Magnetic Needle Box

Lots of people are on the depotting wagon (removing the metal pans of makeup from the plastic packaging and putting in big magnetic palettes), and even more have a stash of Z-Palettes at home to hold loose pans of makeup.

The thing with the Z-palettes, though, is the cost.  Those suckers are expensive!  There are plenty of DIY videos on YouTube, usually making them out of old DVD cases, or sometimes out of CD cases.  There’s also word going around about a magnetic closable plastic craft box, about the size of a DVD case, that is getting favorable reviews.

These are all great ideas, but I realized something: I’m not a huge fan of palettes.  Since I do most of my makeup on the run (in the car, on the train, at my desk, etc.), I realized that I actually prefer singles or small sets.  I had gotten myself the Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot blush palette for Christmas, and it hasn’t gotten much love because it’s too big to fit in my bag.  So I set out to find something small I could transfer the pots into for travel purposes.

I really liked the idea of the plastic craft box, but it was just too big for my purposes.  But when I was looking around the craft store for it, I actually ran across The Needle Nest.  This is a small box made of hard plastic that is lined with a magnetic sheet.  (Bonus that it comes with 2 needles)  I was able to find these at both Joann Fabrics and Michael's Crafts, but you might have to hunt to find them.

Here I've used the Rockateur pan from the Cheeky Sweet palette to show the size.  The box is a little big for one, not big enough for two.  But it would be perfect for one cheek color and a few eyeshadows.

One of my worries with this box was that it would be too thin to close completely with product inside.  Didn't run into that problem with these, although domed cheek products might have some trouble.

And let me tell you, these magnets are super strong!  This blush isn't going anywhere unless I want it to.

I have two Needle Nests right now, which is perfect for carting around a blush and bronzer.  These fit right into my makeup bag and since they're thin, they don't take up too much room.

If you've found anything that would work better, let me know in the comments!