Project Pan 2020

I have to say that last year went pretty well when it came to my project pan.  At least, much better than how I was expecting it to go.  I'm expecting this year to be pretty similar as I don't have a lot of items this time and this year is mainly the year where I go through the last of my products to really downsize and simplify my makeup.  However, though there aren't too many items (5 really), most of them are going to take a while to use up so this is going to be a pretty slow project pan.  Because of that I'm going to do the quarterly updates that I did last year otherwise there's going to be some pretty boring posts.

Starting with the one item that I know is definitely going to take at least this year to go through and that's the Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani eyeshadow palette.  There are 15 shades here, though they're not the biggest eyeshadow pans I've seen which gives me a little bit of hope.  They are a little powdery, but I do really love most of the colours so it shouldn't be too difficult to make myself wear this every time I wear makeup.  However, I definitely don't need this many eyeshadows and there are some colours there that I don't normally gravitate to, at least not anymore.  So, to push myself out of my comfort zone I'm going to make myself hit every single one of these colours at least once this year.  In fact, let's say at least once every quarter.  I think that should be do-able.  I'm not expecting to finish it but I am hoping to hit pan on at least five of the shadows.

Powder foundation is definitely my foundation of choice.  That's probably quite strange for a dry skinned girl, but I just find it much easier and less messy to use, and I don't feel like it's sitting on my skin like an unpleasant layer.  This is my last foundation and it is the Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation in Blondie.  I really like it and it suits my skin, but if I'm honest I much prefer the compact foundations or the loose powder.  Just so much less mess involved.  I've already gone through quite a lot of this but getting it finished by the end of the year is still going to be a challenge.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do once it's used up as, as with all these types of products, there's always the issue of mica.  I guess I'll just have to do my research and make a decision when the time comes.  For now, I'm just going to concentrate on getting this finished.

This The Body Shop Eye Definer Crayon Kohl in Black is also my last eyeliner.  It's a very soft product and, whilst the colour is good, I do end up putting on a few layers when I use it so I'm not expecting this to take that long at all.  I don't think it's a product I'll get again once it's gone as I prefer a liquid or gel eyeliner, but once it's gone I'm going to use up the black eyeshadow I have in the UD x Gwen Stefani palette before I make any decision on buying another eyeliner.  Right now The Body Shop Kohl is 9.5 cm long.

The Burt's Bees Matte Lip Crayon in Napa Vineyard is one of the last two lip products I have and, as you know, I'm thinking about not owning any lip products once they've gone other than a lip liner.  We'll wait and see on that front, but for now this is the first lip product I want to get through this year as I'm already using it.  It's a beautiful colour, however, I find it difficult to apply this neatly as the crayon is so thick and it was difficult to keep the point it had at the start.  To be honest, it probably needs a lip brush to really apply it properly, but I can't be bothered buying one of those so I'm just going to persevere with it as it is.  I also think that the texture and colour would make it a good cheek colour and will be using it there as well.  That should probably reduce the amount of time it'll take to use it up.  This lip crayon is 2.4 cm at the moment.

This was a naughty buy I really shouldn't have done when we stopped off at Bangkok on the way to New Zealand.  I just really want to try an Asian brand.  However, if I'm honest, a liquid eyeliner or mascara probably would have been better, I'm just more obsessed with lipsticks.  Any way, this is the Mistine Cosmetics OHH Lipstick No. 01.  I can't really say too much about it as I haven't started using it yet and won't until the Burt's Bees product it finished.  It seems like it will be a lot more matte in texture and pigmented than the Burt's Bees.  I guess I'll find out.  At the moment it's 2.8 cm in length.

Lastly are the Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blushes in Royal, Genius, Pop, and Vibrant.  I'm not going to try and use these up (that would be insane) but I am going to try each one and decide if I want to keep all of them or if there are any that really don't suit me and can be gotten rid of.  I also want to play with the two blush brushes I own as I really don't feel I need both and could probably get rid of one.  I think I know which one it's going to be, but I still want to give both of them a fair go.  I should probably have this one completed by the end of the first quarter.

There is one extra thing I'm going to be doing whilst I go through this project pan and that is basically going on a no buy for 2020.  I will let myself buy mascara when I need to and concealer once the foundation has finally run out (I've basically got my eye on the RMS "Un" Cover-Up), but for everything else I'm not going to buy anything new until I have used everything else up.  So no eyeliners until the one I have and the eyeshadows are completely gone; definitely no blusher, highlighter, or contour probably ever - that stuff is going to last me for years; and definitely no lip products until these are all gone and I've gone a few months without any lipstick at all.  I actually feel like I want to use up most of the eye shadows before I let myself even look at another lip product.  I don't actually think it'll be too hard and I like the challenge of it.  

