RCMA – The Research Council of Makeup Artists – was founded by renowned makeup artist Vincent JR Kehoe in 1962. RCMA was organized to further the research and development of specialized professional makeup products for the film, television and stage industry. Mr. Kehoe developed and designed a special foundation formula for professional working makeup artists which he called “Color Process Foundation.” It is considered the number one choice of foundation by professionals. Welcome to Artist Spotlight #10 series on my blog.
Professional Makeup is primarily judged on foundation and RCMA has major differences from all other foundations, commercial or theatrical, on the market today anywhere in the world. The basic qualities of RCMA “Color Process” foundation are:
- It’s manufactured under very stringent, small batch conditions where the ingredients are weighed out to the gram to maintain both consistency and color standards exactly.
- It contains vegetable oils, pure waxes and FDA approved colors. It does NOT contain any perfume, lanolin, petrolatum or mineral oil – the first two have caused allergenic reactions on some skins and the last two are not absorbed by the skin so remain to cause excess oiliness on the surface. Note that other theatrical foundations contain mineral oil or petrolatum as a major ingredient.
- Exact color standards are maintained in RCMA foundations from batch to batch and tested on each run against standards. To a makeup artist this is most important for color-matching.
- The selection of colors or shades varies throughout the required skin tones for all skin types and undertones. Plus, the same base is employed for RCMA counter shading, shading, cheek colors and color wheel rainbow shades so that they all “powder down” with the same degree of reflectivity. Therefore, the cheek colors are not greasier or of different consistency from the foundation, nor are any of the special bright color wheel shades.
- In manufacturing, they’re all made with a high percentage of pigments to waxes and oils so that a very little goes a long way on the skin and produces as “skin color” rather than a heavy coat of makeup. Most commercial liquid foundations have a ratio of about 18 to 23 percent of pigment to the liquid and, in general, theatrical foundations normally run between 30 to 35 percent of pigments to waxes and oils. In this way, RCMA foundations cover better than others and more makeup applications can be done per cake of makeup.
- As such, RCMA foundations last better throughout a long shooting day than comparably employed theatrical or commercial foundations, and require less touch-up. When they do, there is no caking on the skin and RCMA “No-Color” powder is all that is required to slightly dull the low shine. In many cases of performers with dry skin, due to the low halation of RCMA foundations, no powdering is required – especially on men’s makeup that is seldom, if ever, powdered.
Go ahead and try it for yourself and you too will see why makeup artists across the world will tell you “RCMA is the professionals’ makeup!”
Kassy Rose Makeup Artistry 