# Organising your 15 palettes by colour



## LoopyLoo (Jun 28, 2009)

How does everyone do this?

Currently I have:
1. neutrals
2. golds and autumn colours
3. blues and silvers
4. purples and plums
5. yellows, greens and teals

Also a few minor questions
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





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1. Which palette does everyone keep their carbon/shale/graphology?
2. Does everyone have a "brights" palette (like say for Orange, bitter and electric eel, or do you keep those with their colour groupings)?
3.  Do people keep their satin taupe with things like sumpt olive and coppering (my autumn palette) or with their neutals
4.  Do people keep a "dark" palette, say with graphology, contrast and carbon, or do you put these with your colour grouping?

Phew, thanks guys, I'm having "problems"
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 organising


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## elongreach (Jun 28, 2009)

I have the same issue too.  I have no idea how people get their palettes so organized by color.  I was thinking it was some kind of chart that I didn't have, but I think people just eye it??  It would be nice to get some guidance in this area.


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## darklocke (Jun 28, 2009)

I actually organized, or at least tried to, my palettes yesterday.

1. Neutrals (MakeupGeeks suggestion on which colors)
2. Neutrals & Pinks
3. Yellows, Golds and light Oranges
4. Oranges & Red
5. Greens (w/ Sumptuous Olive)
6. Blues
7. Aquas & Teals
8. Purples (w/ Graphology)
9. Silvers, Greys & Black (w/ Carbon)

My Shale will go into my Purples or my Greys-palette when it's depotted, I'm not quite sure yet. HTH!


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## gigglegirl (Jun 28, 2009)

yeah my shale is with my purples. i currently have satin taupe w/ my neutrals, i have a lot of browns that keep it company!!

what i struggle with is the fact i like to mix colours ie pink and browns, whatnot so id have to pull multi palettes. 

its frustrating but i haven't depotted more as i like pairing the little singles to create a look rather than pulling several palettes. it makes things much less organized; hard to go through a basket of over 40 singles....

i guess my other option is to randomize my palettes (ie put some highlighters, pink, purples, blue, green, dark colours). but again i think ill have issues if i want to use my greensmoke and find which palette its in. still a work in progress!!


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## Mabelle (Jun 28, 2009)

i have one for browns (this includes golds and coppering)
neutrals and highlights (oly very light neutrals like tete a tint)
purples
blues
greens (i  included bitter in this as well as my yellows)

then i have a quad for carbon, smoke and diamonds, knight and pandamonium


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## miss sha (Jun 28, 2009)

I don't have a lot of eyeshadows yet, but here's what I'm doing.

Blues/greens
Pinks/purples
Browns/neutrals/brights

Carbon hasn't been depotted yet, but I'd put in my neutrals palette. Graphology is with the purples.

I don't have Bitter and Electric Eel, but I'd put them with their colors. I wouldn't know where to put Orange in a color grouping, so I'd just put it with neutrals and brights.

Satin Taupe is with the neutrals and Coppering is also one of those weird brights so it's in the neutrals/brights palette. I'm pretty sure Gorgeous Gold is in this palette as well.

I don't have enough eyeshadows yet, but I'll eventually add a completely brown palette, a greyscale palette with the whites/grays/silvers/blacks, and a palette with all brow highlighting colors.

What I have problems with is organizing the colors within the palette. I've heard of using the MAC color spectrum, but it's kind of weird. Like, it has Expensive Pink down with the browns when Sushi Flower is much higher in the spectrum. So what I do is just try and organize in a dark-to-light-to-dark gradient. For example, I'd organize it by Deep Truth-Steamy-Swimming-Humid.


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## franimal (Jun 28, 2009)

I think it is really a preference thing that also depends on how many palettes you have & how many eyeshadows of each color you have. I have mine separated by color, then within each palette the shadows are separated by tone. For example within the brown palette, the first row is red browns, 2nd row is warm browns, 3rd row is cool/muddy browns. I have shale with my taupe/silver/grey/black palette.

