My MAC Eyeshadow Depotting Tutorial

This is an old tutorial on depotting my MAC eyeshadows and placing them in their new MAC 15-pan palette homes. MAC lovers like me go through such lengths to depot eyeshadows in order to avail of freebies from the Back2MAC program: for every 6 empty MAC plastic cases you return to MAC (whether it be an eyeshadow pot, a mascara tube, or an empty powder compact), you get either a lipstick, lipglass or an eyeshadow of your choice. Neat, huh? So I gathered all my MAC babies and started a depotting spree. Here is my tutorial on depotting around 5 months ago. The only different step I do now is that I take off the label at the back of the pot by heating it and sticking it on the pan instead of writing on the magnet using a gel pen.


The tools you need: Swiss army knife, votive candle, magnet strips, gel pen, tongs


Pry the lip with your knife.
Swiss or exacto knife is OK. Lip will pop open very easily.


The lip when pried
If your knife's blade is thin enough, the lip will separate easily.


Using tong, place over lighted candle. Make the tongs grab the hinges of the pan so it's easy to hold and will stay put. Hold the pan under fire for 30-60 secs. You'll notice the plastic will shrivel & become soft. Put it down carefully. DO NOT TOUCH the pan! You will get burned.


Pry under the naked pan with knife. Work swiftly while the glue & plastic are still soft. Work the knife under the pan, wiggle to loosen glue.




The naked pan


Cut a strip of magnet and using gel pen, write name of e/s while the pan is cooling.


Place magnet on the bottom of pan and place in palette with fork.


Ta-da! My blue and green MAC shadow palette!


My MAC shadow palettes 5 months ago


My reward for all my hard work: free 6 brand-new MAC lippies!