How I... store my MAC palettes

I'm planning a series of posts, showing how I store makeup, tools, etc

Today's post is on my MAC palettes.

My pinks & purples palette (try saying that quickly 10 times)

I'm a big big big fan of de-potting, I have a slight obsession with downsizing storage requirements all the time as I have a small enough space for storage of, well, pretty much everything!  Individual items (blushers, contours, eyeshadows etc) take up quite a lot of space.  I find if I de-pot, not alone do I gain in terms of space but also in terms of efficiency - I can bring one or two palettes to a job with me, as opposed to dozens and dozens of individual items.

My base shades (whites, creams, vanillas, bone shades)
... I could show you all of these, but I think you get the idea :-)

Of course de-potting takes time, and in the early days, you learn your lessons with some broken product (hopefully you have more sense than I and practice with cheaper items!)  You also need some equipment for de-potting - like spatulas, like isopropyl alcohol, like a bunch of labels, like a dedicated (cheap!) hair iron you keep just for this purpose, like an OCD personality and a lot of spare time :-)  But it is definitely worth it.

So, then you have a bunch of palettes - and what do you do with these?

DVD tower

Well, in my case, I figured that MAC palettes for example (the older ones) are the same length as a DVD box - so I bought a DVD storage tower on eBay that I use for storing them.  Obviously, any other palettes (eg Z Palette etc) won't fit - all of these go into a seperate drawer.

spring loaded...

I like the DVD tower approach as each slot is spring-loaded - so you can press in on a palette and it will pop out.  Handy!

some blushers...

some eyeshadows...

I then simply label each palette, I label the DVD tower, and I can access whatever I need whenever I need it.

I have noted that the new MAC palettes also fit into this tower - they are slightly more narrow and slightly thicker than the older palettes.  Although the new ones have a clear lid so you can see what's in them more easily, I prefer the older style for blushers and eyeshadows, as I like to have a reference as to whats what.

This has all reminded me that I need to do another round of de-potting...