Make-up materials consist of foundations, shadings
and countershadings, cheekcolors, lipcolors, eyecolors,
powders, pencils, mascaras, skin care products, tools
of the trade, special materials (such as adhesives, seal-
ers, latices, and plastics), cleansers, and many other
additional items such as prostheses, hair goods, and
so forth. The stock of the products in a professional
make-up artist’s kit changes as technological advances
are made in the color response of film and television
systems or advanced stage lighting techniques as well
as when new products and materials become available
through research. As such, the make-up kit should go
through constant change and improvement.
The old theatrical make-up manufacturers originally
serviced their foundations in paper tubes, and when
films came into production use, a new form of soft
paint in a metal squeeze tube was devised. This spread
more easily and did not require an undercoating of
cold cream to spread it properly. The next major ad-
vance was the introduction by Max Factor of a water-
applied cake (Pan-Cake) make-up, which was basically
a heavily pigmented mixture with clays and binders.
This form applied very rapidly with a wet, natural sea
sponge and was the mainstay of the make-up for black-
and-white films and television production. As this type
of foundation was often drying to some skins and ap-
peared rather flat and dull looking on the face, a newer
type of cream make-up in a swivel-up tube came next,
then a creme-cake formula was introduced, both of
which were applied with a dry, foamed sponge. At-
tempts were made at various times to produce a liquid
or semifluid professional foundation, but they did not
achieve acceptance. Today, the main foundation types
are the creme cakes (in a variety of sizes) and the swivel-
up in the 1/2-ounce size.
Since professional foundations produce the basic skin
tone, they become the main criterion of film and TV
make-up, and the carrying cases or kits of each artist
are pften made to contain either one or the other variety
as a basic direction of design of the kit, with those
employing the swivel-up foundations often using the multidrawer variety with the top portion opening up
to reveal a deep tray where the foundations are placed
label side up for selection.
There are a number of varieties and styles of these
kits, in wooden construction generally. A newer and
quite efficient case of the accordion variety works very
well with the flat, round, creme-cake foundations, and
the top section will hold up to 30 of the 2/5-ounce
size or 24 of the 1-ounce size in the same space, thus
giving a variety of shades to choose from (Figure 5.1).
Most make-up artists also have a hair kit (not to be
confused with a hairdresser’s kit), which normally con-
sists of a soft canvas or leather bag in which are stored
the items employed by the make-up artist for character
work, plus extras such as tissues, towels, and other
supplies for the make-up kit. For complete list of items
recommended for make-up and hair kits, see Appen-
dix E.