For Cliff Vmir, doing Cardi B's hair is no big deal. He knew her before Kulture, before Offset, before Invasion of Privacy, before Bodak Yellow, and even before Love & Hip-Hop, the show that shot Cardi B straight to stardom.
Obviously it's been thrilling for him to see his close friend come into fame. But it's been even more thrilling to see his own fame grow with her. After meeting Cardi when he was just 18 years old, the now Atlanta-based hairstylist made his first $1 million by the time he was 19, thanks to Cardi and other celebrity clients including Jazmine Sullivan, Tiffany "New York" Pollard, Joseline Hernandez, and Blac Chyna.
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The milestone came after a whole lot of hustle, going from his first salon in the basement of his family's home in Delaware to launching his own hair line, HYM Hair, to gaining more than 140,000 followers on Instagram. Now just 21 years old, he's best known as the man behind Cardi B's recent blue and rainbow-coloured hair, which are his favourite looks he's done on her thus far. Read ahead to learn more about his journey, and why he and Cardi clicked.
Finally Free
"When I was super duper young, I had my dad being like, 'Oh, you're not doing that,' because growing up, I was always trying to play with Barbie dolls and stuff. Then, when my dad and mom split up [and] my dad left, I was able to go full force into what I wanted to do and started to hustle into a career.
"When I was super duper young, I had my dad being like, 'Oh, you're not doing that,' because growing up, I was always trying to play with Barbie dolls and stuff. Then, when my dad and mom split up [and] my dad left, I was able to go full force into what I wanted to do and started to hustle into a career.
"Ever since then, I’ve been slaying. I never knew I was gonna be big as a stylist. I was on Instagram really early, and I was one of the few who would post videos of my entire process and keep my fans entertained. They started to go viral, and that got me a ton of new followers. One time, I made $23,000 after a two-day hair sale."
The Cardi Connection
"I’ve been working with Cardi back before she was on Love & Hip-Hop; it was when she was still stripping. She would come into Delaware, where I was one of the hottest hairstylists, but I was never available because of scheduling conflicts. Finally, one time I was in New York in 2015, her manager contacted me to do her hair and ever since then, we try to meet up every other month. Because I have been doing her hair for so long, she’s still the exact same Cardi and she’s open to trying new things."
"I’ve been working with Cardi back before she was on Love & Hip-Hop; it was when she was still stripping. She would come into Delaware, where I was one of the hottest hairstylists, but I was never available because of scheduling conflicts. Finally, one time I was in New York in 2015, her manager contacted me to do her hair and ever since then, we try to meet up every other month. Because I have been doing her hair for so long, she’s still the exact same Cardi and she’s open to trying new things."
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Colour Theories
"I think we work so well together because Cardi is crazy and daring. You never really know what she’s going to do and say. She did just get gifted a blue Lamborghini and she was like, 'Cliff, I gotta get that colour,' and she was so happy. I mixed together four different dyes and we got exactly the colour she wanted.
"I think we work so well together because Cardi is crazy and daring. You never really know what she’s going to do and say. She did just get gifted a blue Lamborghini and she was like, 'Cliff, I gotta get that colour,' and she was so happy. I mixed together four different dyes and we got exactly the colour she wanted.
"For the multi-colour, I was so scared to do that because she sent me a picture of a girl with all this different colour hair and I was like, 'Girl, I don't know how that’s gonna look.' She was like, 'No, I know.' And so we did it and it turned out great. Each of these looks range from $1,500 to $2,000."
The Future Is His
"I feel like what makes me good at what I do is that I focus on what's important, and that's working hard and the craft itself.
"I feel like what makes me good at what I do is that I focus on what's important, and that's working hard and the craft itself.
"Strategically in my mind, I'm thinking, 'What can I do next?' I just feel like with Cardi, it popped off more and now I've got this attention on me. I have this lash line I'm gonna do. I have some aspirations in music, and becoming a rapper. I want to get into reality TV. I really am just so excited about what's to come."