I Depotted My MAC Shadows!

Depotting...that word used to scare me! Why on earth would I want to take my beauties out of the little plastic cases they came in? I found the answer in the form of the Z-palette...all my single eyeshadows in one spot. No more forgetting about them in the bottom of the milk glass depression-era bowl they have been in, I can now see all my colors in one easy case. For those that don't know, a Z-palette is a shallow box, with a magnetic bottom, and clear top that holds virtually any eyeshadow, blush, etc., that can be taken out of its plastic case. (There should be an instagram photo that pops up in the feed to your upper right side).

I researched the best way to depot, and found the way that seemed simplest. Here's what I did:

Some of my single shadows in all their glory!
 

There is a "crack" that separates the 'bed' from the 'house'. I used a regular table knife and slipped it into the crack, separating the 'bed' from the 'house'.
 

I set a piece of folded aluminum foil onto a pan, set on medium heat, then placed the 'bed' of eyeshadow (one at a time) onto the hot foil until the plastic warmed up, thus loosening the glue (the glue is what attaches the metal pan to the 'bed'). When it was warm enough, I took a paring knife and poked a hole through the bottom of the 'bed' which then popped the metal pan out...this part was messy! Then I placed the two separated pieces on an old kitchen towel to cool.
 

There was still some glue left on the pan, so I took rubbing alcohol and a whole lot of q-tips to wipe most of the glue off, allowing the magnetic sticker to stick properly. Then I wrote the color name on the bottom of the pan.

And here is the finished product... This is the large palette (it comes in various sizes) so I still have room to fill it. What I really like is that I can see all of my colors, they are all in one spot, and I have room to add more!!! All together, this project took me about an hour and a half. I have decided not to depot my blushes (they are messy and I don't want the colors all over each other) or full palettes (such as the Naked's, I really like their cases). Overall this was easy enough to do, just messy.


Leave a comment if you have ever tried depotting or what you would want to depot!