Sephora now sells the MUFE (Make Up For Ever) palettes. Being that I have been gagging to get my hands on one of these for ages, I instantly snatched one up. LOVE! First off, the MUFE palette and single shadow system is genius! Why oh why doesn’t MAC do this?

Click “Read More” below for full instructions and photos of MUFE palettes, shadows and depotting….

One of the reasons I have never depotted any of my MAC shadows is the fact that it is so permanent. The fact that I can’t pop them in and out of the palettes AND the single shadow pots just seems inefficient and so, well, permanent.

MUFE solves that by offering shadows and blushes that you can move back and forth from palettes and individual pots. They make this possible by holding their shadows in the individual pots with magnets, not glue like MAC does. What does that mean? It means depotting MUFE does not involve, the heat, burns, fumes and headaches that depotting a MAC shadow does.

It seems only the shadows that are in the newer version of the MUFE individual pots are held in by magnets. Both the newer and older MUFE palettes have the same design and same outer package colour. The only differences are that the old pots have a semi-matte finish to the black plastic and a back label that is all black with white text. The newer version has a glossy, black, plastic container and the back label is mostly black, but has a white stripe where the shadow number and lot are listed.

To depot, I started with a MUFE shadow/blush #89 (MUFE shadows and blushes are the same size). If you look at the shadow in the pot, the metal pan sits slightly above the black plastic shadow pot that holds it. I just used my thumb to gently push the pan up and away from the magnet. That was it. Then, you just slide it into the MUFE palette.

Another way to depot (which I figured out in the comments of this thread. Yay, Specktra!) is that the newer MUFE individual pots have a hole in the back of the palette, which you can just stick a pin through and push the shadow out. To find the hole (which is covered by the label), just take a pin and start pushing in around the center of the back of the individual pot where the lot # and colour # are. This is in the area of the white stripe on the label.

So whilst this was much easier than a MAC depotting, it wasn’t all fluffy bunnies and fairy tales. Some of the shadow pots aren’t raised up as high as they could be and are therefore extremely difficult and seemingly impossible to remove. Thus, the cosmetic carnage that follows…..

A few things I learned:

1. I always held the shadow upside down when removing the shadow from the pot. Let gravity help you.
2. I thought perhaps if I got a stronger magnet, it would overpower the one in the MUFE individual pot and pull the pan out. Noooope. Not so much. Couldn’t get that to work.
3. Can’t get the pan out of the pot? Try holding the pot in your hand with your palm and shadow facing down (make sure they are upside down and over a towel), then smack the back of your hand. The force will cause the pans to either fall out or jiggle loose from the pot. Having a towel there to catch any fall out, save your carpet and cushion the fall is a must.
4. Remember depotting in the above mentioned methods only seems possible with the newer version of the MUFE shadows. The new versions have a glossy black plastic pot and a back label that is black with a white stripe.

Overall, I really like this system. I will chalk up my two fatalties to being a beginner and work on my technique.

The palettes are $20.00USD at Sephora.com.

Do you depot your MUFE shadows or do you plan on it now that the palettes are so easily available?