This Genius Eye Shadow Hack Lets You Save Space and Create Custom Palettes

Updated on March 26, 2017 at 2:20 PM

Flickr user bcrueltyfree

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For makeup addicts, saving space is an essential part of maintaining a collection. It doesn't matter if we're running out of space in our Ikea Alex drawers — sooner or later we are going to need the latest eye shadow, blush, or highlighter and attempt to cram another product into our overflowing assortment.

It's at that moment when savvy beauty enthusiasts take a tip from the pros and save space by depotting. This consists of removing eye shadow (and other pressed powder formulas) from bulky packaging and popping the pans into magnetic palettes. By depotting your favorite shades, makeup becomes easily accessible and drawers suddenly have room for even more products.

Depotting doesn't just act as an organization technique — it also makes packing super simple. As you might know, it can be hard to decide which eye shadow palettes should travel with you. With this method, you can select exactly the colors you want to take with you on your trip and build a custom palette. Genius!

Read on to find out how to use this method for a more organized and transportable makeup collection.

Assemble Your Materials

In order to remove your eye shadows from the casings, you'll need a magnetic palette to place them in, like the a20 Lab Empty Magnetic Palette ($8). You'll also need a flat iron to loosen the glue, a knife to pry the pans from their compacts, adhesive magnets, and labels.

a20 Lab Empty Magnetic Palette

From

Before you remove an eye shadow from its packaging, make sure to write down the brand and color name of the product on a label in case you'd like to repurchase it in the future. (You'll be using these later!)

Take your knife and place it at the seam at the closure of the compact. Wiggle your knife around until the small plastic casing and shadow pan pop out of the larger packaging.

The result should look like this. (If done correctly, your shadow will remain perfectly intact.)

Once you've popped the small plastic casing out of the packaging, place it on a flat iron for a few seconds to heat it up. Once the plastic shell around the shadow becomes soft, press on the back of the casing with a knife until the metal eye shadow pan pops out of the plastic. Be careful: it will be hot!

Peel the paper off of the adhesive magnet and stick it to the back of the eye shadow pan. This will allow you to use it in a magnetic palette.

Place the label you created earlier (with the name and brand of the shadow) on the back of the magnet.

Repeat this process until you've filled your palette with all of your favorite single shadows. The empty packaging is on the left side of the photo! It's clear that it takes up much more space than the palette you just made.

You can rearrange your eye shadow colors however you'd like for a custom palette.

If you'd rather have a smaller set of shadows, you can purchase smaller magnetic palettes like the A2o Lab Empty Magnetic Palette- Small White ($4). These are especially fantastic for traveling.

A2o Lab Empty Magnetic Palette- Small White

From

Don't feel you have to restrict yourself to just depotting eye shadows! This method also works on powder highlighters, blushes, and bronzers. Although packaging varies between brands, figuring out how to depot them should be simple and not drastically different from the technique you just learned. Happy depotting!