Z Palette (Large, Pro, 4U, Small, Dome) Reviews & Photos
Z Palettes
Z Palettes are freestyle, magnetic palettes to store your favorite makeup products, making them portable, travel-friendly, and space-saving. They come in an assortment of sizes and colors, so you can choose the ones that make the most sense for your stash. Depending on what products you have, you might have to spend sometime depotting products, which is the process of removing the pan of product from the compact or container it is normally in. Some brands just pop out (like Make Up For Ever eyeshadows), some are sold in pan-form (like permanent MAC eyeshadows), and others are held in by glue. Koren (EnKoreMakeup has a few great tutorials on the various methods to depot products, but you can also do a search for “depotting” on YouTube, and you’ll get dozens upon dozens of helpful results.
Each Z palette includes round metal stickers that you can apply to any products you have that come in plastic pans or non-magnetic metal pans. Anything that is already housed in a magnetic metal pan will not need one. Each Z-palette has a clear cover and is made from recyclable materials (seems like very heavy duty cardboard with something wrapped around it to give it a sleeker appearance. You can also fold the cover completely underneath the bottom portion.
I’ve been using mine for almost a year now (in various sizes), and I haven’t had any issues with wear or tear. I can’t say I travel extensively, but they’ve held up being tossed in makeup bags, overnight bags, as well as just sitting in drawers and being opened periodically. They have a good sturdiness to them, just enough heft so it doesn’t feel cheap but not so much that they’re actually heavy even when empty–so you can carry many and not feel bogged down. I really like the Small and 4U sizes for more standard-sized eyeshadows. If you’re going to be putting an assortment of pan sizes in a single palette, I recommend going for the Pro or Large. I haven’t used the Dome palette, as I’ve yet to depot a domed product (I haven’t depotted in years, to be honest! no time), but it feels as well-made as the others I have used.
These are the following sizes of Z Palettes available:
The Large Palette has interior dimensions of 7.44″ x 4.13″ x 0.25″. The large palette holds approximately 28 standard eyeshadows (MAC, Urban Decay, Makeup Geek). It is available in black, hot pink, leopard, zebra, and crocodile-prints.
Pro Palette has interior dimensions of 7.44″ x 4.69″ x 0.25″. The Pro palette holds 33 standard eyeshadows (MAC, Urban Decay, Makeup Geek). It is wider by about 0.5″ compared to the Large palette, so it can accommodate slightly more product. It is available in black, leopard, and zebra-prints.
Dome Palette ($25.00) has interior dimensions of 7.44″ x 4.69″ x 0.44″ and is designed to accommodate the many baked blushes, eyeshadows, and otherwise domed-shaped products that are typically too tall to work in other palettes. It is available in black.
4U Palette ($17.00) has interior dimensions of 5.56″ x 3.25″ x 0.25″ and is considered the “mid-size” of their palettes. It can hold 15 standard eyeshadows (MAC, Urban Decay, Makeup Geek). It is available in black or crocodile-prints.
Small Palette ($14.00) has interior dimensions of 3.18″ x 3.18″ x 0.25″ and looks like a slightly over-sized quad. It can hold 9 standard eyeshadows (MAC, Urban Decay, Makeup Geek). It is available in black, hot pink, leopard, and zebra-prints.
You can also take your favorite loose products and press them, as Z Palette offers metal pans as well as additional metal stickers for all of your depotting, depanning, pressing, and otherwise space-saving needs.
Large Palette
PPermanent. $20.00.
Pro Palette
PPermanent. $25.00.
Small Palette
PPermanent. $14.00.
4U Palette
PPermanent. $18.50.
Dome Palette
PPermanent. $25.00.
