Monica Bellucci Shows Us How To Sex-Up Neutral Makeup

Neutrals: A staple in every girl's makeup bag, but in a color family hardly known for being scintillating. Basically, they're the Ned Flanders of cosmetics. And despite the name, nudes — especially of the beige, soft tan, and muted-pink variety — aren't our instinct when we're looking to get our seductress on. Welp, we're big enough people to admit when we're wrong: The gorgeous Monica Bellucci and Dolce & Gabbana have officially brought the sexy back to neutral makeup.

For their new summer collection, Dolce & Gabbana has foregone the usual bright hues in favor of a more demure line-up that "captures the essence of Italian femininity." The True Monica collection is based on Bellucci's signature look: "Sensual, carnal lips in nude tones and expressive smoky eyes create an intensely enigmatic face." True Monica features three lipsticks, an eye palette, an eyeliner shade, and a nail lacquer, all dreamt up by the brand's makeup creative-advisor, Pat McGrath. It also promotes some existing products in the line, including nude lipliners, a dark-brown eye pencil, and two neutral nail lacquers.

"Monica's signature look works on many skin tones," says McGrath. "Use the kohl pencil first, smudge and then apply the shadows to enhance the eye. To get the lips looking extra full, fill them in with lipliner first and then apply lipstick." She says that the Nude Monica lipstick suits darker skin tones, while Gentle Monica is a good choice for rosier, more porcelain complexions.

Click through to preview all of the new launches and see Bellucci wearing the hell out of them in the Giampaolo Sgura-shot ad campaign.