What Fits Into What - Cosmetic Pans & Palettes

Hello! I'm Callie on MUA. I've created this page with information obtained by personal experience, reading posts on MUA, and through the help of some kind contributors who've contacted me directly (and vice-versa).

Please do NOT reprint this information verbatim -- I prefer that you link to the page if you want to give the information to someone. Recently it has been lifted directly and used by a seller on eBay to help sell regular MAC palettes at a markup. I personally think that that's a little sneaky -- please ask permission if you'd like to do something like that in the future. International copyright law protects all of us, and is applicable regardless of whether you SEE a copyright statement on a work, or not.

This is not a complete or definitive resource. I can't guarantee that all my information is accurate or fully up-to-date. However, this page was last updated on Monday, July 29, 2002 3:48 PM EST - (Copyright information and non-reprint request added) . I do my best to answer questions and reply to mail as I can take the time, but if you have a question that I haven't been able to help with (or haven't gotten around to answering) please try the MakeupAlley Beauty Board. I am not affiliated in any official capacity with MUA -- I am just a member, like you.

Please send me any additions, corrections, baking/removal tips and instructions, pan and palette sizes, descriptions, prices, and links to specific products that you may have that you'd like to be included in this site. Please let me know what your MUA username is, and also warn me if you do NOT want to be credited here (don't worry, I don't reveal personal information to anyone!).

P.S. I'm personally really interested in what fits exactly into what -- for instance, I know that you can put Stila pans into a large MAC e/s palette, but they are NOT the same size...  If anyone has exact sizes (inches/mm) or is curious and would like to measure any of these for me, please let me know!

Thanks to these MUA members (and others) for contributing!:
Abbeydabbey, AshleyPB, Carrera, JDell10, NancyC, Paniscus

Please scroll to the bottom of this page for Removal Techniques, Hints, Tips, etc.

General information about the items on this list:

• Most products listed here are sold in round pans that have been glued into pots or compacts. Most of those pans can be removed from the pots via prying them out, baking them in an oven, or other methods. Some are much harder than others to remove, and can get damaged easily or have their texture changed in the process (some frosty MAC shadows, for example). However, some products (like Stila) are only loosely glued in or otherwise very easy to remove from their containers, so the risk of damage while removing those from their original containers is minimal.
• A few products are available in pan form, only (Prescriptives), or both pan and pot forms (Stila, La Femme), both most are available only only pot/compact form.
• Some pans have magnets on the back (MAC), but most do not (Bonne Bell, EA, Stila, Prescriptives, etc.). However, whether they need a magnet or not depends on what sort of palette you put them in. MAC palettes are quite affordable and can be bought at MAC stores (not MAC counters in other stores, though), and online, at http://www.maccosmetics.com. Other palettes are quite beautiful and have features like mirrors (Stila's 6-pan and 8-pan palettes, available online at Sephora and in-person at other stores). If the palette has foam in it to hold the pans in it generally doesn't required magnets on the shadows -- they stay in with the pressure of the foam.

[listed by diameter, from smallest to largest, * = size is in question -- may not be in correct category]

Removal Techniques, Hint, Tips, Other Info:

• Magnets: If you decide to remove your potted shadows from their containers and need to place them in palettes that don't come with magnets, you can buy rolls of flexible, adhesive magnet strips in your local crafts store (Michael's, Jo-Ann Fabric), or online, and stick them onto the back of the pans (this tip goes for placing them in MAC palettes, in particular). NancyC was kind enough to send me this link to round, 1/2"-diameter self-adhesive magnets (they're hard magnets, approximately 1 mm thick), which are perfect for that use!
• Prying: You might want to try prying, first, especially if you are afraid to bake. Some pans are easily popped out of plastic containers, especially if you can crack the container, like Tigi Cyberoptics. This method really depends on the strength and amount of glue used in the container.
• A No-Bake Method: Here's a method that does not require an oven, and may be safer for your shadows, sent in by Abbeydabbey: "Heat up a phillips head screwdriver over a candle or gas stove flame and insert into the bottom of the eyeshadow pot. You may have to heat it up twice but it will melt through like butter! When you hit the pan take it out and heat it up one more time. Insert again and hold it to the pan and the glue will quickly melt. Push a little and you hear a scrunching sound, it's the pan loosening from the glue and it comes right out. I have done many MAC and Jane shadows this way and never ruined even one (three 15 pan palettes!) Just do it over a soft towel in case it pops out, you don't want it to fall on a hard surface, but usually it's easy to grab and take out. Hope this helps someone from baking damage!"
• Baking summary: The basic baking process goes something like this: Bake plastic shadow pans on a cookie sheet, etc. in your oven, somewhere between 350¡F and 450¡F, for anywhere from 2 minutes up. Results vary widely from oven to oven, as well as from product-to-product. Some are very easy to remove (MAC, generally) while some are a giant headache and easy to damage (Chantecaille - I'm speaking from experience!).
• After removing a pan from the pot: I generally clean off the leftover adhesive residue from the back and sides of pans with ethyl alcohol or acetone. Those are both fairly strong solvents and leave little or no residue of their own, but rubbing alcohol and nail polish remover will do the trick, also. Also, I use a very fine-tipped permanent marker (Sharpie brand) to write the color name on the actual metal of the pan, next to the magnet, or on a small sticker which goes on the magnet. This saves a lot of guessing in the future! :o)
• Back-2-MAC: MAC has a program where you can return six plastic containers (including any pot or lip container) to them and receive a lipstick in exchange. Baked pots are returnable, as far as I know, as this is a recycle program.