Z Palettes
Z Palette – 4U Crocodile Oak
Z Palette – 4U Crocodile Oak
Z Palette – 4U Crocodile Oak
Z Palette – Small Dotted Leaf (Makeup Geek Exclusive)
Z Palette – Small Dotted Leaf (Makeup Geek Exclusive)
Z Palette – Pro Palette in Black
Z Palette – Pro Palette in Black
Z Palette – Pro Palette in Black
Z Palette – Pro Palette (left) vs. Large Palette (right)
Z Palette – Large Palette over Pro Palette
Z Palette – Large Palette in Crocodile Burgundy
Z Palette – Large Palette in Crocodile Burgundy
Z Palette – 4U Palette in CrocodileOak
Large Z Palette in Dark Raspberry Damask for Makeup Geek
Large Z Palette in Dark Raspberry Damask for Makeup Geek
Large Z Palette in Dark Raspberry Damask for Makeup Geek
Large Z Palette in Dark Raspberry Damask for Makeup Geek
Large Z Palette in Dark Raspberry Damask for Makeup Geek
Large Z Palette in Dark Raspberry Damask for Makeup Geek
Z Palette Small in Dotted Leaf for Makeup Geek
Z Palette Small in Dotted Leaf for Makeup Geek
Z Palette Small in Dotted Leaf for Makeup Geek
Z Palette Small in Dotted Leaf for Makeup Geek
Z Palette Dome in Black
Z Palette Dome in Black
Z Palette Dome in Black
Z Palette Dome in Black
Z Palette Dome in Black
I really like the designs of them, but since MAC lowered their palettes to $8, I’ve just moved on to them now. 😡
…. that’s not the smiley I wanted to use. Why do you look so angry, smiley? It doesn’t look so angry when I type it LOL
😉
It’s a good thing they lowered the price, because before, they were ridiculously expensive.
Sadly they havent lowered them im the uk 🙁
Great overview Christine! I’ve been looking for a new palette for my Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadows and they are the size of a Mac single. The 4U one sounds perfect ^^.
Also: you have an impressive collection of singles! It’s great to see a peek of it ^^.
Thank you! 🙂
What’s nice is even if it’s not exactly the same as a MAC single, it’ll fit, haha!
I have the dome palette and I really like it a lot! I wish they would make a small dome palette for travel!
That would be awesome!
I have about 12 of these so far and I love them! I’ve been able to save so much space, and they’re easy to travel with. I also find that I rotate my products more because I see everything (rather than digging through dozens of little compacts or singles). Depotting can be a pain depending on the glue that was used, but it’s worth it.
What is your favorite depotting method?
Thank you for going over the different types of these! I have debated about purchasing one to have on hand.
No problem, Danielle!
I adore Z Palettes! I’ve been using these for a few years coz I got fed up of my (old style) MAC palettes breaking. I use the large/pro ones for all my eyeshadows at home and then I take either 1 4U or 2 small palettes away with me on holidays or weekends away. The small ones are great for travelling. I can fit 9 MAC eyeshadows in 1 small and 2 MAC blushes and 2 Ben Nye blushes in the other small palette which is perfect for a 2 week holiday
I’ve never had a MAC palette break on me, so it’s crazy that you and another reader have both had this issue! I only have one that I warped because I heated it up, LOL!
Literally had 4 out of 5 broke in some way. On 3 of them the opening clasp came off so they would never snap shut anymore. And the other one the metal at the bottom came off (which wasn’t a big deal coz I just glued it back down) but then the hinge broke too! Much prefer my Z Palettes. 🙂
Were these the newer MAC palettes or the older ones? Clear or solid black cover is probably a better way to put it, lol!
The thing with the MAC palettes is you kinda get what you pay for, I bought a ton when they lowered the price but then dropped one (of course the one full of my holy grail shadows) and it cracked so badly (beyond saving) and I lost so many shadows 🙁 (tried to fix with alcohol, anyone have any tips?) I got a pro z palette in a gift bag, and i gotta say they seem so much sturdier and never had anything break after dropping it – guess MAC’s plastic is just cheap quality – no cushioning? does that make sense lol Not sure what it is but too paranoid to even travel with my MAC palettes anymore, bought 3 z palettes on cyber monday sale, i’m converting 🙂
In general, cardboard packaging is better if you drop it, because it absorbs more of the impact than plastic or metal would! 🙂
Hey, I recently bought the Urban Decay’s Book of Shadows 4 reduex, and have been wanting to depot the shadows because the box is so bulky and bothersome. I’ve been to nervous and scared to do it but how did your experience go? I’m super curious.