So possibly the last year of project pan here we go.  Good luck everyone, I hope yours all go well.  Let me know what you're planning to get rid of.

Project Pan Update #11 and Other Products

This month has been a month of me trying to use up the last of my samples.  It hasn't really much of an impact on the products in my project pan, apart from my Mac lipstick as one of the samples was the Urban Decay / Gwen Stefani lipstick in 714 (a matt red).  I haven't actually finished that sample yet as it's so pigmented and lasts a long time so re-apply is not necessary. Hopefully next month.......so let's begin.

As always let's start with the shadows.  Probably the most obvious difference is the pinky / purple shade which is building a nice dip.  The plan is to reach the pan on this shadow and then get rid of it and I think I will manage this by the end of the year.  It's replaced the silver shadow as my main shadow and so the silver shadow hasn't made much progress at all.  I've also been using the dark grey shadow as my eye liner instead of the brown liner and I will just see how far I can get before January.  I've finally managed to get to the pan on the top left of the brown eyeshadow and am just working down the left side of the pan and will hopefully get at least half way.  Lastly, the white shadow is carrying on the same as before.  I don't think I'll finish it by the end of the year, but seeing as this was almost full at the start of this year I'm quite happy with it.  None of the companies that make these eye shadows are cruelty free.

The Elf purple eye liner is taking a lot longer then I was hoping and I'm not sure this is going to be finished by the end of this project.  It's not very pigmented so you have to go over the same spot a few times before you get and colour.  It works better if you push harder, but obviously you don't want to do that on your eyes.  I might have to finish this in my next project.  Elf is cruelty free and, once I've used up all my other eyeliners, I will have a look at the other pencil eyeliners they have.

Next is the product I'm most happy about, the Lily Lolo eye primer.  I didn't think that I would actually finish this this month so I'm happy that it's all gone.  As I've said before, this doesn't do a lot for priming my eyelids, though that's probably because they are oily, but it did work well as a primer on my face.  I'll now start on the eye primer I bought from Tescos a while ago.  Lily Lolo is a cruelty free company and I will look at their other products when I actually need to get more makeup.

I only actually used this lipstick, the Mac cremesheen in Creme Cup, for 2 weeks this month so I'm quite impressed with how much I've managed to use compared to previous months.  I haven't completely finished the lipstick sample I was using instead this month, but I think I can finish off both of these by the end of next month - hopefully.  Mac is not a cruelty free company.

As before I haven't been wearing nail varnish that much this month either.  I still like the look of wearing nail varnish, but I'm just as happy without and I haven't really been bothered with the work you have to go into to keep them looking nice.  Because of this there hasn't been much progress on this nail varnish, and this has been the only one I've been using.  This polish is an alright quality, but Sinful Colours is not a cruelty free company so I wouldn't buy it again.

The Wella Polish Cream is the other product I keep forgetting to use despite it being on my dresser and, as you don't need to use a lot of it at a time, I'm not getting very far with it.  It's just not a step I think to use and I will probably have to put this into my next pan as well.  The scent is alright and it does help with the fizziness, but not more than my oils do and, with Wella not being cruelty free, I won't buy this again.

Apart from the never ending lipstick, I've managed to use up the last of the samples I have, but firstly I'll start with the ones that I actually finished a couple of months ago but forgot to put in my blog.  The first is the Urban Decay / Gwen Stefani lipstick sample in Firebird.  This is a deep fuschia cream lipstick and I wasn't sure if I would like it, but I actually loved the colour and it suited my skin tone very well.  It's going to be a while before I get through all my lipsticks, but I'm going to keep this in mind, especially as Urban Decay is cruelty free.  The next is a sample of the perfume Love Story by Chloe.  This is quite a flowery scent, but not too strong and it didn't give me a headache, which flower scents can do.  I'm not sure about the cruelty status of Chloe, but I want to be going for more natural scents anyway I won't be buying this in the full size.

The John Masters Organics citrus & neroli detangler worked a lot better than I was expecting.  I've stopped using conditioner and noticed it didn't make any difference to the condition, softness or how tangled my hair got, but I did notice that my hair felt less tangled when I used this product.  It also smells pretty nice too and the actual size is only £17.  I want to see what my oils are like first, but if I feel like I need an extra bit of help with my hair I will look into getting this.  I did have high hopes for the Pai Rosehip BioRegnerate Rapid Radiance Mask as this is a pricy brand and I have liked other products of those I've used.  Unfortunately this didn't have the effect I was hoping.  It didn't feel like my skin was any more improved than before and I actually got some small spots around my nose every time I used it.  I think I'll stick to my Juice Beauty face mask.  Pai is a cruelty free company though.  The Acorelle eau de parfum sample in Vanilla smelt great.  The sample doesn't come in the traditional way but is in the form of a wipe, but the actual perfume comes in the traditional bottle.  The smell is a very accurate vanilla smell, but doesn't have the overly sweet smell that lots of them have, and it lasts all day.  This is definitely a perfume I would like to get in the future and Acorelle is a cruelty free company.  The last sample is The Natural Deodorant Co clean deodorant balm in vanilla & manuka.  I wasn't sure what this was going to be like as you have to apply it with your hands, but I actually preferred this method to the conventional way.  The product was also really good, lasted all day, and didn't feel sticky or wet.  This is definitely one of the best natural deodorants I've tried.  The only problem I had with it was the smell reminded me very slightly of stale washing and that my skin reacted badly to the bicarb.  However, The Natural Deodorant Co have balms that don't contain bicarb in them and different scents, so I might give these a go and see if they work just as well and they're cruelty free and vegan.  If they do then I think I've found my new deodorant - once I've used up my back stock.

