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For the longest time, I was perplexed as to why many opt to depot their eyeshadows. It looked messy and disorganised, to me. I came to my senses.

Why I eventually decided to depot my eyeshadows:
– My stash had become too large for my organisation unit and palettes are far more compact.
– I started forgetting about gems that were pushed to the back of the drawer.
– My OCD tendencies insisted that I organise my shadows by brand/colour.
– Inspiration. Colours arranged in a palette are conducive to unexpected combinations.
– Six empty MAC compacts can be returned to MAC for a free lipstick, under the Back2MAC program. Who doesn’t like free lipstick?

Now that I’ve satisfied the ‘why’, let me illustrate the ‘how’.

The most informative MAC eyeshadow depotting tutorial I have come across is this YouTube tutorial, by FleurDeForce.

The outcome, my partially filled MAC 15 Palettes. Feel free to recommend shades to complete my collection!

Neutral MAC Palette
Row 1: Antiqued, Brown Script, Satin Taupe, Blanc Type, Carbon
Row 2: Woodwinked, Brun, Soba, Vanilla, Black Tied
Row 3: Tempting, Patina, Nylon

Project De-pot

Colourful MAC Palette
Row 1: Coppering, Sketch, Club
Row 2: Paradisco, Star Violet, Sumptuous Olive
Row 3: Cranberry, Stars n Rockets, Greensmoke, Birds and Berries.

Project De-pot

After my MAC depotting stint, I became obsessed. I wanted to depot ALL TEH eyeshadows- my next victims were my Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadows. I am indebted to Bern’s Picture Tutorial, she made this task super simple- not a single casualty.

For sh*ts and giggles, my Rouge Bunny Rouge graveyard

Project De-pot

And housed in their new habitat, a Z Palette Pro.

List of eyeshadows:
RBR Whispering Ibis, Abyssinian Catbird, Volcano Fairy Wren, Veiled Lyrebird, Chestnut Napped Apalis, Angelic Cockatiels, Bejewelled Skylark, Blackpepper Jay. Too Faced Label Whore. Chantecaille Rose Gold. Nars Cyprus, Biarritz, Paris Duo, Key Largo Duo, Cap Ferrat Trio. And Shu ME 175.

Project De-pot

Noteworthy stuffs I learnt along the way:
– MAC pot eyeshadows contain pans that are NOT magnetized. I used circular adhesive magnets from a craft store.
– No matter how extensively my significant other cringed, paced around the room and warned me to “BE CAREFUL!”, I still cut myself depotting MAC shadows. I reiterate, BE CAREFUL.
– My Rouge Bunny Rouge labels were not as obedient as Bern’s. In order to remove them, I used the same method demonstrated in the MAC YouTube tutorial. I placed them on greaseproof paper and let them sit on my hair straightener for a few seconds, they peeled off easy peasy!
– Rouge Bunny Rouge pans are already magnetised so you will not require additional magnets.

Other things a good beauty blogger wouldn’t tell you:
– Plastic fumes will make you feel giddy.
– I discovered that I like fire (FIYAAAAA!)
– I’m excessively awkward and managed to burn, cut and get soot on myself. If you’re a normal person, you probably won’t have these issues.

So tell me- do you depot your eyeshadows? Why or why not?

xxkarima

Complete list of products mentioned

Face and Body Foundation
Face and Body Foundation
Touche Eclat Pen
Touche Eclat Pen
Effortless Breathable Tinted Primer
Effortless Breathable Tinted Primer
Fluid Corrective Foundation
Fluid Corrective Foundation
Liquid Foundation
Liquid Foundation
Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation
Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation
Lasting Silk
Lasting Silk
* Denotes products sent for consideration. Iā€™m always honest with my reviews :)

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  1. I depotted my mac shadows over a flame. Wouldnt want to use my ghd’s im so clumsy im likely to ruin them. My nars duo arrived today, thank you Karima šŸ™‚

  2. Nice work! I think it looks much more organized than in compacts. I have a few random brands I wouldn’t mind depotting I think I would start with the cheapest in case I wrecked them :p x

    1. It’s a massive space saver, I wish I had done this earlier! And agreed, I’m not a big blush wearer but at the moment, I don’t see any need to depot them.
      xxkarima

  3. I once (very stupidly) used a sharp knife to depot (you can see where this is going) and I wound up with blood everywhere, my nail cut about a inch up my finger (besides my finger, of course) and me howling about dying and I wanted a closed casket funeral. LOL. I now use a blunt knife to depot.

  4. I just started deporting mine today and stabbed one of my favorite eyeshadows with a flathead screwdriver. RIP Berry Pop. I’m kind of addicted to it though and the tutorial helped a lot.

  5. Bern’s tutorial was great. I also might have solution to avoid MAC depotting injuries: I used a tiny flathead screwdriver instead of a knife to pry apart the inner and outer casing, which was super easy and didn’t result in blood loss!

  6. I know this is quite an old post now, but thought I could share how I depot. šŸ™‚
    I don’t actually own a pair of straighteners, so I depot my eyeshadows in the oven (~100Ā°C). It’s super easy, and I haven’t noticed any change in the quality of my eyeshadows either. I’ve also found my tiny Swiss army knife to be perfect for depotting; it’s super small, plus it’s not too sharp that it’ll cause any injuries (always a plus). For magnets, I actually found magnetic tape in my craft store, which I use instead of normal, circular ones. You can cut it with regular scissors, so you can cut it to any size or shape, plus it’ll make a flat surface for the label. šŸ™‚

  7. Wow. I must say that the video you posted really helped! I just de-potted 5 MAC eyeshadows and now I’m hooked!! That was way easier than expected. To avoid the knife cutting incident and to protect my hands I held the eyeshadow in my non dominant hand covered by an oven mitt so in case the sharp knife went flying off the rail due to force, it was at least covered by a massive mitt and didn’t cut my hand. Thanks for the tips!