Hi Rubi,
I haven’t depotted that before, sorry!
I actually found that palette to be the easiest to depot, as the casing is actually cardboard, and can be peeled away from the pans. Also, the glue isn’t as strong as with other shadows, and since the cardboard is more flexible than plastic, there’s less chance of cracking. Just stick a sturdy pin into the corner of the well, and gently lift it out.
You can also Google “depotting urban decay bos”, and many results will pop up. HTH
I did this recently as I hate the book of shadows packaging. It’s messy and I had trouble getting the glue off the back of the shadows, but I’m happy I did it because now I actual usr them. I never wanted to touch it before because the packaging was so troublesome.
I depotted mine just a couple weeks ago without much issue. First tried prying a couple of them out, but the glue was super-strong…so I just demolished the packaging. Basically, peeled away all the cardboard around and in between the pans til it was just the shadow pans stuck to the bottom. I think I’d have shattered a few if I hadn’t done it that way.
My UD Vice palette was much harder to depot, and several shattered. Thank goodness for the rubbing alcohol to put them back together!
I’ve found that I’m using things WAY more now that they’re all in one place! Btw, I put the square depotted UD shadows in a Z Palette Pro size. It will fit 9×5 of the square pans, so 45, with enough room for a flatter brush at the top or bottom.
I followed this tutorial with success… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-6arL95mW0
These really seem to be fabulous products… I’ve had my eye on them for a while, and I know that they’d be worth the investment for sure (with all of my single shadows and small palettes floating around/taking up space). Apparently, I now just need to bite the bullet and spend some money! Thanks for your review… I always appreciate how detailed you are and I love the photos of the comparisons between the sizes! Thanks 🙂
No problem, Jessica! Happy to help 🙂
Christine, I don’t know where you live, but if it’s near me (I live in Nebraska) I would love to volunteer to be your de-potting assistant! You don’t even have to pay me, I just want to play with your stash of goodies! LOL I can sit back, catch up on Grey’s Anatomy and de-pot away. 😀
On another note, I want to get a Large Z palette (maybe 2) for all my drugstore eyeshadows that I don’t use much anymore, but don’t necessarily want to get rid of, but for $20+ a pop I just can’t justify buying them. I’d rather spend $40 on a palette.
I want to get some MAC palettes though, now that I know they are only $8!
California, unfortunately! 🙁
If you watch the Z-Palette website and via FB, they’ve been offering deals here and there – 20% or 30% off particular prints and sizes of the palettes. So you might be able to get one cheaper 🙂
I love Z palettes! I want like a million more lol. One day I’m going to depot all my shadows and blushes. It’ll save so much space
Personally, I hate these. Why would you want to take stuff out of their original packages? I buy a lot of products for their packaging. I hate how the pots don’t look even and there’s random spaces. I don’t know, just not for me. Sorry 🙂
Just depends on what you care about – if you care more about space and don’t care about the packaging, depotting makes a lot of sense 🙂 If like you, packaging is why you buy products, then it doesn’t make sense to depot since you’d lose an important part!
For me, it was a storage issue. My room is fairly small, so I needed a way to organize my collection without resorting to tossing things into bins where they wouldn’t get used as often. Depotting my singles freed up space for things that couldn’t be depotted, and it gave me freedom to put together my own palettes (try finding a good cool-toned neutral palette on the market 9_9).
(Generally, I will avoid depotting luxury brands like Dior and Chanel, partly because of the pretty packaging and partly because no amount of spatial organization could ever persuade me risk taking apart a $20+ eyeshadow.)
