I finally caved and bought a Z-Palette after hearing about them forever. I was loyal to my old MAC palette, but I had a few eyeshadows I wanted to depot that were too thick for the MAC palette. This Dome Z-Palette is deeper so it holds those deep eyeshadow pans.
I always take for granted that everyone knows what depotting is, so I'll touch on it a little. Depotting is taking an eyeshadow, blush or other pan style makeup product out of it's case to put into a palette or larger case. It allows you to get rid of the clutter of too many cases and have streamlined palettes that are easier to use, and custom to your tastes. It's like building your own palette. Keep in mind you usually end up destroying the original case, so only depot it if you really like it and don't plan on returning it.
There are various methods of depotting, Google and watch You Tube videos is the best way to get acquainted with the process. I find the flat iron method to be my favorite, I have also used the candle, burner, oven and freezing methods. The flat iron is easiest for me, and causes the least amount of damage to the pan I'm trying to remove. Patience is key. I used to use these small screwdrivers to help me pry things out, but they got bent and dirty, then I saw this De-Potting Spatula and thought I'd give it a try. I got both the palette and tool on Beautylish.
The Dome Z-Palette is made out of black glossy heavy duty cardboard with a clear plastic window. The lid is magnetic so it shuts and opens easily. The base has a large magnet layer which allows the metal pans to stick to it and be movable. When you depot a plastic eyeshadow you have to put a metal sticker on it to make it stick to the magnet. Some metal pans already stick, some need a metal sticker as well. The Dome palette retails for $25 and comes with 10 round and 10 square metal stickers, I found that to be enough to fill the palette for me. The dimensions are roughly 8" wide by 5.25" tall and 0.75" in depth.
I like the idea and use, I'm not a fan of the cardboard they use for the Dome palette, or Z-Palettes in general. I would much prefer plastic to the cardboard and pay extra to have something sturdy I could keep and use for 10 years. I'm afraid to get this wet on my bathroom counter, or that it will eventually tear or fall apart from bathroom humidity. So that's my main issue with Z-Palettes in general and why I didn't get one forever. If I didn't need the deep palette I would have stuck with my old MAC plastic one.
The De-Potting spatula is a double ended metal spatula with a rainbow metallic color. One end is flat, the other pointed. The center has a grip texture. The pointy end is tapered in thickness so you can dig under pots and pans to get your stuff depotted, the flat end is very slightly tapered. It retails for $12, it's sturdy and keeps my small screwdrivers from getting bent and destroyed. Is it necessary, no, but it's nice to have a dedicated tool. Your supposed to be able to use it to dig out lipsticks for palettes or other cream products as well if you do that kind of thing. You could use it to scrape the bottom of containers that are almost empty as well to get the last of the product in a tube or skinny object.
Side view of the depth of the Dome Palette:
