Do you know if Monica Bellucci has had any cosmetic surgery or is that her natural beauty?

"Perfect" is just the right word for her :)

why "nearly"?

on that pic her skin looks darker than her skin is in reality. Probably because of the lightning of the pic or because of spending too much time in the sun on the beach.

Here is another pic of her which shows her real skincolour :

http://i.imdb.com/mptv1.gif

By the way, I agree that is a good example of the mediterranean subrace in Europe.

The link to the pic doesnt seem to work, here is the correct link to the pic :

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/1996/Events/1996/MonicaBell_Vespa_1115022_400.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Bellucci,%20Monica

I agree that she is a good example of the mediterranean subrace in Europe.

an edit button would be nice ;)

A perfect example of the human race, IMHO.

Actually, she's a little striking and unusual in the sense of combining the dramatic coloring and the vavavoom figure with the delicacy of her features. If you think of similar Italian beauties -- Loren, Lollabridgida, etc -- most of them have quite broad, open features. Bellucci's facial features remind me of Isabelle Adjani, while she's got the bod of a Sophia or a Gina. Of course, Adjani's half-North-African, so I guess we're still talking Mediterranean here. But don't most Italian beauties have bigger features? The big, "open," expressive features are one of the reasons so many Italians have become movie stars. They're fun to watch partly because their feelings seem right out there.

>> why "nearly"?

Because I'm still looking for the "perfect" example :)

>> A perfect example of the human race, IMHO.

Homo sapiens is a species, not a race.

Also, most movie stars have interesting, highly individualized looks. E.g., Sofia Loren is extraordinary-looking for most of Italy, whereas Bellucci approximates the regular Italian type.

I loved her in the picture "Malena".
I agree with Dienekes that she´s very typical, unlike Loren.

"Homo sapiens is a species, not a race."

Ok, but is "Mediterranean" a race?:

['race' is used appropriately to describe] temporally deep and geographically clear splits between different branches of mankind.

>> Ok, but is "Mediterranean" a race?

It is maybe an ecotype.

Actually, when I first saw Monica Belluci, I assumed that she was part-Oriental - she has high-cheek bones, a small delicate nose, and a more elegant eye shape. I don't think she looks like a typical Mediterranean woman at all - she lacks the enormous, lumpen nose, the heavy brow, and the moustache.

I assumed that she was part-Oriental - she has high-cheek bones, a small delicate nose, and a more elegant eye shape.

There is clearly nothing Asian looking about Belluci [sic]. Certainly none of the things you list.

Monica Bellucci- a terrible actress when it comes to recitation, at least in italian- is actually strikingly beautiful.
But her facial features, IMHO, are exactly the normal ones in the vast majority of italian women.
She's really a completely normal italian girl, while old italian stars like Sofia Loren (real surname Scicolone) were somehow "particular" in their aspect; not the common face you see everyday in Italy.

About cosmetic surgery: she never had cosmetic surgery, always been the same.

About pigmentation: in the photograph she looks more or less as a normal italian woman in summer, maybe even "whiter". No, for sure she looks "whiter".
Well, I believe it depends on tanning, season of the year and so on.

Here in Italy we are used to see persons change dramatically color in different seasons; as we are used to see person of very different "shades" in every family (my mother is very "light" e.g., while my father could be NorthAfrican)

Ciao!!