For me, nothing will ever beat out my Unii palettes. Yes they’re expensive but I just managed to snag four more for $18 each (and that includes shipping) from a steal site, and that’s dirt cheap considering the quality. I personally could never use a Z Palette for travel, I just couldn’t trust it. I do travel extensively (I’m away from home at least 3 months total out of the year, though usually more) and there’s no way I’m trusting some cardboard box with no latch in my bag. Also, there’s no mirror in these which could be a real issue depending on your travel arrangements.
As for my ever growing collection. I depot almost everything (save for very expensive items I’m terrified of breaking). I keep a “look” in each Unii Palette so I don’t have to think when packing my suitcase I just pick one appropriate for the trip and go. All “overflow” is housed in pallets I made from Ebay palettes (I guess similar to MAC but I don’t own any of those). I don’t travel with those but I’m sure they’d hold up. I guess I could use Z Palettes for that but they’re bigger/thicker so they’d take up too much room. They’re also way more than the $5 or so it costs to make one of mine. And I don’t want to spend a bundle on storage containers.
I’m glad you’ve found a solution that works for you!
Hi Christine,
Thank you for the reviews. I need to buy this for my eyeshadow refill but where can I find these palettes?
http://zpalette.com/
Oh. Thank you Christine.
I love the Z-palettes. They have seriously saved me so much space. I’ll place an order and then go through a depotting frenzy and am always impressed by how much spaced I saved. Especially with e domed palette.
Yayy! What method do you use to depot, Mindy?
For single and smaller compacts I use the flat iron method. For larger palettes I use a flame. For cardboard packaging (like Too Faced eye shadow palettes and Benefits box o’blush) I just tear the cardboard apart 🙂
Oh man, I wish I could send you pictures of the z-palettes I’ve put together.
You can! 🙂 christine[at]temptalia.com!
I don’t depot many of my higher end products (Dior, Chanel, Guerlain) but I do depot many large palettes. I think I’m actually going to depot all three of my naked palettes in one z- palette.
I depotted Naked 1&2 along with one of the BOS into one z pallet and love having them housed together so neutrals can be mixed with color options.
Thank you for the review! I’ve been debating making a MAC palette but I can’t seem to narrow my choices down to 15 to fit their palettes. I’ve been contemplating just buying the eyeshadow pans and putting them in a Z Palette, but I wasn’t sure how sturdy they are. I travel quite a bit so it’s important. They also look thinner than I thought they would be, so space shouldn’t be that much of an issue here.
I believe MAC palettes can now be freestyle as well if you remove or don’t purchase the insert, but I’m not super familiar with the newer palette they released.
I never knew that, thanks for the info! I guess in the end it’s going to be a toss-up on which palette is sturdier. 😉
According to some of the reviews on youtube (one of them was by dustinhunter), the magnetic backing in the new MAC palettes isn’t nearly as strong as the one in the Z Palette if you were to use the MAC palettes freestyle, so you might want to consider additional magnets if you are thinking of going for the MAC ones.
Thanks, Rebecca!
Thank you! I’ll certainly keep that in mind. 🙂
I have been using Z palettes for about a year now (in my Pro makeup kit). At first, I was in LOVE with them. They condensed me kit and made it much easier to pack lots of different products. I have had to keep repurchasing them over and over because they crack so easily. The one I was using for blush cracked so badly that the plastic pieces were falling out into my blush. I have been very disappointed. Z palettes are probably great for condensing your personal kit but not for traveling with them in your pro kit. I will be replacing all 5 of them with the MUFE empty palettes. Such a bummer! 🙁
That’s really disappointing to hear, Hope! 🙁 Where were they cracking?
I’ve debated getting Z palettes so many times. Each time, I couldn’t bring myself to pay $20 for a small, cardboard palette. I adore the large MUFE empty palettes. The problem with MUFE now is they have been out of stock on the palettes since this summer! I’m not sure if they have been DC’d, but I will be very disappointed if that is the case. I’ve been using the new large Mac palettes until I can get my hands on more MUFE.