My palettes are separated by:

highlight colors
beige/brown
pinks
red, orange, coral
yellow/gold
greens
limes
blue
teal
purple/plum
silver/taupe/grey/black

I have alot of lime & teal so they have their own palettes. I am really not a neutral gal. But if you are, you will probably have more neutral palettes than I do. HTH.


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## frostiana (Jun 28, 2009)

browns/golds
blues
greens/yellows
pinks/purples
highlighters/blacks/random oranges


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## erine1881 (Jun 28, 2009)

greens
blues (graphology)
oranges (orange)
greens (bitter)
yellows
browns
taupes (satin taupe)
neutrals
golds
coppers/bronzes
teals/turquoises
purples (shale)
greys (includes silvers)
pinks

black quad
white quad


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## gildedangel (Jun 28, 2009)

I only have one palette and a quad (so far) and I organize my 15 palette with one row of neutrals, one row of purples, and one row of random! The quad holds my metallic colors.


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## HustleRose (Jun 29, 2009)

i currently have six palettes:

pinks/reds/oranges
browns/golds/neutrals
whites/silvers/greys/blacks
greens
blues/teals
purples

my blues/teals & greens are currently full.


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## Shadowy Lady (Jun 29, 2009)

well, mine is kinda random. I have 4 palettes right now, plus a quad:

palette No.1 - warm colours and neutrals (my Satin Taupe is in here)
palette No.2 - purples, pinks, silvers and grays (graphology, copperplate are here)
palette No.3 - greens, golds and yellows
palette No.4 - blues and teals (Clarity, dupe for Electric Eeel is here)
quad - my "regular" highlight colours (Creme de Miel, Blanc Type, Solar White) plus Gesso

This is the way it's worked best for me. HTH


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## II3rinII (Jun 29, 2009)

i started off by doing colors, like purples, blues etc.  but then i started getting more of the same colors and was running out of room.  also since i work for mac we cant wear LE colors if we dont have them to sell so i started putting my depotted LE colors together by collection.  so i know have:
pinks
greens
blues
purples
neutral mattes
neutral shimmers (satin taupe)
metallics
highlights
mattes
brights (bitter, chrome yellow)
glitters (all colored lustres)
pro only palette (15 pro shadows)
collection palette; matte2
collection palette; neo sci fi, naughty nauticals, cool heat
collection palette: originals, N collection
((i need to make a starflash pallete as well as one with rose romance, style warrior and naked honey))

for blushes i have:
pinks
peaches/browns
dark/plums
beauty powder blushes
pro blush

ive labeled them all so i know whats what since theres so many.  it helps when i freelancing gigs, i know if its a wedding i can grab the two neutral palettes and the pink palette and be good to go.


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## tremorviolet (Jun 29, 2009)

I just reorganized this past weekend!  I pulled out all my highlighters into one palette.

Highlighters
Greens (includes olives)
Pinks
Purples
Oranges, Yellows, Golds (Coppering is here even tho' it's more red)
Neutrals
Greys, Blacks (includes things like Graphology)

My Oranges, Yellows, and Golds palette is full and I'm trying to decide whether to have a cool neutrals palettes with the greys and a warm neutrals palette with some of the more neutral oranges.  It does seem like Satin Taupe goes more with the greys than the warm neutrals like Texture.


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## Strawberrymold (Jun 29, 2009)

I know it is hard, I keep wanting to label everything all perfect but than I get some new shadows and the whole process starts again...

so far here's what I got...

Pinks palette
Blue/greens palette
Browns palette
Orange/reds palette
Plums/purple palette
and the colors I use almost everyday palette


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## Caderas (Jun 29, 2009)

I have 4 palettes and I do them by..

1. neutrals - whites/highlights/blacks/greys/most browns
2. warms - some browns/reds/oranges/coppers/golds/
3. cools 1 - greens/teals/aquas/blues
4. cools 2 - purples/pinks

And I would put Satin Taupe with neutrals!


