The Depotting Queen’s Dream: The UNII Palette Makeup Organiser is the perfect storage

My handbag, for those who have never had the privilege of carrying it, has been likened to carrying an anchor, specifically the one they use to dock the QE2.

And that’s despite me loving anything that’s multi use, anything that puts everything I need into one place.

Yes, I absolutely love depotting make up. It’s the thrill of it, and as great as it is having make up that is made customized palettes, there’s nothing quite like the challenge of depotting a piece of make up that is well and totally glued on.

So step in the UNII palette. It’s a medium sized magnetic palette that’s free form, with a cute design in a sturdy case.

Remember the Z Palette? Nice invention, and although it is highly sturdy, I will never be totally in love with cardboard packaging. I also found that the clear lid was great for artists, but not really necessary for the average make up hoarder – a mirror is far more useful if you want to take it on the go.

I have had loads of these empty palettes in my time; and when I think about it with the exception of the Shu Uemura palettes (which are très expensive – £25 for the large palette alone), none have exactly hit the mark. Too small, too big, a weird shape, not deep enough, no mirror etc.

The UNII palette certainly arrives full of promise…

The cute flower logo is pure Mary Quant! My mum used to buy Mary Quant make up so I have a soft spot for it…

The UNII packaging is super cute – the cardboard opens up and also lots of useful info on it. One thing it lists, for example, is all the brands that currently have eyeshadows and blushers that come without a case.

These include:

Aveda
Avon
Bobbi Brown
Boots (Botanics – although I haven’t seen these eyeshadows in the UK for a while?)
Chantecaille
Laura Mercier
MAC
Make Up Designory
Mary Quant
Mod Cosmetics
Prescriptives
Stila
Trish McEvoy

I’d also add RMK and Shu Uemura to that – can you think of any others?

Each UNII Palette Includes:

• Magnetized Palette, so makeup pans stay put
• Adhesive magnetic sheet with writable labels
• Large, full-sized mirror for the makeup on the go
• Movable thumb grip
• Tight, rubberized seal prevents leaks
• Fold-out instruction box
• Outer dimensions : 3.7″D x 6″L x0.7″Thick
• Inner dimensions : 2.8″D x 5.4″L x0.4″Thick

It even gives you a guide on how to get the eyeshadows out of it’s original palette and into the palette, as well as how to stick the magnets on:

The palette comes in 5 colours, Pink, Blue, Greeny Yellow, Purple and White. Or….Pomegranate, Twilight, Lemongrass, Eggplant, Snow. I prefer my names…

I got the one I wanted! Lemongrass which is a snotty greeny!

This palette is a GREAT size. It’s not too small to be pointless, but it’s not so big that it’s cumbersome to carry around.

Because it is a very good looking palette anyway, it’s something I wouldn’t mind carry about with me at all – to me this is palette you can really use every day, not just on the dressing table or for when you go away on holiday.

Note – the depth also seems to be spot on. Some pans are just thicker than others, and if it’s just a tiny bit too thick for a palette, it will not shut!

This one gives you enough depth to fit thicker pans in but it’s not too thick.

It shuts with a secure clasp – it will not fly open easily at all:

This palette comes with the small magnet (reminds me of Trish McEvoy palettes, as they also give you some sturdy magnets to hold things in place should you have spare room in the palette).

The thumb grip (the green around the edges) is also removable – excellent! Ever tried to fit an eyeshadow in a palette and needed just a few extra mm’s? I certainly have and this will give me more flexibility!

Here is the magnetic sheet which comes with this. If I have one criticism of this entire UNII palette as a whole, it would be that this magnetic sheet was not always as sticky as it could be. Especially when you have sticky, powdery fingers from over-depotting!

Still it’s a generous sheet so you can keep playing with it and I’ve bought a smaller one of these before from WH Smiths and it was £4 on it’s own.

Here is what I decided to put in my UNII palette for now.

Top: Contents of my Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic; Lemon Aid, Eye Bright, and Boi-ing Concealer in 01 and 02.

White Pan: Canmake Highlighter

Stripy Pan: RMK LE Blusher

The other colours are a mixuture of Too Faces Smoky and Neutral Eye Palettes. There’s a gap in the middle of the palette, like a tetris block and the pedantic side of me hates it. Can someone make some make up in this shape please?

As you can see, Art School missed a genius when they kicked me out.*

*It’s 4am at the time of writing, I take no responsibility for my madness.

Speaking of Art School, I want this game SO badly. It’s for the Nintendo DS:

By the way, see some of my other depot creations:

My first ever pressed pigment and palette idea

My RMK eyeshadows in a Aveda Palette (Aveda palettes aren’t much cop coincidentally – too small, the metal feels a bit rough and it has a weird lip on the edge of it).

Thinking of depotting Nars eyeshadows? Don’t. Just don’t. Unless you want to crack your one and only discontinued eyeshadow duo.

Melting Liquids (Nars Multiples) into a cheap eBay palette

My posh Shu Uemura palette – will not be adding up the value of this one

And here is the Z Palette review again

Of course, MAC Palettes are ever useful, and you can fit all kinds of brands into it. Here is when I depotted my Lavshuca eyeshadows into one.

Here is a video about UNII, it’s quite interesting! I love seeing other people’s make up collections:

Oh yeah, a conclusion.

Pros:

- Great size for every day use with good depth for an array of products

- Nice Looking

- Very sturdy, clips securely, almost like it has a seal on it

- Has features like the removable grip to give you more flexibility

Cons:

- I can’t fault the palette itself – I think it’s an amazing item, the best palette I have ever used. Obviously, if they introduce more colours and more size options in the future that would be great.

- The provided magnetic sheet could be stickier on the, erm, sticky side.

- Costs $29 for one – with the current weak UK sterling, it’s about £18.26. So no it’s not that cheap but totally worth it!

Verdict:

Palette Perfection.

The UNII palette costs $29, $56 for two ($28 each), Three or more: $27 each!

For a limited time there’s free shipping in the US and Canada.

You can purchase here (they take Paypal – which I always like!).