So Hope, if you can find MUFE palettes, let me know where please.
Great review! I did want to point out something though. You said that anything in a metal pan will not need a sticker. That is not true. Certain types of metal do not stick to the magnets, I have had several pans from different brands that were like that. I have never seen or heard of makeup being put in a plastic pan, but I guess it is possible. I just didn’t want anyone to be confused and think that they would have enough stickers and then end up in a bind. 🙂
Hi Kaitlyn,
Thanks for clarifying – I meant magnetic metals but I will update the post to reflect that 🙂
I read on the Unnii sites that metal pans will stick without a magnet, unless they are aluminum.
That’s a little misleading on Unnii’s part, since it’s possible to demagnetize metals other than aluminum. I depotted about 25-30 eyeshadows recently, and out of the lot of them, only four had a powerful enough pull to stick to the magnetic base I used on my homemade palette. The rest I had to add magnetic bases to get them to “stick.” Depotting is worth the effort, IMO, but it is project, so to speak.
I agree, I did the same thing to all my eyeshadows except the annabelle ones that seem to have a magnetic on the back of the pans already.
I own 5 of them purchased at IMATS and I love them.
Used to think depotting was a great way of saving space. I had 3 palettes depotted but nowadays I look for palettes like Naked which is compact and space saving. I think it is a waste to depot those. I just travel with those palettes I pick up at duty free airports and leave the large palettes at home. After all, I dont need a rainbow of eyeshadows when I m travelling! After all, we paid so much for packaging and brands. After depotting, you cant tell which is which anymore.
How many Inglot shadows would these hold? I’ve been shifting between the Large and the pro depending on how many more shadows the pro holds.
Not sure, haven’t tried putting Inglot ones in these!
The thing I don’t care for with these is that if they are exposed
to water it destroys them for the most part. If I have makeup
on my BR counter and water splashes on the counter
my plastic cases are fine, a Z palette can get soggy and fall
apart. Sometimes I am in a hurry and accidentally splash
water on the counter while washing my face.
Any ways I wish they made a plastic version, I love how
it is eco friendly but the cardboard aspect really does keep
me away from the brand.
How can I order some of them and skip the high VAT and TAX for USA imported stuff in Greece? They told me that the price increase 40% . Any tip Christine or from any who knows anything about it? Thank you for your time
I have no idea, unfortunately!
Christine, thanks for the review! I’ve been eyeing them for a while now! I know you haven’t depotted any UD palettes, but do you think I could depot the UD’s 15th anniversary into a 4U palette? Would they all fit? Thank you! 🙂
I have no idea if they would all fit! Your best bet would be to measure each pan and see if there’s enough space in the interior! 🙂
I just did, and they should fit…. I’m ordering mine right now! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks!
Right now my empty palettes are just occupying more space. LOL.
Apparently need a kick in the butt to get busy depotting. Ultimately in the back of my mind, I’m quite concerned about breakage.
In my experience, all of the damage was done by ME and my NAILS, 80% of the time unrelated to depotting, lol!
LOVE my Z-Palettes! So many of my shadows would get used only rarely if I hadn’t depotted them…I need to have all my choices in front of me 🙂 Also, I don’t have a lot of space, so they’re a perfect storage solution. I don’t travel, so I can’t speak to how well they hold up in that regard. But they’ve been great so far for average daily use!
Happy to hear they’ve been working well for you, Reiland! 🙂
What depotting method do you use?
I have 2 Pro palettes, and I love mine.
Yay!
I also buy the ones from MAC and buy magnets it’s cheaper than ordering online!
That’s great, Judith!
Gorgeous rings, Christine. 😉
Thanks, Samantha!
I want to travel with 2 blushes and about 4 or 5 eyeshadows (all from MAC), which size would be the best to use?
4U
I really wanted to get a z palette until I realised that you can do the same thing with mac palettes by just sticking tiny magnets on the bottom of pans.