Tags
So I had my MAC 15 pan palette lying around in my drawer and several eyeshadow pots tucked away in my MUJI chest for at least two months now. My OCD compelled me to put them neatly together, arranged according to the size of their boxes. While I had the pots at the back of my mind, I kinda forgot about using them since they were so quietly put away and to be very honest, I didn’t even remember what shades I had purchased even. What better way than to depot them into a common palette yes?
I had seven pots and they are (if anyone’s curious)
- Ricepaper
- All That Glitters
- Sugarshot
- Satin Taupe
- Amberlights
- Creme de Miel
- Grand Entrance
And you will need magnet pans. I got these from Art Friend (at Takashimaya, and they have another store in Bugis). A pack of four pre-cut magnet pans costs less than S$3 and fit a MAC eyeshadow pan perfectly. They have an adhesive tape on one side.
Funny bit: I thought the palette itself was a magnet, in the sense that it will automatically ‘suck’ the eyeshadow pans onto itself. Soph (of the MUB) kindly informed me otherwise, the palette has merely been magnetized, hence I needed magnets for the pans themselves.
You will also need a candle and a pair of tweezers. I would advise a scented candle, because plastic smells like crap when burnt. Mine was a lavender one. One Christmas gift that came into handy, lol.
And yes, my tweezers are all blinged out, haha. I’m in the process of doing up my eye brushes too.So to recap:
- A scented candle
- A pair of tweezers
- A pan magnet
- Your eyeshadow pot
- A spoilt mechanical pencil with a metal tip
- Nerves of steel and praying hard that you wouldn’t accidentally burn your fingers
Step 1: Pop the eyeshadow plastic pan out of the its pot.
You do that by holding your eyeshadow pot itself in your left hand, and with the tweezers in your right, position your hands in a pivotal position and ‘pop’ the pan out.
See the circle? You wedge one side of your tweezers into the gap (a ‘kiap’ sound will tell you if you are right) and apply pressure upwards (like pulling out a staplet) in a quick movement and the plastic pan will pop out immediately.
This advice comes after making numerous gashes in my first eyeshadow pot, trying to ram and wedge my tweezers in everywhere and trying (unsuccessfully) to ‘pop’ the cap. The middle point is the weakest link and you will eventually get the hang of what I’m trying to say once you try to depot your own shadows.
To ensure that you are on the right track, this is what you will get after completing Step 1.
My poor tweezers. And try to use an eyeshadow that you are not so fond of, or has been used to the point that it wouldn’t matter if you accidentally gash it with your tweezers. However, for a clumsy person like myself to survive all seven depots unscathed, it really is quite easy to do.
Step 2: Melting a hole in the plastic pan.
Grip the plastic pan with the tweezers, and hold it directly above the flame for 20 seconds. The Candlelight method is the quickest way to depotting MAC shadows since it is a direct heat source. Again, plastic smells yucky when burnt, so I really would advise a scented candle.
Step 3: Poking a hole through the melted plastic pan with spoilt pencil.
By holding the plastic pan to the candle flame, you are effectively melting the glue and once its melted enough, the metal pan will loosen from the plastic pan.
You can control the degree of melt by varying the time you hold it above the flame. I usually do 20 seconds first, try to poke a hole through. If you have a steady flame, the hole is usually accurate. Else heat it up for another 5.
Step 4: Separating metal pan from plastic pan.
I dont have a picture for this, but once your hole is poked (omg!), press hard and you can remove the metal pan easily.
Step 5: Preparing the label sticker.
Again, no picture. I was so excited, I forgot. Remember the eyeshadow pot? Hold it in and out way above the flame, and the glue will loosen after like, 10 seconds. You can peel the MAC label sticker easily off the bottom thereafter.
To show you what becomes your depot after Step 4 and 5:
Step 6: Stick MAC label to the other side of the magnet, which is er, the side that doesn’t have the adhesive tape.
Step 7: Peel adhesive tape off magnet and stick it to the bottom of your eyeshadow pan.
And there you have it! A 7-step process to depotting your MAC eyeshadows by candlelight. Very idiot-proof really.
After I was done with my first one (the MAC All That Glitters), I completed the others while watching Running Man. SPARTA!
I chose to pop the plastic pans out first altogether. Saves the burning candle.
I now have enough for a B2M lipstick. Any suggestions? Haha. I probably need to get a Z-palette to hold my MAC Mega Metal shadows. If I don’t see ’em, I don’t use ’em. And that is bad. Probably would not get anymore MAC shadow singles since I work much better in a color-coordinated quad.
My palette looks rather bland, even for a neutral one lol. I’m such a sucker for highlighter and base shades, I definitely need a darker color to revive my droopy lids.
I have room for more! Two more to be exact, haha. Any suggestions?
And as a reward, a chocolate cupcake from Awfully Chocolate. This baby is super-dupe-uber sinful. I would advise eating it warm, as in left-to-warm-in-room-temperature warm. Cold hard chocolate is not good. The sponge is soft and moist and the rich chocolate, man you gotta taste it for yourself to know what I’m talking about. Not cheap at all, at S$4.80 makes this cupcake a pricey indulgence.
