How To: De-Potting MAC Eyeshadows

MAC Palette
Top Left: Woodwinked; Top Right: Satin Taupe; Bottom Left: Brule; Bottom Right: Patina.

Last week something very special happened – the MAC Store in the V&A Waterfront actually had stock of everything that I wanted (this has never happened). I initially went in just to get my sister and I our eyebrow pencils, but then I saw that they had stock of their pro palettes *insert singing angels here* – I had been waiting for ages for these to come in so I promptly snapped up the 4-set palette.

I got home, so excited to transfer my existing eyeshadow into the palette…until I realised that I didn’t have the faintest idea of how to de-pot them. Oh. Thankfully, Youtube exists (seriously, what did people DO before Yotube?) so I quickly managed to find the solution. In a nutshell, you have to pop the pan out of the plastic container using a knife, heat the back of it to melt the glue, and then gently push the eyeshadow out. Then remove the glue from the back of the pan using alcohol, and place a self-adhesive magnet onto it so that it stays put in the palette. I didn’t have any magnets lying around (poor performance) so I made do with Prestick.

I wanted to share this video with you just in case you ever find yourself in the same predicament as I did on Friday. This lovely lady demonstrates the process like a pro:

Image by me