I've had these Faith in Nature Replenishing Aloe Vera Eye Gel for quite a while (in fact I don't even think they've made this for a few years) and they take forever to use up.  I decided it probably wasn't best to keep using this around my eyes, just in case, so I've been using it to moisturise my hands and other areas of my body that need it.  I have one more of these to go and am in the market for another natural eye cream, though my oils seem to be doing a good job.

To see my previous project pan updates click below:

• Introduction
• Project Pan Update #1
• Project Pan Update #2
• Project Pan Update #3
• Project Pan Update #4
• Project Pan Update #5
• Project Pan Update #6
• Project Pan Update #7
• Project Pan Update #8
• Project Pan Update #9
• Project Pan Update #10

Project Pan Update #9 and Other Products

So this blog is definitely long overdue (as are all the others) and I have no real excuse other than the fact that my temporary job has been physically very tiring.  I was starting to get used to the work though, but, unfortunately, it has now ended.

As I was doing physical work outside I decided not wear any makeup during the week for the last month and a half, and this means that there hasn't been a lot of progress on that front.  But I have managed to make progress through some other products as I reduce the amount of items I have.

So let's start with the never ending eye shadows.  There has been a little bit of progress and actually more then I was expecting, but I am going to be hard pushed to finish these by the end of the year.  However, it does look like I will be getting an admin job again so I will be back to wearing makeup everyday.  I am also going to have to decide whether or not I will keep these shadows after the year it out or whether I will get rid of anything that is left - they are very old and I have given them a good go.

The purple e.l.f. eye liner is actually going a lot quicker than the teal one.  This colour doesn't seemed to be as good a quality as the teal and I, therefore, need to use more of it to get the same result.  Though I know this is does make me feel quite good whenever I look at it.

I have now been using the pink shade of the Lily Lolo eye primer also as a face primer as well as an eye primer to help use it up and I can feel the pan under my fingers now.  Once I had hit pan of the yellow shade it didn't take me long to finish so I'm expecting this will be the same.

My Mac lipstick in Creme Cup has also gone down more than I was expecting based on the lack of use.  As with the eye shadows I will be able to get more use it it if I do get the administration role, but it may not be finished by the end of the year.  It won't be far off though and, with the e.l.f. eye liner, this is giving me some encouragement.

One product I have been able to finish off has been the from nature lip butter in coconut.  This was relatively effective, but not the best lip butter I've ever used and it did leave a strange white cast on my lips.  This whiteness would be gone by the morning though and it was effective enough to moisturise my lips even after using a matt lipstick.

I haven't made much progress on the Wella System Profession Polish Cream, mainly because I keep forgetting to use it despite it being on the top of my dresser.  It's not a natural thing for me to put in hair products so I definitely have to remind myself every day about this.  Though it does make my hair less frizzy I don't notice any large difference to my hair so I won't be replacing it once it's finished.

As with the make-up I haven't been wearing nail varnish on my nails either (mainly as I was harvesting cash crops where you are not allowed to wear nail polish).  I have been concentrating on this Sinful Colours in Rich in Heart as the company is not cruelty free.  It is beginning to thicken up so I don't think I'll get much more use out of it so I'm hoping it'll be gone by the end of the year.

The last three products aren't in my project pan but are part of my attempt to only have the bare minimum of beauty products.  The first is The Body Shop's Shea hand cream which I have used up completely.  It worked very effectively, especially with the hands on job I've had, but definitely isn't moisturising enough for winter.  The next is one of the natural deodorants I've been testing, the Dr. Organic Manuka Honey Deodorant.  I had though this product was effective when I first started using it, but became less so after a while and I had to use it in tandem with a conventional deodorant to use it up.  The Wella Silvikrin hairspray is not a product I've used up but one I've decided to get rid of as I never use it.  I never use hairspray, even when I do complicated hairstyles, as I don't like the feeling of hard hair.  I did try using it to help keep my eye brows in check but it seemed a very strange thing to do.  I've also read that it isn't very good for you as you inhale some of the spray.  I might look for a more 'natural' product, but as it's not something I use regularly I might leave it out completely.

