Do you depot pre-made eyeshadow palettes? Or rearrange them (if possible)?

I haven’t depotted in nearly a decade! I can’t be bothered, though it would certainly save on storage space! For something that could be rearranged, I might do it, but at the volume I go through, I don’t bother.

— Christine

32 Comments

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Seraphine Avatar

Nope. I like to leave palettes exactly how they were designed to be. However, I have two CP palettes that each have one glitter shade, which I hate. I like one of the palettes, but there’s only one or two shades I like in the other, so I’m thinking about removing the glitter from the palette I like and replacing it with a non-glitter shade from the palette I mostly don’t like. The names will be off, but at least I won’t have that annoying glitter to deal with anymore. Even though I never use them, they still manage to sneak out of their pot onto my fingers and into other shades.

Laurel Avatar

I depot all easily depottable palettes (colourpop, KKW) and I used to depot all palettes I didn’t use. Now I just sell palettes I don’t want so I wouldn’t do that anymore. Also makes me more likely to buy a palette if I can take the pans out because I love my adept palettes for my singles plus for travel I hate when I love a shade in a palette and then can’t travel with it because I don’t want to take a whole palette with me. I always travel with a mini palette i put singles in.

Agona Avatar

I prefer sturdy plastic packaging. The only shadows I have in magnetic palettes are my Sydney Grace and I don’t travel with them. I tried it for a little while but found I never reached for the ones I de-potted. The best method to de-pot them I found was using dental floss.

Agona Avatar

It’s so easy! It takes a little shimming with a needle to tuck the floss underneath the ends on either side but then you just grasp both ends and just floss back and forth and the floss and friction eventually cut through the glue!!

Valerie Avatar

I haven’t depotted eyeshadow in years and have regretted the depotting I have done because that packaging was so retro and cool, even if it did take up space. There are shadows from depotted palettes I didn’t use because I was a very very conservative makeup wearer and now I wish I had those other shadows I was too afraid to touch, just to see how different an experience it would be.
And also, I have so many more palettes to choose from, I only look at my single and depotted shadows a few times a year.
No more depotting!

Anne Avatar

When I had palettes (quite awhile ago now), I began depotting them almost from the get-go. My days of depotting began with the massive annual Borghese palettes (if anyone remembers back in the 80’s and 90’s). They were crazy coveted back then because they were pigmented, and beautifully displayed in a large palette (like 30 colors or so). Each shadow was in a separate slot that was easy to depot. I’d depot all the colors I didn’t like and replace them with the colors of prior years that I did like. When Borghese left the department stores, I bought HE quints and quads, but rarely depotted. When I threw away/gave away about 90% of my massive collection some years back, I started over buying my singles collection. I have a few empty magnetized palettes from several lines and fill them with singles that are sold magnetized. I’m constantly rearranging them — by shade or formula or color story or brand or whatever. I think it’s fun. Some singles I won’t depot (like Burberry and Chanel). They stay in their original packaging. I really wish more lines had custom palettes. But then again, I’d probably buy more.

Nancy T Avatar

No, I’ve never depotted a palette in my whole makeup loving life! I’m just too afraid that I would ruin the pans if I tried. But; I would LOVE to depot my UD Heavy Metal Palette, if possible.
As for rearranging one, I haven’t done so yet. Mainly due to the shade names generally being printed underneath. Don’t want to make things any more confusing than they need to be.

Lauren Avatar

I thought about depotting my Heavy Metal since there are some shades I don’t mess with, but every time I go to do it I wimp out. It isn’t as easy to do as the cardboard palettes and I actually kind of like the packaging (although I know a lot of people dislike that it isn’t flat and is large).

Lydia Avatar

Very rarely, and I only depot shadows from palettes I would otherwise be getting rid of totally. I realize that my eye for color is nowhere near as refined as the artists that put palettes together, and the packaging is so nice on most palettes I buy that it’s part of the experience of using the product. Not depotting also helps me cut down on buying- if there aren’t enough shadows I love or I don’t like the packaging, it’s not coming home with me.

Lauren Avatar

The only time I’ve depotted is if I have owned a palette for a while (a year or so) and notice I’m not even touching some of the colors. It makes storing easier if I get rid of the excess and only keep what I love. Sometimes it takes time to know what you might play with, what you love but end up not wanting to wear, what performs well, etc. I don’t care about packaging and am not a collector so ruining the package isn’t usually an issue… but I do have a few that I like the looks of so even though I may not use 2/6 shades I’ll keep the whole palette in tact.

Rachel R. Avatar

I don’t think I’ve ever rearranged a pre-made palette. Most of mine don’t have that ability, even if I wanted to.

I don’t depot big palettes unless the packaging is bad or has broken. For example, I recently had to depot my BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Deluxe palette because the mirror broke and some of the cardboard got crunched. I’ve depotted some other budget brand palettes because they had a flimsy plastic sheet and cardboard as a lid. I’ve depotted many duos and trios, and some DS quads. It’s just easier to keep track of them when they’re depotted and in magnetic palettes, and I don’t care about cheap DS packaging.

Genevieve Avatar

No, I don’t depot any of my palettes at all. Quite often I find that the shades I don’t always use when I first get a palette are the ones I end up using a lot of after time, so I wouldn’t want to discard any that later on I would use – unless it is the shades of black, pink and red….

Eileen Avatar

I’ve never been interested in de-potting. I have storage space so that has never been an issue. For the most part, the palettes I own (predominantly Chanel, Tom Ford, and Clé de Peau) are well thought out and are complete unto themselves. There’s no need to rummage through eyeshadows looking for something to complete a look. A good palette, eyeliner, mascara and I’m done.

Miska Avatar

When it comes to depotting, I’m like a bull in a china shop. I’ve ruined so many eyeshadows… just be careful you don’t end up like me. It’s great to save space and organize, if it works out. Personally for me, I don’t have the patience or grace to depot it seems. So I try to only buy palettes where I feel that I can use all or most of the shades. Also, I try to avoid bulky items unless something really calls to me.

moimoi Avatar

Half my eyeshadows are untouched palettes in great packaging and the other half is either magnetic palettes of single shadows arranged by theme or ‘remixed’ palettes where I’ve changed colors. I only destroy packaging I don’t like, though. With so many palettes on the market, ability to de-pot safely/cheaply is one way I narrow down what to buy.

Jessica Niles Avatar

Yep! I usually will keep new things in their palette for awhile if the packaging is really beautiful, but eventually they all go. I made myself two magnetic palettes so I can rearrange colors for easier access. I wish the UD Vice palettes were made to be depotted. Then I could mix and match all the little squares each time I travel!

I wish all brands made it easier to depot.

TropicalCowgirl Avatar

I wish I could depot within the existing case for PMG palettes. I would love to put the greens, purples, and blues in one as I use those as smudge liners. The most versatile one for me is Bronze Seduction as I can use those colors for highlight, contour and blush.

I tried a few years ago with mixed results. When I was getting into loose mineral shadows, I would press and make my own palettes. Unfortunately the brand I liked changed their formula, without telling anyone, and then shut down her forum when we were complaining about reactions.

Pearl Avatar

I’ve never done that – don’t think I will, either. Packaging is a consideration in purchasing, so even if I don’t like the arrangement or a single shade here or there, I have always left everything as is.

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