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## PurpleOrchid (Jul 1, 2009)

Lol, I was so stressed over this when I got my 15 pan palette too.  Ultimately what I found was best for me was organizing them in trios (that is, vertically grouping three shadows I wear in combination with one another).  So in one 15 pan palette, I have 5 sets of three trios.  The top row are the highlight colors, the middle the lid colors, and the bottom row the liner/outer v colors.  This probably won't work for you if you plan on collecting every single MAC shadow there is, but for me it does the trick.


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## shadowaddict (Jul 1, 2009)

How do you guys label your palettes to tell which one is the greens, the purples and so on? What have you found is the best way that doesn't get all nasty looking after a while touching and holding it??


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## GlamQueen21 (Jul 2, 2009)

You can either label each palette on the outside or you can use the labels underneath the eyeshadow pot to label each color. It works for me so that in case I reorganize my palette in which I will do so soon since my first palette has all of the random e/s in them.


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## tremorviolet (Jul 2, 2009)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *shadowaddict* 

 
_How do you guys label your palettes to tell which one is the greens, the purples and so on? What have you found is the best way that doesn't get all nasty looking after a while touching and holding it??_

 
For the outside label, I use a P-Touch labeler.  I like how neat it makes everything look & it's easy to print a new label when I reorganize.


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## fash10nista (Jul 2, 2009)

I have my palettes organized and labeled by color as follows:

Pinks
Browns
Aquas/Teals
Highlights/Neutrals
Smokey (silvers/grays/black/any dark colors really)
Purples

Miscellaneous (not labeled, e/s that I don't have enough of one color spectrum to warrant a full palette)

I use a labelmaker to label my palettes...Brother P-Touch


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## erine1881 (Jul 2, 2009)

i use a label maker too!  i label the outside and stick labels on the bottom of each pan (on the magnet).


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## HeavenLeiBlu (Jul 2, 2009)

My original plan has gone bust because I've run out of space.


It is:

Palette 1:Oranges/Corals/Coppers/Browns/Neutral

Palette 2: Blues/Teals/Greens ( dumb idea because blue is my favorite color, and green  has surprisingly overtaken over  the blues in my MAC pans and other brands that I cant fit into the palettes).

Palette 3: Pinks/Purples



Luckily, other than the two browns and Woodwinked in the first palette, I don't really have any MAC neutrals that I use, they're all other brands or in quads or palettes.


I'm gonna have to move the purples and greens into their own palettes, because I have a few shadows on standby because they wont fit into the homes I'd planned for them, LOL.


I will also have to consider making a new palette for yellows and moving the oranges/corals in there. We'll see. I'm still very small potatoes at this point.


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## shadowaddict (Jul 2, 2009)

Thanks for the labeling help. I am ready to start my depotting. Well that is as soon as my husband goes back to work. He took a few vacation days and is driving me nuts. I've got 6 of the 15 palettes to start off with. I think I will leave all my special package ones in their cute little pots because.... well I like them that way. I'm really hoping this isn't a mistake and I screw up my e/s, but space is a big issue at this point, just not practical.


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## GlamQueen21 (Jul 2, 2009)

^I'm the same way. I don't depot special packaging eyeshadows since I love it the way it is unless I get the same e/s in that packaging and I can depot it with no problem.


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## Sonya Adams (Jul 4, 2009)

I have a bunch (eyeshadow whore for the most part) and they're all organized by color... in order where they're at right now:

Black/Grey/Silver/White
Light Neutral/Nude
Medium Neutral/Tan
Dark Neutral/Brown
Orange/Peach
Pink
Purple
Plum/Eggplant
Blue
Teal/Aqua
Green
Yellow/Gold
Misc/Unsorted new items

followed by my Blush Palettes:
Matte (neutral on left, peach/gold in middle, pink/plum on right)
Shimmer (same)

followed by my LE palette (Holiday 2001/The Bay)

followed by my lipstick palettes (I pan all of my lipsticks)
Currently the lipsticks are somewhat unsorted other than rows.  I've gotten lazy.


