Pictorial - Depotting MAC Eye Shadows and Palette Alteraton

Hello all! Todays post will cover the nifty little trick that is de-potting, which I'm sure many of you will try for yourselves at some point, especially if like me you had numerous single pot eyeshadows rolling around make up bags and vanity table drawers! What annoyed me was if I was looking for a particular colour I could be rummaging for ten minutes, and rooting around a bag full of plain black pots when your in a hurry can get a bit tedious! What I decided was my best option was to de-pot all my single eye shadows and alter my 15 palette to a 26.

From this

To This

As you can see from the first picture, my palette alone was in dire need of some TLC! I managed to knock it off my bed, and much to my horror numerous eyeshadows were broken and shattered!
I recently watched a video on the Youtube channel Dazzledust25, which is run by Amy from makeupandbeauty.ie, where she reviewed her MAC neutrals palette. Check it out here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MhYBRgDg7Q&feature=plcp definitely worth checking this video out, some great everyday colours to be noted here.The most interesting part for me was seeing how to fit 26 single eye shadow pans (or 8 blush pans) in perfectly, after removing the 15 pan holder. Fitting that number of shadows into one palette will seriously de-clutter any makeup bag! 

• To begin, you must remove any eye shadows in the palette. Using a long, thin knife, I inserted it under where the insert meets the base of the palette. Wiggle the blade to loosen the insert.
• You will need to use quiet a bit of force to remove the insert, so I suggest getting someone to help you if you are under 18. Pull hard upwards on the plastic insert to pull out. This took me a few attempts to get a feel for the force needed, so be patient. Your palette will then look like this: 

• Tools you will need to de-pot eyeshadows: a pliers/tongs, a thin blade, a lighter/candle. 
• Select the eye shadow you wish to de-pot, I chose Saffron from the Surf Baby collection as the black insert contrats well against the white outer case to show you your starting point. 
• Take a thin blade, again be extremely careful whatever tools you choose! It's not worth loosing the tip of your finger over a few pots of eye shadow! :-) Open the pot, and wedge the blade in right where you can see the join of the insert and the outer case. 

• Wiggle the blade a little, see if you can push it in more. Once you feel resistance, start to prise the blade upwards, while wiggling the blade! You will probably hear it click or pop a few times before it comes out so don't worry. Once it clicks out you are left with the outer case, separate from the insert which holds the pan.

• Now to remove the all important pan. Using a pliers or tongs, hold the black insert and using a lighter or the flame of a candle slowly begin to melt the underside of the plastic. What you are trying to do here is melt the glue so that the pan can slip out easily from the holder. Again, be patient here as hot plastic or metal can really burn! You can see in the image below that a ring will start to form as you melt the plastic.

• Burn for about 20-30 seconds or until the plastic is bubbling. Then turning the pan over, using the blade from earlier push through the middle of the melted plastic until the pan safely pops out. Once the metal has cooled you can pull off any residual glue stuck on the pan. 

My favourite kind of "pots and pans"!

• Finally, I used a sanitizing spray and some cotton pads to clean the inside and outside of my palette and the bottoms of the pans before refilling the palette. All in all it took me about an hour as it was my first time to de-pot, next time will definitely be easier. 

The finished result!

Have you any de-potting tips or tricks you would like to share? Please comment with any info, love to try new methods!