enjoyed them, as well! In the meantime, I wish you all a beautiful weekend and a beautiful life!

Jason