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## erinmosh (Jul 4, 2009)

i have mine as follows:
1) neutrals/highlights
2) yellows/oranges/golds
3) pinks
4) greens
5) blues
6) purples
7) greys/darks/etc.
8) browns

i have more than 15 of each color now, so i decided to take the inserts out of my palettes. i'm obsessed with keeping eyeshadows of the same color family together, so i had to do it! there's nothing like going for purples and having to open up two palettes. grrrr. it was the best decision though, now i can fit 26 in each!


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## celestia (Jul 6, 2009)

If i had an extensive collection for some ungodly reason (even then it would be condensed)- it would most likely be:

*1.* Reds/Pinks/Purples 
*2. *Greens/Teals/Blues 
*3. *Highlights [warm] (Warm Neutrals/Golds/Peaches/Apricots/Browns would go here under the 'yellow/orange' umbrella too)
*4.* Greyscale [cool]  (Cold Neutrals/Silvers and colours with a very strong, solid, grey base included)

I would arrange each colour in each colour family like so (within the palette): The more solid, vibrant colours would take up the top corner, the more pale shades would take up the middle, descending in gradient and shade intensity with the most pale in center. The more darker variations would huddle at the end corner. Everything would follow their respective gradient, hue and tone. 

----

The reality of my situation is, I really only see myself having one x15 palette. I'm far too 'lazy' to open multiple palettes for the shades I'm after I usually relapse into sorting 'favourites' into one palette. Then there's the instinctual begging to BALANCE the colour families I decide on. 

I don't do well with harsh yellows or vibrant purples because I have warm toned, asian skin and in conjunction with said colours, that ends up making me look too sallow. I don't usually wear cool shades quite well and some colours I like to have an abundance of..while others, one or two shades suffice. As such, my dilemma does not lie within 'which palette to place it' (because I'd really only have one palette)...but rather, where to arrange it within the one x15 palette I intend to own. Although it's only a dilemma because I have not solidified my selection and that makes it really hard to determine which colour and where on the palette it 'belongs'. 

At the moment I face the task of arranging every colour family into one x15 pro palette. It changes the whole playing field by a lot because there really isn't a whole lot of methodically aesthetic options- it ends up beggin some sort of abstract art.

So far, it's to do with categorising what colours blend seamlessly with what other colour, but it changes with the colours I decide on. At one point, I had them organised like an adaptive RGB spectrum. I currently have 4 Reds/Pinks/Purples, 6 Greens/Teals/Blues, 5 warm neutrals/golds and a separate x4 greyscale palette. So for the moment, it looks closer to a whole MS hexagonal colour palette; rotated and flipped a few.

I have some singles on reserve... because sometimes I don't like colours getting it on with other colours in the pan. 8D


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## Prototype83 (Jul 6, 2009)

My palettes are as follows:

Purples
Yellows/Oranges
Blues
Greens
Pinks/Coral
Neutrals (mostly browns, but I have Blacktied in it)
Miscellaneous - This contains my run-overs from the other palettes and LE
...and I need to get another ASAP.  Those new Starflash e/s come out soon!

I also have a smokey eye quad that has Carbon, White Frost (?), Pandemonium, and Print in it.

I organize each palette with the colors going from light to dark and I label them with a silver Sharpie, which fades after time.  I may have to just invest in a label maker...or steal my little brother's LOL


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## Prototype83 (Jul 6, 2009)

Funny....I used to look at some eyeshadow collections and say "How in the hell do they have so many palettes?!!  That's CRAZY...I would never have that many!"

Just realized I'm one of those "crazy" ladies 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			








​


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## OfficerJenny (Jul 6, 2009)

Neutrals: Highlighters, everyday neutral shadows for a quick look, most of my browns are here
Blues: Carbon is here
Pinks and Purples 
Greens and Purple: Bitter
Golds, Yellows, Reds, Oranges: Chrome Yellow, Coppering, Orange
Random pallette with neutral pinks, blues, greens, and purples.


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## Dayjoy (Jul 7, 2009)

Neutrals--containing browns and highlights--Satin Taupe here
Pinks and Purples
Reds and Oranges and Golds
Greens
Blues and Whites/Grays/Silvers/Black

On the outside I use the 3/4" circle stickers with the color families on them written in that color ink (one per palette).  Inside, I have a liner I trimmed from clear plastic sheet with the same circles in place over each shadow with the name written on it.  It's in place when I open the palette and I move it up when I use the shadows and can see what color I am using by looking at the label sheet.


