Amal Clooney’s opening-night look at the Venice Film Festival combined custom Tom Ford, hundreds of thousands of dollars in Cartier jewelry and the kind of polished beauty expected from a major red carpet. One part of the finished look was considerably easier to copy.
For the Sept. 2 opening ceremony, hairstylist and makeup artist Dimitris Giannetos used Charlotte Tilbury products on Clooney, including the brand’s Hot Lips 2 lipstick in Dancefloor Princess. A new PEOPLE breakdown lists the pink-nude lipstick at $39 alongside products for her complexion, eyes and cheeks ranging from $28 to $52.
Clooney paired the makeup with a custom black Tom Ford gown by Haider Ackermann and Cartier jewelry worth approximately $375,000. She was in Venice with husband George Clooney, who received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement during the festival’s opening ceremony.
Giannetos kept the beauty considerably softer than the architecture of the dress. He described the overall effect as “soft and ethereal,” pairing warm skin and defined eyes with a muted lip and long brunette waves that he had shifted into a richer “blurred brown” shade for fall.
The Black Tom Ford Gown Did Most of the Dramatic Work
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Vogue Italia identified Clooney’s gown as a custom Tom Ford design in black silk taffeta. The column silhouette was shaped by narrow sculptural panels and irregular razor-sharp pleats, while sheer black georgette panels ran along the sides.
The dress was designed under Haider Ackermann’s creative direction for Tom Ford and finished with thin patent details. Clooney completed the fashion portion of the look with Tom Ford Vertigo pumps and a matching patent clutch.
Her jewelry supplied almost all of the color. PEOPLE reported that Clooney wore Cartier En Équilibre earrings in 18-karat white gold with emeralds, onyx and diamonds valued at $149,000, plus a Reflection de Cartier bracelet set with 138 diamonds and priced at $224,000.
The Makeup Breakdown Starts With a $39 Pink-Nude Lipstick
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PEOPLE’s product breakdown identifies Charlotte Tilbury’s Hot Lips 2 in Dancefloor Princess as the lipstick behind Clooney’s pink-nude lip. The shade was paired with the brand’s Lip Cheat Contour Duo in Tan in the later product list.
Giannetos used Airbrush Flawless Foundation in shades 6N and 8N and Airbrush Flawless Blur Concealer in 9.5 for the complexion. Hollywood Contour Wand in Medium added definition, while Beauty Light Wand in Spotlight supplied luminosity.
For the cheeks, the breakdown lists Unreal Healthy Glow Stick in both Pinky Glow and Peachy Glow. The eye look included Exagger-Eyes Easy Eyeshadow Stick in Oyster Twilight and Exagger-Eyes Volume Mascara, keeping the color palette warm and restrained rather than competing with the dress.
Vogue separately reported that Giannetos used Charlotte Tilbury’s Airbrush Loose Powder around Clooney’s T-zone and lightly over the lip to help set the makeup. He told the magazine that his goal was to keep the finished glam “soft and ethereal.”
Giannetos Darkened Her Hair Into ‘Blurred Brown’ for Fall
The makeup was not the only part of Clooney’s beauty look that changed for Venice. Giannetos told Vogue that he shifted her lighter summer brunette into a richer shade he called “blurred brown.”
Rather than completely covering the existing highlights, the color allowed some of the lighter tones to remain visible beneath the deeper brunette. He described them as “see-through highlights” that preserved dimension without leaving the hair looking washed out.
Giannetos used L’Oréal Paris products for the color and finished Clooney’s hair in long, brushed-through waves with volume and movement. The softer texture counterbalanced the precise pleating and sharp lines of the Tom Ford gown.
The Look Was Built for George Clooney’s Golden Lion Night
The Sept. 2 appearance carried considerably more meaning than an ordinary festival premiere. La Biennale di Venezia awarded George Clooney the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement during the opening ceremony of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
Laura Dern delivered the laudatio honoring George before he accepted the award in the Sala Grande. The ceremony was followed by the world premiere of Danny Boyle’s Ink, which La Biennale selected as the opening film of the festival.
Amal watched from the audience before the couple attended the premiere together. George used part of his acceptance speech to acknowledge her, telling the room, “I am at a loss for words to describe how much I love my wife. How proud I am of her.”