updated unii & z palette comparison review (pic heavy, updated)

hi guys, here's a photo update--primarily a size comparison view--for you guys. i still like both brands of palettes, with the same pro's and con's as before:

unii palette: large mirror only one size & price has a locking hinge closure lid tilts open to about 120° comes with "not a magnet" sheet comes with thumb grip casing is a bit thicker packaging contains detailed instructions for depotting

z palette:           large acryllic window           variety of sizes & prices (small, 4U, large, pro, dome)           has magnets along edge           lid can fold underneath palette           comes with round metal stickers           -----           all (but dome) are the same thickness/depth and store nice and flat           has a blog and information for depotting online

the z palette sizes i have are pro, large, 4U, and small. i don't feel the need to get a dome palette, since i don't really use that many baked (or tall "panned") products. aside from the depth/thickness, the pro and dome are the same dimensions. ~Lindsay-chan ^.~

pro black, large raspberry damask (makeup geek exclusive), 4U aqua/yellow, small striped

 

large vs. pro


4U vs. pro


small vs. pro


4U vs. large


small vs. large


4U vs. small

turquoise unii palette, aqua/yellow 4U z palette
 
interior: 4U z palette (top), unii palette (bottom)

update (4/29/14)

sephora dome palette vs. black pro palette (thickness)

sigma paris palette -- deboxed!

after great debate, i decided to depot..or debox..my paris palette (paris palette haul post here). the palette itself about the same size as the eyeshadow drawer in ud's book of shadows iv (seen here), and it's just as unreasonably bulky. i really like the packaging for this palette, it's super pretty, but i feel that they could have made the palette itself smaller, and bundled the brushes with it some other way (like bundled outside of the palette..). anyway; here's our finished product, after getting another z palette and rearranging my other custom palettes. ~L-c ^.~

the easiest way, in my opinion to debox this, is to slide a tool (box cutter, knife, etc) along the ridge inside the contour brush slot. then pop the corners of the brush slot upward, along the bottoms of rouge and lumiére. afterward, pull the top layer off to reach all the pans. this gets you very close to where the pans are glued and you won't make a complete mess in the process. before deboxing yours, please note that these pans are not magnetically attractive.

unii palette. that tiny square shadow was a free gift from sigma when i ordered the paris palette
everything in the paris palette doesn't fit into a small z palette; 6 shadows and two blushes fit.

pseudo-review/rant: benefit boxed blushes

this post goes hand in hand with my custom palettes post; the following was originally attached to said post, but i decided to separate them. ~Lin-chan ^.~

my quibble about benefit's boxed blushes: somewhat recently, benefit did a packaging redesign for their boxed blushes. the original packaging had a lid that was completely separate from the bottom, the new packaging is shorter in height and has an attached lid. when unboxing/depoting, the original boxes had a thicker amount of cardboard between the pans and the bottoms of the boxes, compared to the new boxes. the only problem is that they also decided to make the pans thinner for the new packaging--and charge the same price.

see box height difference between thrrrob & 10

haul/review custom cosmetics palettes! unii & z palette (pic heavy) (updated)

 

hey guys! i'm super excited to share these awesome unii palettes i bought! (pronounced: unique) they're from http://uniicosmetics.com/ and, pending on how many you purchase, the price changes. the cost of 1 is $29+shipping, buying 2+ gets you free shipping (in the US), buying 3 is $27 each, and 4+ is $25 each. ships via usps, no tracking. i also got two pro z palettes from beauty.com; you can buy them through zpalette.com for other color options, but beauty.com has reward dollars, free shipping with tracking at $25, and ebates*--so why not?!

after watching this video, i bought and used this $2 tool from sally's to help depot/debox some of the following products. and i bought a pack of dots to label the pans. both brands of palettes come with magnetically attractive stickers to put onto your non-attractive pans; but, unlike the z palettes' stickers, you can write on the sheets that come with the unii's. (edit: and i got some 91% isopropyl alcohol.)

yes, the unii's are sparkly--you're not seeing things! i love both brands of palettes, and i ordered my first pro z palette after about a week with the unii's (the second z was purchased shortly after). i think the unii's will be traveling with me more than the z palettes due to their snap closure, which seems safer to travel with than z palettes. but i wanted the z palettes because they will let me keep my other depoted pans safely stowed in a more compact palette than their original packaging. other differences between the two: z palettes have a large window so that you can see into them (so, no mirror), and unii's come with a large mirror, a thumb grip, and very detailed instructions.

midnight, turquoise, crystal unii palettes

 
 
unii palette packaging, interior of palette with the movable thumb grip magnet (left) and "not a magnet" strip (right).
in the palette interior photo: the clear part under my thumb is the snap closure for the case.

pro z palette with pack of 20 round magnetically-attractive stickers (i ordered the palettes at different times, so i didn't get a picture of them together, empty)

 
size comparison of z pro to unii

   
↓

i depoted my urban decay book of shadows iv and midnight emergency kit. look at how much space i'm saving!!!

this palette is missing 2 of the above 20 shadows (see why below)

it fits about 18 square urban decay shadows (& 1 sample clinique shadow and a brush) with the thumb grip.
i tried turning them to diamond-orientation and only about 14 fit, without the thumb grip.

moved all of my eyeshadows around into a pro z palette; fits approx. 45 square urban decay eyeshadows + some skinny brushes

finished palettes, after some rearranging:
please forgive the appearance of some of these pans; there were a few casualties ^^; --i didn't use heat and i tried repairing some that broke..thus the weird bubbles and gashes. >.>

turquoise unii: everyday palette

midnight unii: clinique, etc. palette

 crystal unii: tokidoki palette

black pro z: eyeshadows & tarte palette

zebra pro z: benefit/too faced palette

see benefit boxed powders review/rant here

@lilactinggirl's birthday unii palette

~Lin-chan ^.~

edited.

the verdict: go for either palette. just know that the unii is smaller for the price, but it does have a hinged lock and a mirror. the only thing i don't like about it, after using them for a while is that the metal pieces that hold hinges to the palette come loose over time and need to be pushed back in. otherwise, it's a great palette. and i feel that, for the money, you may as well get the pro sized z palettes rather than the large ones. but that's just me.

updated photo from august-september favorites post

update for dome palette mini-review (haul post 4/29/14): as i hope you are able to see, the dome palette is about 1.25 times thicker or deeper than regular z palettes. the dimensions of this palette are otherwise the same as the pro palettes.


other related unii/z palette posts:

• makeup collection and-storage updated & updated unii/z palettes (12/22/12)
• updated unii & z palette comparison review (pic heavy) (7/11/13)

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