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## shadowaddict (Jul 9, 2009)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *tremorviolet* 

 
_For the outside label, I use a P-Touch labeler.  I like how neat it makes everything look & it's easy to print a new label when I reorganize._

 
OK, so I did a search for the P-toch labeler and now I'm really confused. There are a bunch of different ones. Which one do you guys recommend for this purpose as this would be mostly what I use it for? Thanks


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## shy_gal_jojo65 (Jul 10, 2009)

1. Neutrals 
2. Pinks
3. Purples
4. Blues
5. Greens
6. White, Black, Silver
7. Gold, Orange, Yellow

I still need to label the outside of the palettes. Still don't know which palette is which. GrRr...


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## nullified (Jan 9, 2010)

My palettes are arranged by colour, for the most part and are kinda squished together as I have 14 palettes total and they are full :/ Once I get more palettes (when my store gets more in) they will be more oganized. But for now:

1. Reds/Oranges
2. Yellows/Golds (but also houses random odd colours like Club)
3. Greens
4. Blue-Greens
5. Blues
6. Purples
7. Purples/Pinks
8. Pinks
9. Blacks/Whites
10. Browns
11. Highlights
12. Misc/New shadows
13. Urban Decay (I depot everything and put them in MAC palettes, for storage/asthetic reasons)
14. Large Shadows (MUFE, Ben Nye, Manic Panic, etc)


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## Mac2Perfection (Jan 9, 2010)

My palettes consist of 

1. Blues, aquas, and teals ( 11 spaces left)
2. Oranges and yellows (6 spaces left)
3. Browns (3 spaces left)
4. Pinks (2 spaces left)
5. Purples ( full) I also need a home for vibrant grape so until then I keep it in it's special packaging  
6. Greens (4 spaces left)
7. Silvers and grays with carbon in there as well (3 spaces left)
8. Highlights and neutrals (3 spaces left) 

I have one empty palette just for ones I collect along the way for example my vibrant grape doesn't have a home so I have to stick in there for now
I've been collecting since June 09 and I still don't have enough so hopefully when I get my income tax check I'll get some more e/s also saving room for the spring forecast collection


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## iadorepretty (Jan 10, 2010)

I arrange my palettes by color as well:

*15 Palettes*
1. Neutrals (browns & highlights)
2. Neutrals (browns, yellow, orange, gold)
3. Greens
4. Blues/Teals
5. Purples/Darks (shale, carbon are in here)
6. Pinks
7. Miscellaneous - this one I keep so i have a place for the new e/s i get & have no space for in
   existing palettes (like my pinks or my purple/darks palettes)


I have 1 quad for my crease colors: Soba, Texture, Saddle & Brown Script


*Blush palettes:*
1. Brights (colors like Azalea & Devil)
2. Peaches/Bronzes
3. Pinks/Plums


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## themaczealot (Jan 11, 2010)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *PurpleOrchid* 

 
_Lol, I was so stressed over this when I got my 15 pan palette too.  Ultimately what I found was best for me was organizing them in trios (that is, vertically grouping three shadows I wear in combination with one another).  So in one 15 pan palette, I have 5 sets of three trios..._

 
When I depot my shadows I plan to do just that!
Just saving to get the remaining shadows to fill 3
and waiting for time for a depotting marathon 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




palette1
Metallic/Pink/Orange/Neutrals/Yellow      

palette2
Green/Teal/Blue/Purple/Brown/

palette3
Greys/Blacks/Whites/Hi-Lites/Extra


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## foxykita143 (Jan 21, 2010)

You could try grouping them in the order they have the colors on the MAC website. Personally I have mine in vertical rows of three, and in each row is the three eyeshadows that I would most likely pair together like light blue, blue, dark blue, and the next row light purple, purple, dark purple, light pink, pink, dark pink, and so on. I do the same for each of my palettes but when I get enough colors I going to try grouping them in the "MAC order" and see how it looks.


