How to do Monica Bellucci’s Italian Siren Makeup

Euro summer is forever. It’s so much more than a Pinterest board, it’s a state of mind—living la dolce vita in easy, breezy fabrics as you sip on a limoncello spritz with your European fling while “Love in Portofino” plays in the background. Euro summer beauty, naturally, is all about sun-kissed skin, no-makeup-makeup, and berry-stained lips. But as September rolls around, we must consider: What does Euro fall look like?

Enter: Italian Siren makeup. Sultry, Italian-inspired makeup, à la Monica Bellucci, is having its moment on our For You Pages. And it’s the perfect formula for fall glam: a smudged, chocolate brown smoky eye paired with pillowy nude lips and satin skin. Read on for everything you need to know about the sultry, soft glam trend that won’t stop popping up on our TikTok feeds—straight from Bellucci’s makeup artist herself.

The Trend

Having starred in cult classics like The Matrix and Mafia Mamma, Monica Bellucci is widely regarded as the embodiment of chic Italian glamour. So it’s no surprise that beauty influencers are trying to emulate the Italian siren’s subtle and sophisticated elegance. TikTok is obsessed with European beauty—from hyping up niche French pharmacy finds to the tomato girl summer aesthetic—so Italian siren makeup is a natural progression from that. After an entire summer of minimalist beauty trends, the Italian siren look is simultaneously a breath of fresh air and a nostalgic nod to ’90s glam. 

Confidently seductive, the Italian siren knows her worth and isn’t afraid to command a room. She’s living la dolce vita in her own way, in a sleek pair of black patent leather pumps with a negroni in hand. Sometimes, she’s the glamorous villain we secretly like to root for. Her makeup is a reflection of that, luxuriously velvety and a little intoxicating.

I like to think of Italian siren makeup as the quiet luxury take on last fall’s mob wife beauty trend: soft-spoken but seductive, nostalgic but timeless. For inspo, look no further than the countless Pinterest reposts of Bellucci in La Riffa—her soft matte skin, elevated smoky eye, chiseled cheekbones, and nude lip make for a cohesive and classic soft glam look.

How to Do Italian Siren Glam

Unlike the tomato girl, the Italian siren’s skin looks almost airbrushed, with a satin finish that’s blurred to perfection with a product like Danessa Myricks Beauty Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder. Greasy skin? Don’t know her. Top off your base with a halo of bronzer and a taupey-pink, barely-there blush applied on the high points of the cheeks to lift the face.

The star of the show, of course, is Bellucci’s signature smoky eye. Warm, lived-in, and sultry, the Italian siren eye is all about lifting and elongating the eye to add drama and dimension. Letizia Carnevale, a celebrity makeup artist that has worked with Bellucci for 20 years, broke it down into a few steps for Byrdie: “I always use a brown pencil to create deep, captivating eyes, topped with a shadow that’s sometimes champagne, sometimes dark golden brown.” Then, she goes in with eyeliner in the waterline and around the lashline. A creamy chocolate brown eyeliner—like the R.E.M. Beauty at the Borderline Gel Eyeliner in Teddy—is perfect for adding subtle but sultry dimension to the eye. For added drama, you can always lightly smoke out the eyeliner.

As for the lips, nothing says Italian siren more than a nude pink lip. Carnevale starts off with the cult-classic Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Liner in Pillow Talk, layering it with a delicate touch of nude lipstick applied with a brush and a dab of the Charlotte Tilbury Hyaluronic Happikiss Balm. As for the finishing touch, Carnevale soaks a cotton swab in concealer, carving out the lips with the swab for added definition.