Cardi B's Dramatic Glow-Up: Over 30 Photos Show How the Rapper Reinvented Her Look Through the Years

From biopolymer removal to a $13,000 diamond piercing gone missing, Cardi B's transformation has been anything but subtle, and she's never pretended otherwise.

Across interviews, livestreams, and red carpet appearances, the Bronx-born rapper has shared the highs and lows of reinventing her look.

But through it all, she's pushed back at the idea that her glow-up came from a place of insecurity or from trying to win anyone's approval.

The Surgeries, the Scrutiny, and the Story Behind the Glow-Up

Cardi B's glow-up didn't happen all at once. It took surgeries, setbacks, and a lot of headlines. Her procedures include breast implants, liposuction, a nose job, two surgeries on her butt, lip enhancements, and a diamond butt crack piercing.

In 2019, she tried injectable fillers in her nose after seeing the non-surgical trend online. It backfired. She revealed on the Jason Lee Podcast in January 2023, "When you see things on Instagram, it makes sense. But fillers made my nose longer. It got wider."

Even before her rise to fame, she had disliked her nose and wished to change how it looked. "I always felt like I had a big nose [...] I got my daddy's nose," she shared. But the fillers had made it even worse. "I was like, 'Oh my God, what did I do to myself?'"

The fallout left her with no choice but to undergo surgery. She had a rhinoplasty sometime after releasing "WAP" in 2020, after getting surgeon recommendations from Kim Kardashian.

The Price of Regret: Butt Injections and Major Reductions

The messy nose fillers weren't the only procedure Cardi would regret. Before mainstream fame, Cardi had silicone injections in her butt, a decision she now calls a mistake.

"It takes rounds to get your butt injections removed," she explained in 2024. "In January, I got surgery. I got some of my butt injections removed. I also went to fix [certain things with my fibrosis]."

She described the procedure as similar to a tummy tuck. "I practically did a tummy tuck on my ass. So the top of my ass, like that skin part, is numb," she shared. Despite already undergoing two surgeries, critics kept pushing for more.

"People be like, 'Well, you need to reduce your butt more,'" she said. "I have to literally sit on a table, get cut from the bottom, get cut from the top, and be embarrassed for like three months. I'm not going to put myself in that position again because you don't like my body. I'm comfortable. I learned to live with it."

The $13,000 Piercing That Went Down the Drain

In early 2025, Cardi got a diamond-studded butt crack piercing, which promptly disappeared. "It cost me like $13,000 because it was real diamonds. And guess what? It went down the toilet."

The piercing, done at Maria Tash, didn't hurt due to numbness from previous surgery. Cardi still hadn't replaced it at the time of the interview in September. "I just haven't been in the mood," she told Alex Cooper.

Lipo for Curves, Not Weight Loss

Critics have often accused her of rushing to surgery any time she gains weight. Cardi set the record straight. She explained, "Actually, I do lipo so I could look thicker. I'm naturally skinny. If I'm sad, I lose weight. If I'm working too much, I don't eat. So I lose weight."

She also emphasized that she gives her body time to heal postpartum, saying, "You have to wait six, seven months before you get any type of surgery after you give birth. You lose so much blood. Your body is still contracting. Your organs are still contracting."

Cardi shares three children with ex Offset: Kulture, Wave, and Blossom. She discovered her third pregnancy in March 2024 after waking up with a coppery taste in her mouth. But even as her body healed and her life shifted, the scrutiny never let up.

Openness Isn't a Win

Being honest hasn't made things easier. "When you do tell [people] your business, it's like it's bad too [...] You can never win," she stated. Cardi contrasted her approach with how the Kardashians handle plastic surgery speculation.

"They never lied. They just felt like, 'I don't have to tell you my business.' And then it's like, you know what? I'm going to be more honest about it," she said.

But rather than being praised for transparency, she says the honesty is often turned against her.

It Was Never for a Man

Of all the assumptions thrown her way, two refuse to die: that Cardi B changed her body because she was insecure and that she did it to keep her ex-partner from cheating. She rejected both outright.

"I'm not insecure about myself," she stressed. And she didn't stop there. "When a man fall in love with me, they fall in love for me, [...] for my personality, and because I'm a really pretty girl."

Cardi made it clear that cheating has nothing to do with a woman's appearance and everything to do with the man. She emphasized. "A man will cheat on you with the ugliest, brokeest, probably finest, or probably the ugliest [woman]. It really depends on the night. It really depends who's available and who's around [sic]."

She added that seeing who some men cheat with has only reinforced her point. "The girls that I've been seeing, I be [sic] like, I'm surprised," she said. "I'm not in your caliber if you [expletive] like this."

For Cardi, the suggestion that surgery equals low self‑esteem is especially insulting, because she was already making money off her looks long before she ever went under the knife.

"I used to make money off dancing naked," she said. "I was making money because of my looks. Not because of my brain. Not because of my mouth. Because of my looks." That was before any procedures.

"I was making thousands of dollars because of my looks before surgery. Before I got my teeth done, before I got my nose done, before I got my ass done," she said. "So I never [sic] really been insecure."

Instead, she says her decisions come down to preference, not pressure. "I just really like a certain type of bodies," Cardi explained. "And if I have the money and if I could, I'm going to change it if I want to."

She compared cosmetic work to switching hairstyles. "It's almost like a wig," she stated. "You change your wig every other day. Does that mean you're insecure about your hair or how you look? No. I'm not neither [sic]. I just like what I like."

As for specific procedures, Cardi framed them as decisions she made, finished, and moved on from. "I never really liked my nose too much, and I fixed it, and it's done," she said. "Didn't like my teeth that much, and I went, and I fixed them, and I'm done."

And she hasn't ruled out future tweaks either. "And you know, like when I'm probably in my 50s and stuff, if I got to do a little pull and tuck, then I will," she added.

No Regrets, No Shame

Dr. Hardy, a plastic surgeon, reviewed Cardi's history and said her transparency helps others make safer decisions.

"She's had some silicone injections into her butt, and she openly admits that was a mistake," he noted. "She's also had really good plastic surgery — breast augmentation with lift, likely liposuction or a tummy tuck — a common 'mommy makeover.'"

Despite all the changes, Cardi says she's finally at peace with her reflection. "Sometimes I think, is my body really messed up or something? But I look at myself in the mirror, and I really wouldn't change a thing. I'm comfortable. I don't get no complaints from nobody [sic]. It is what it is," she said.

Fans React to Her Pre-Fame Photos

And when photos of Cardi from before her fame resurfaced online, fans are usually quick to show their love.

"She was beautiful," one wrote. "Natural beauty," said another. "Wow… she got that natural beauty in her," added a third. From a different post, one fan noted, "The nose it's different."

For all the criticism and curiosity surrounding her body, Cardi B remains firm in her choices. Whether it's removing injections, embracing surgery, or laughing off a flushed jewel, she continues to live on her own terms and refuses to let anyone else define her beauty.