RCMA Color Process Foundation

One of the most favorite brands of makeup amongst MUA's in hollywood is RCMA. RCMA or Research Council of Makeup Artist Professional Products is a line created by Vincent Kehoe in the 60's. The line caters to 139 foundation shades, Blushes and about everything you will need for fx in films. RCMA was created for the profession of film, tv and print thus it is not commercially available. It has no marketing strategy what so ever, not even the packaging is attractive. RCMA is no frills and mainly focused on the development of the product. The most evident reason why this is a favorite amongst artist in the industry is the ability of the foundation to photograph well and how flawless the skin looks on camera whether video or still. Besides, RCMA foundation is 50% Pigmented! Definitely higher than those commercially marketed brands.

The first time RCMA was tried on my skin was when Maui and I had a make-up weekend when she got back from the states. And I was sold. I was crazy flawless, and the best part was If my skin was flawless in person, the better it looked on camera. So now I'm so happy I have them in my train case. :)

I ordered 2 RCMA weels, Wheel 1 is KO 5-8 and wheel 2 is Shinto 1-4. Shinto shades are created for the people who have yellowish-green undertones. Since that line became so famous, the KO line was created as fillers for the lacking shades on the current Shinto line.

Both wheels look very similar and actually almost identical, but after swatching and testing, you will see how different the wheels are from each other. Now proceeding closer at each wheel.

This is wheel KO 5-8, I bought this because I wanted a line that I could use for men. And upon reasearch, the KO 5-8 and Shinto 5-8 wheel were the ones recomended for males. But none the less this can also be used for females. :) I initially chose KO 5-8 instead of Shinto 5-8 because I was already getting Shinto 1-4 and didn't want another Shinto Wheel.


This is the Shinto 1-4 wheel with its corresponding swatch. Maui used Shinto 2-3 for my face months ago when it was first tried on me. And I am still Shinto 2-3. :)

Here's a photo of the KO and Shinto swatch together for comparisson.

Without Flash

With Flash

KO 5-8 Top Row
Shinto 1-4 Bottom Row

Now from the swatch they look very very very similar, but from what I have noticed, the Shinto line is a tad bit more yellow and warer than the KO shades. To illustrate further their differences, I mixed the first 3 shades of the top and bottom (since from the swatch the first 3 colors of KO 5-8 and Shinto 1-4 are very similar to each other).

Without Flash

With Flash

After mixing the first 3 colors each from the KO (top row) and Shinto (bottom row), the difference can now be clearly seen. The Shinto (bottom row) shows that it is warmer than the KO (top row). The KO definitely is the "in-betweens" of the Shinto shades. This is useful for those who aren't too keen on mixing their foundations.


Overall, I am very excited to use this and happy looking in my train case with these RCMA inside. I'll definitely use my RCMA foundation when I know I'll be taking pictures. Haha.

As a bonus, here's an image of me and my girls using RCMA foundation (taken months ago).



Toodles! :)