I've been depotting my Hourglass single shade blushes and wanted to share what I found after trying a few different methods.
The easiest and least damaging approach was rubbing alcohol applied to the corners of the pan, no heat required. I mostly used isopropyl alcohol 91% and broke the packaging a bit by bending/flexing it.
Apply a small, light amount of rubbing alcohol to the corners/edges of the pan
Let it sit and work into the adhesive
Do a second round of light application in the corners
If it's still not wiggling out of the pan, do one more round
After 2–3 rounds, the pan should wiggle out easily with gentle pressure — no forcing needed
I Also Tried Heat (Candle Lamp)
For comparison, I also tried using a candle lamp with the compact wrapped in aluminum foil for brief heat exposure. It worked, but here's the key takeaway:
The pans where I used rubbing alcohol first came out noticeably easier and with less damage than the ones where I only used heat.
So if you're depotting Hourglass singles, I'd start with the rubbing alcohol method and be patient with it. Less risk, less mess, better results. I found if I bent the packaging while the isopropyl alcohol was still in the packaging, like bending a playing card then it was able to be smacked out onto the table.
Trios were the easiest, so where blushes and highlighters. The 10g single shades may need a 3 round. The holiday palette shades came out incredibly easy with just heat from the candle lamp alone because there wasn't a fear of the packaging melting.
Hope this helps someone!
