How to depot MAC makeup

Alright ladies.  I don't know how many of you use MAC makeup.  And for those that do, I don't know how many know there are these awesome customizable palettes you can buy.  This is a recent discovery for me.  I figured there have got to be a few of you who will find this tutorial useful!

I have a good chunk of MAC eyeshadows

Every morning I rummage around my makeup bag looking for the colors I need.  Such a waste of time.  Let me introduce you to the pro palette- your new best friend

You can buy palette refills that come ready to insert in the palette, they are $11.50, as opposed to $15 for a regular eyeshadow

Awesome right?!  Well what are you supposed to do with all your eyeshadows that are still in the eyeshadow pot?

You depot them!  

Here's how you depot your MAC eyeshadows to fit into the pro palette

 STEP 1:

If you open up your eyeshadow, you will see a tiny mark in the front where your eye shadow can come out of the container.  Insert your knife there and slowly turn to release the cartridge (for lack of better word)

 This is what you should get

STEP 2:
Turn on your flat iron, get a square of tin foil out and place your cartridge on top.  Your objective here is to melt the glue that's keeping that little metal pan stuck inside the cartridge.  I left it on a good 30 seconds.  If it doesn't easily pop out with a pin (next step) heat it up again

STEP 3:

See that little divot in the middle?  Poke a pin through it and the tin should release

 

STEP 4:
Get some goo gone, or rubbing alcohol and rub off the glue from the metal pan

STEP 5:
Take a slim magnet (you can buy at any craft store) and adhere double sided tape to one side

I used my scrapbooking tape

Tape it onto the back of your clean pan

YAAAAY!!!  

Now you have all your eyeshadows in one convenient location!

QUESTIONS:

1. Why do you need to put a magnet on the back of your pan?

The palette's are magnetized- that's how they hold the metal pans in place.  This method also makes them refillable!

2. I need to be able to remember the color of my eyeshadow, any suggestions?

You can easily rip the label off the back of your eye shadow and stick it on top of the magnet.  I was going to do this but my labels were so dirty and worn you couldn't even see what the shade was anymore!

3. I can't get the metal pan to pop out... what should I do?

You need more heat.  The plastic should be hot enough that it melts the glue that's holding the metal pan in place.  I actually melted the plastic a tiny bit on my first one and it was just fine.  It's got to be hot enough or the pan won't come out. 

4.  If I add my eyeshadow label to the back, do I need to clean off the glue?

No.  Leave the glue on your metal pan, adhere your magnet and let the glue on the metal pan help hold your label onto the back!

Good luck ladies.  Let me know if you have any questions!  Hopefully this tutorial was useful to some!