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## ThePowderPuff (Jan 21, 2010)

I really have problems with this at the moment. I'm in between palettes I guess you could say.

Before I had a coloured palette and a brown/neutral palette. But I have too many eyeshadows now. So I kept my coloured palette but that's full now, so when I buy my next coloured eyeshadow, I will have a problem. I have put my neutrals in one palette and my browns in another, but I don't have that many neutrals.... Really don't know what to do!


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## NotteRequiem (Jul 12, 2010)

*How do you organize your 15 pan palettes?*

I thought of a different kind of topic.

How do you organize your MAC palettes? By color? Texture? Finish? Alphabetically?

I have 3 MAC 15 palettes. One is muted colors [all finishes], one is bolds [Mostly frosts and Starflashes] and I have a palette for 15 of the Matte2 shadows. I have 2 empty spots that are waiting for Clarity and Graphology once I get my hands on them.

So, how do you do it?


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## Hendrix (Jul 12, 2010)

I organise by having few enough shadows that they'll all fit into two palettes.


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## xsuzyqx (Jul 13, 2010)

Highlights
Browns (matte)
Browns (satin/vp/frost)
Neutrals (blacks, grays/silvers, whites)
Blues (_hit my limit on one, trying to figure out how to split it up_)
Aqua/Teal
Pinks/Corals
Reds/Oranges
Purple (lavenders, blues)
Purple (warm, plums, eggplants)
Greens (_again, just hit my limit on one, trying to figure out how to split it up_)
Golds/Yellows
Miscellaneous (til there's enough to merit a full palette)

And then I have one misc MUFE palette with blues, white, red, purple, grays, and orange.

I'm thinking I might have to scrap some of this and re-think it, since a couple of palettes have maxed and I anticipate a lot more coming in.. >_<


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## NotteRequiem (Jul 13, 2010)

Well I'm going to be formulating my 15 matte2 palette this weekend and got bored at work... so I made a mock up of where things would go: Let me know what you think of it!


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## equus18 (Jul 15, 2010)

I have my MAC palettes separated as follows:
Highlights (Brule, Vanilla, Phloof!, etc.)
Browns (browns, golds, oranges, reds, etc.)
Pinks (pinks, purples, etc.)
Blues (blues, greens, blacks, silvers, etc.)

The divider has been removed so that I can fit about 27 pans in each palette.


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## my_adored (Jul 17, 2010)

I just depotted my eye shadows this week and organized them. I have two 15 pan palettes and I organized one by "Earth Tones" (All That Glitters, Twinks, Mulch, Club, Print, Woodwinked, etc.) and one for colors within the pink and blue family...which included a few purple *snickers*. So that one had things like Perky, Swish, Parfait Amour, Crystal, Shale, Moon's Reflection, Star Violet. And I just played around with the organization until it looked pretty. Its really up to you.


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## buddleia (Aug 5, 2010)

Maybe having a visual will help?
Stash: Eye Shadows & Pressed Pigments [M.A.C.] | Beauty Thesis
TiffanyD: MAC Eye Shadow Palettes
MAC Eyeshadow Palettes: Permanent Eyeshadows (April 2010)
MAC Eyeshadow Palettes: Limited Edition Eyeshadows (April 2010)


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## Nepenthe (Aug 7, 2010)

Thanks for the link buddleia. :]

For me it's an on going process as I acquire new shadows or press more pigments.  Recently, I had to split my blue/teal, green/gold & pink/purple.  I tend to swatch things, because sometimes the pigmentation can be misleading in the pan.. so it's not visually chromatic, but on the skin it is.

I've kept all the dividers though, because sometimes when I need to divide a palette it's easier to have the 15 slots, rather than no divider with too few shadows moving around.


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## MsHielo (Aug 10, 2010)

Right now it's:

Pinks/Purples
Blue/Green/Gold/Brown/Neutral

...but this has a lot to do with my only having 2 of the 15 palettes, so it's pretty easy at this point to stay organized.


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