I first posted this guide on Makeupalley but as you know there are so many reviews that they get lost in the shuffle. I am reposting it here and hope people find it helpful.
Joe Blasco and RCMA are two of my favorite brands for foundations. Why? Because they are highly pigmented, 55% versus the 35% of cosmetic counter brands. They can easily be customized with other brands or themselves. And, they look like true skin color in photographs. For makeup artists who are starting out, the RCMA palettes are the best to get. One complaint I hear about RCMA is that it is cracked and looks dry in the container. Never fear, the foundation is best used when scooped out and softened onto stainless steel palette. In fact, for any makeup artist you should be scooping out your foundations to avoid cross contamination. (I have seen many "fakeup artists" that have a kit that I swear have something growing in them!)
Joe Blasco Foundations
Joe Blasco foundations are one of the easiest brands to understand when in comes to foundation. First, determine the shade (value) of your skin. Is it ghostly pale, light, medium, tan, dark? Once you know that, then choose the undertone; Natural Beige, Classic Olive, Special Olive, Olive Beige, Warm Olive, Golden Olive, Golden Tan, Ruddy, Tan, or Special Dark. The ones listed are the ones that look good for everyday streetwear to photographs.
The Natural Beige Series-neutral gray-beige base suitable for Caucasian females. You are very fair and have a pink undertone. You know who you are. This category is also subdivided to suit the depth of the skin tone.
- Natural Beige #1-Light
- Natural Beige #2-Medium
- Natural Beige #3-Dark
- Alabaster-pale, cool beige; very light
- Olive-light
- Medium Olive-medium
- Deep Olive-dark Caucasian
- Olive Beige #1-Light
- Olive Beige #2-Medium
- Olive Beige #3-Dark
- Special Lite Olive #1-Light
- Special Lite Olive #2-Medium
- Special Lite Olive #3-Dark
- Special Medium Olive #1-Light
- Special Medium Olive #2-Medium
- Special Medium Olive #3-Dark
- Warm Olive #1-Extra light
- Warm Olive #2-Light
- Warm Olive #3-Medium
- Warm Olive #4-Dark
- Golden Olive #1-Light
- Golden Olive #2-Medium
- Golden Olive #3-Dark
- Golden Tan#1-Light
- Golden Tan #2-Medium
- Golden Tan #3-Dark
- Ultra Fair-Very light amber-beige
- Warm Beige-Medium ruddy-beige
- Summertone-Light yellow-brown tan
- Natural Tan-Medium yellow-brown tan
- Suntan-dark ruddy-brown tan
- Honey-light
- Moon Haze-medium
- Maple-dark
- Twilight-extra dark
- Deep Ebony-darkest
RCMA cosmetics was created by the late Mr. Vincent Kehoe who was one of the great makeup artists in Hollywood. RCMA like Joe Blasco photographs beautifully and is also great for everyday streetwear. RCMA has two foundation lines: Color Process and Color Appliance which is labeled AF (appliance foundation). Color Process is made for application onto the skin whereas Color Appliance is for application onto prosthetics, it contains castor oil to prevent the latex from melting (or something technical like that). You want the Color Process foundations for regular streetwear.
In RCMA a red undertone means it is warm while a bluish and/or greenish undertone means it is cool. So, in RCMA lingo when it says that olive tones are warm, yes that means it has a bit of red (ruddiness) in it. Once your brain has sorted this out, picking out your color will be a breeze.
The following are very special pale shades. The first two were developed for the Star Wars film. The latter were made for still photography fashion and for runway.
- Porcelain-very paler (for the young queen character)
- Ivory-a bit deeper but still very pale
- F-1-very light pinkish
- F-2-pale cream tone
- F-3-pink cream
- F-4-light cream
- Shinto 1-pale with ochre undertone
- Shinto 2-medium
- Shinto 3-deep
- Shinto 4-dark
- Shinto 5-light yellow tan for men
- Shinto 6-medium yellow tan for men
- Shinto 7-deep yellow tan for men
- Shinto 8-dark yellow tan for men
- KO-1-pale
- KO-2-light
- KO-3-medium
- KO-4-deep
- KO-5-men's light
- KO-6-men's medium
- KO-7-men's deep
- KO-8-men's darkest
- Gena Beige-pale
- Olive 1-light
- Olive 2-medium
- Olive 3-deep
- Olive 4-dark
- Tantone-darkest
- KL-1-pale
- KL-2-light
- KL-3-medium
- KL-4-light warm
- KL-5-medium light warm
- KL-6-deep warm
- KL-7-deeper warm
- KL-8-darkest
- KT-1-pale yellow tan
- KT-2-yellow tan
- KT-3-deep yellow tan
- KT-34-mix of KT-3 and KT-4
- KT-4-dark tan
- K-1-American Indian pale
- K-2-American Indian medium
- K-3-American Indian dark
- KN-1-pale brown
- KN-2-light brown
- KN-3-brown
- KN-4-deep brown
- KN-5-dark brown
- KN-6-yellowed brown
- KN-7-deeper yellowed brown
- KN-8-blued brown (East Indian)
- KN-9-deeper blued brown (darker East Indian)
- MB-1-light brown with orange undertones
- MB-2-medium with orange
- MB-3-deep with orange
- MB-4-dark with orange
- MB-5-lighter with reddish undertones
- MB-6-brown with reddish undertones
- MB-7-brown with deep yellow
- MB-8-brown with blackish undertones
- RJ-2-made for Robert Wagner in Hart to Hart; Natural Tan shade
- TS-made for Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I.; dark red brown
- Star Trek 1-ruddy brown
- Star Trek 2-medium brown
- Star Trek 3 -dark brown
- LN-1-Leonard Nimoy
- Eddie-Eddie Munster
**Special Thanks to Mr. Joe Blasco and the late Mr. Vincent Kehoe
Joe Blasco $23USD (.335oz/9.5g) Petrolatum, dioctyl adipate, octyl stearate, carnauba wax, octyl palmitate, iron oxides, titanium dioxide, beeswax, corn oil, talc, butyl paraben, polyethylene glycol, tocopheryl acetate, ascorbyl palmitate, citric acid, ascorbic acid. May contain ultramarine blue, chromium hydroxide green.
RCMA $23USD (1 oz.) IPM, Castor Oil, Carnauba, Candililla, Ozokerite, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, propyl Paraben, BHT. May Contain: D&C Red #6, D&C Red #7, D&C Red #27, Cos.Green, Cos. Blue.
Joe Blasco can be found at Megamakeupstore
Joe Blasco and RCMA can be found at Camera Ready Cosmetics, Naimie's, Frends Beauty Supply, Alcone.
