All About Z-Palettes, Depotting & How to Get Shadows to Stick!

Hi Bellas,

I'm back with another post!  I think this one will be super helpful for those of you who struggle with de-potting eyeshadows (aka taking eyeshadow from a pot and putting it into a palette) and getting them to stick to various types of palettes.  This technique helped me immensely.

Check out the Video!

In the video I go over several techniques for depotting.  I find that the one that works for me is using the flat iron method of placing shadows on the hot panels to melt the plastic, then pushing the pan through.

Z-Palettes in particular have a strong magnetic base.  We're used to sticking magnets on the back of our depotted shadows but it doesn't work so well with z-palettes.  The magnet to magnet connection is not strong enough to keep the shadows in place.  Instead, you need steel.  Some shadow pans already stick automatically to z-palettes such as Nars shadows, Aveda shadows, Kevyn Aucoin, etc.  Some shadow pans do not stick because they're made of a recycled metal - Elf, Josie Maran, Urban Decay, MAC and Sonia Kashuk.

You can find this affordable steel plated aluminum in the model airplane section at Hobby Lobby.  Use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut pieces of metal to stick behind your depotted shadows.

If you have problems with residue or packaging stuck to your eyeshadow (i.e. foam from depotting ELF encyclopedia palettes or cardboard) then you can use a goo removing product like Goof Off.  It's important to do this because that way you have a flat surface on the back of your pans so it sticks on the palettes evenly.

An easy way to get pieces of the steel to stick to the palette is to used pre-made glue dots which I picked up from Michaels.

Here are your materials including the z-palette - cut pieces of the steel, glue dots, and depotted shadows.

Place the glue dot on the back of the depotted shadow.

Then stick the steel square that you cut out on top.  You may need two glue dots for bigger pans.  I did have an issue with some of the pans separating from the metal but most held up.  I keep the shadow on top of a piece of toilet paper to make sure the shadow doesn't scrape, break or crumble and make a mess.

And you're done!

Hope this helps!  Do you have any other tricks for depotting and getting your shadows into palettes?  Let me know in the comments below!

FTC Disclosure:  Post not sponsored.

Atlanta Makeup Artist

Atlanta Photographer