Depotting Lipsticks

The depotting saga continues! I'm having tons of fun as you can see, and have moved on to lipsticks! When picking a color to wear, I have become a bit annoyed at opening various tubes only to see the color wasn't what I was thinking. So I decided to depot the lipsticks into a palette, and also sheer down some of the colors that were too opaque for the type of makeup I do (love natural looks where the natural lip colors come through!).  This is not only easier for myself getting ready, but also easier on my pro kit as I can use disposable spatulas to scrape the product out (rather than opening tube by tube). Read on for how I did this....



Supplies:
1) scraper to get the lipstick out of the tubes
2) spoon
3) candle
4) palette to put the lipsticks into (I bought mine on ebay)
5) lipsticks!
6) Vaseline (optional: only if you wish to sheer down some of the formulas)

To start, I first cleaned the palette wells with alcohol. This one is magnetic, but you can use whatever palette you feel like. I've also seen some others use pillboxes, whatever you feel works!




Revlon LIp Butter in Tutti Fruitti

Then I needed to scrape the lipstick out of the tube (this was hardest with the 1st tube, only because I'm a sucker for packaging and felt like I was destroying something pretty, but I reminded myself the reason I was doing this and so pressed on!).

Look how much product
is left in the bottom well!

 Be sure to scrape EVERYTHING out (there is a lot of lipstick left in the well at the bottom!)



The product scraped out then goes into the spoon, which is held over the candle flame (just above it, not directly on the flame).  You can use the scraper or a toothpick to stir the product as it melts.  After it's melted, pour it into the wells in your palette (I found a full tube needed 2 wells for my palette shown).

*Optional: I also made a sheered-down version of my lipsticks for when I want to create a more natural look with a hint of color.  To do this, I added equal parts Vaseline to the spoon and stirred it together they melted.  If you're uncomfortable with petroleum products, you can substitute beeswax and olive oil (1 part wax, 4 parts oil).  The sheered down product is in the well on the right.  As it turns out, I actually loved the sheer version much better!




Shiseido Perfect Rouge 305;
bottom-right corner 

I continued this process for my Clinique and Shiseido lipsticks to get the result in the photo on intro page.  One thing I found, is that the Shiseido product took the longest time to melt, and re-solidified almost immediately on contact with the well. Hence in the photo to the right the surface isn't smooth as I tried to tilt it around to form a layer. It's a very pigmented and dense product that goes on smooth (but not "oily" like the Lip Butter can feel). The melting process was much more waxy compared to the other two.  Perhaps this lipstick contains more waxes? Regardless, I do have to say that the Shiseido is the best performing product out of the three. Pigmented, yet moisturizing, yet doesn't not settle into fine lines. 


Have you depotted or sheered-down your lipsticks before? Share you experience with me! Also comment if you have any questions about the exact products/palette I used!