First Time DIY: Depotting Disaster!

So, for anyone who follows me on YouTube and saw my "Perfect Palette" tag video, you know that I have been wanting to depot all of my Avon True Color eyeshadow quads and actually make a palette out of the colors from that tag video to use for a pan that palette challenge next year. I've watched a lot of videos on depotting methods and one common theme throughout was that you need a lot of time and patience to depot more than a small handful of shadows...and I am in short supply of both time AND patience. Then I came across an old video from Wayne Goss where he just popped his shadows in the oven and when they came out he was quickly and easily able to pop the pans out of their packaging with a paring knife. So that's the method I decided to go with for my depotting adventure.

In his video, Wayne said he set his oven to 100 degrees centigrade. That's roughly 212 degrees here in the States, and since I can't set my oven to 212 degrees I decided I would go with 210 to be on the safe side. The video also stated to put the shadows in the oven for 2-5 minutes.

Round 1: 2 minutes at 210 degrees. Results: nothing. I couldn't pry up a single pan. Not one. Not even a little.

So back into the oven the shadows went for 5 more minutes.

And...well...I got the shadows out. Even with the extra 5 minutes in the oven the glue was still really strong under the pans. So strong that I broke the tip off the end of my paring knife(and never found it). So I thought, you know, maybe the oven's not hot enough.

So I put my next batch in at 215 degrees for 10 minutes.

And things went a little smoother...but not as smooth as I would've liked.

The shadows definitely came out easier this time, but I still struggled with them. I was happy that none of them had completely broke apart like with the first batch. Since it seemed like the temperature was hot enough, I did one more batch but left them in for 5 minutes longer(so 15 minutes at 215 degrees) in the hopes the glue would loosen enough that I could pry them out easily.

This time the shadows did come out much easier. Some I still had issues with, but overall they popped out without too much hassle and seemed(seemed being the key word here) to be intact and in good condition.

I wanted to do the project cheaply, so I stuck the shadows to the inside of an old CD case with double-sided permanent tape. Now I can easily see what shadows I'm grabbing for, and I didn't have to drop a pretty penny on a magnetic case.

Now, here's the kicker, those shadows with arrows next to them are the same shadows from the previous picture(where they look like they are still in pretty good condition). Since I have made this palette, the plum shade completely crumbled and I've had to repeatedly press it back together, the deep brown shadow broke and fell out on the floor when I opened the case, and one time when I closed the case that shimmery beige cracked all around the corner.

I now have to keep this palette laying flat, treat it with kid gloves, and use the lightest hand humanly possible with the shadows so that they don't fall apart anymore.

Needless to say, I won't be using the oven method to depot my shadows anymore!