14 DAY TRIAL // It all started with a photo Nicki Minaj posted to her Twitter in February this year, in which she proudly announced that she wasn’t wearing a wig or extensions for the first time in a very long time. Also gone was the wacky makeup and colorful clothes, revealing a Nicki many of her fans could hardly recognize.
That Nicki is definitely here to stay, her new hairstylist Oscar James says in a new interview with Cosmopolitan magazine, because now that she’s toned down her image, she doesn’t want to go back.
After the February photo mentioned above, Nicki has done several red carpet appearances to showcase her new look, with the most recent shown in the photo above. It was for the premiere of the film “The Other Woman” with Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, and Kate Upton, in which Nicki also has a part, and you can definitely see how much of a difference her makeunder makes.
Before that, the rapper also showed up at the MTV Movie Awards 2014, dressed in a sleek black dress and with just her natural hair. Well, she did have a few extensions then, James says for the magazine, but other than that she was pretty natural.
Before James, Nicki used to work with Terrence Davidson but they parted ways. James explains that it was Tyra Banks who recommended him to the rapper, who called him up with an idea for a makeunder that would transform her from a real-life Barbie to a more glamorous, understatedly beautiful woman.
“She just told me that she wanted to tone down a little. Maybe she’s trying to reach a broader audience, I don’t know. But I’m taken aback even myself because she’s so pretty… you can really see her features. I’m just so honored to be part of this journey and I’m so happy that she chose me. She’s so beautiful. I didn’t know all that was underneath is what I’m trying to say,” James tells the magazine.
He explains that he personally prefers to work with wigs instead of with natural hair because it can get damaged easily from all the changes. He’s trying to get Nicki to wear them again, telling her that they don’t really have to be as fake-looking and outrageous as those she used to wear but, for the time being, she won’t budge.
“She wants to do less. Just less, less, less,” he says. You have to admit, less suits her just fine.