Z-Palettes Make Your Life Easier

Guest post by Christina from The Makeup Blogger.

By now, I have started to compile of list of  products that go into my category of  “where has this been all my life!”, and “why didn’t I think of this!”.  These are products that make my life exponentially easier, slimline my kit (or my bathroom makeup drawer), and provide outstanding quality.

This beauty product provides me with all of my requirements. First off, let me just say that their slogan had me immediately smitten; ” Life is complicated enough; why not simplify the things you can.”  Yes, please!  This is now my favorite find from my IMATS trip!

The Z Palette is a customizable makeup palette that allows you to place eyeshadows, blushes, powders, or cremes of all shapes and sizes into a single magnetic palette. Brilliant! The palette’s were created by Emmy Award winning makeup artist Zena Shteysel, who worked for eight seasons on Dancing With The Stars.

In her own words “I’ve spent years working as a make up artist for film and television and have always had to carry around an enormous make up kit. I’d spend hours consolidating, organizing and transferring things into smaller containers and palettes, just to make my makeup case lighter and more efficient. To solve this, I designed the “ultimate customizable makeup palette,”Z Palette is an exclusive universal case with an open magnetic bottom to fit the color pans you want, and none of the ones you don’t. Customize it to fit your needs and be eco-friendly by reducing packaging. The clear window also allows you to see what’s inside without any fuss.”

I have already started enthusiastically changing over all my palettes, and reorganizing all my powders. It has changed my kit forever, and given me to freedom to try out new products without worrying about how they will work within my kit (really, square shadows or too large shadow pans drive me mad!). I have started making kits based around my needs, such as a bridal kit, a matte kit, a shimmer kit, and so on.  It has freed up so much space and time. God Bless Zena!!

Here are her amazing tips for how to convert your old products into your new personalized palette!

Did you know that if you have eye shadows, blushes, or bronzers in pots you could easily de-pot them? It is very simple and there are several ways of doing this:

The PRYING method:

• You might want to try prying, first, especially if you are afraid to bake.
• Some pans are easily popped out of plastic containers.
• This method really depends on the strength and amount of glue used in the container.
• If you notice a crack in the shadow immediately stop and move onto the next method using heat.

The OVEN method:

• place product on cookie sheet and into oven on low heat, between 200-350 degrees Fahrenheit, for a few minutes until the glue has melted and the packaging surrounding the product melts away from the shadow pan.
• You can then lift the shadow out with a small knife, tweezers, or spatula and let it cool.
• Once cooled, remove the excess glue with rubbing alcohol or acetone, place in Z palette, and voila you are ready to simplify!

The STRAIGHTENING IRON method:

• if the oven method seems a bit scary try using a straightening iron.
• Place products on bottom plate of iron for a few minutes until the glue holding the shadow pan has warmed up a bit.
• Then you can lift the shadow out with a small knife, tweezers, or spatula and let it cool.
• Once cooled, remove the excess glue with rubbing alcohol or acetone,  place in Z palette, and voila you are ready to simplify!

Here’s a tip: If any shadow breakage occurs during this process don’t toss your shadows out. You can saturate the shadow by pouring rubbing alcohol on it and use a spatula to smooth it back together. Once the shadow has dried it is ready to use again.

*Note: You can use a very fine-tipped permanent marker to write the color name on the actual metal of the pan, or next to the magnet. This saves a lot of guessing in the future!