It's unlikely that my next job will be an outdoors one again so I'm hoping I have more progress in the next up-date (though this is only in a few weeks). 

To see my previous project pan updates click below:

• Introduction
• Project Pan Update #1
• Project Pan Update #2
• Project Pan Update #3
• Project Pan Update #4
• Project Pan Update #5
• Project Pan Update #6
• Project Pan Update #7
• Project Pan Update #8

Project Pan Update #8 and Other Products

I was a little worried that I wouldn't get too many of the products in my project pan used up this month as my allergies were particularly bad and there were quite a few days where I couldn't wear eye makeup at all.  However, I have actually managed to get through a few items and, under the circumstances, I'm quite happy about that.

Firstly, let's start with that never ending teal Elf eyeliner.  I thought this was never going to stop and, to be honest, there are still some uses in this pencil, but I haven't been able to sharpen it anymore and it's now got stuck in the lid.  There is no amount of hitting this on the table that has got this out of the lid and so it can stay there.  I've now moved onto the Electric Purple Elf eyeliner and I don't think this is going to take anywhere near as long as it's not as pigmented and I have to use much more to get the same look.  This could be due to the age of the pencil though, rather than the actual product itself.  Elf is, of course, cruelty free.

Next is the Jane Iredale Just Kissed Lip and Cheek Stain in Forever Pink.  This was much brighter than I was expecting from the colour of the bullet and was unbelievably bright on the cheeks (I only wore it as a cheek stain a couple of times and it didn't seem to last particularly long).  It works really well on the lips, is moisturising, and does add a stain that doesn't transfer.  It's also not particularly hard to get off at the end of the day, I just used my coconut oil as normal.  Once I've finished all my lipsticks and am looking buy more I will have a look at these as they now have the colours Forever Peach and Forever Red.  These products are cruelty free but not vegan as they contain beeswax.  I will now be moving to using up the Mac lipstick in Creme Cup for the rest of the year.  I'm hoping this will be long enough.

 The last used up products from the project pan is the yellow section of the Lily Lolo eye primer that I've been using as a primer on my face.  It was moisturising and did help the mineral foundation I put on top last longer, though not the full working day.  I've now started using the pink section as a face primer as well as just the eye primer I'd been using it for before.  This also helps my eyeshadow last longer than just on it's own, but still not a full working day so I'm expecting this will be the same for the foundation.  This is a cruelty free and vegan product.

The eyeshadows are still carrying on at the same pace as before, so nothing really exciting to write about there.  The most obvious have been the white, which I'm also using as a very obvious highlighter, and the silver, which I was actually beginning to give up on.  I'm still not sure if I will actually going to manage to finish these by the end of the year, but I'll keep plodding along with them anyway.  If these eyeshadows are not finished by the end of the year then I'll decide whether or not I'm going to keep them.  Other than the Natural Collections eyeshadow, none of these are cruelty free.

The nature Coconut lip butter and Wella System Professional Polish Cream are another two products which are just going slow but steady.  I should hopefully finish the lip butter in the next couple of months and will then look for a more natural replacement.  As for the Wella System Professional Polish Cream, it's unlikely that it'll be finished by the end of this project pan year but I'll give it a go.  I'm not going to replace it with anything though as I think my oils already do something similar and I definitely wouldn't say it's a needed product.  As far as I'm aware neither of these are cruelty free.

The last three products are the Pacifica Stellar Gaze Mascara, Urban Decay / Gwen Stefani lipstick sample in Rocksteady, and Zoya Base Coat Ztanor.  The Pacifica mascara I've had to stop using as my eyes have now start having an allergic reaction to it.  It may be that my eyes are just sensitive at the moment, but this wouldn't be the first mineral mascara that my eyes have reacted to do. As for the lipstick, I really like this.  It's a cream lipstick and a beautiful wine, red colour that is pretty good on the pigment front.  You can see my lips through this a little bit, but I have only been wearing it on it's own with only a bit of primer on the outside to prevent feathering.  For me, this is a very easy, everyday red (though obviously not for everyone) that has good staying power even when eating a drinking.  It was also very comfortable to wear.  The Zoya base coat does work well and appeared to help protect my nails from drying.  I'm trying another base coat at the moment, but when I need a new one I will look at this again.  These are all cruelty free, but only Pacifica is definitely vegan.  I believe this Zoya base coat is vegan but I'm not sure about their other colours.

This month is probably not going to be best month for using up products as I will hopefully be doing an outdoor, manual job for which wearing makeup for would just be ridiculous.  I will still be wearing makeup on the weekends though.  I will also carry on working on the non-makeup products so you never know.

• Introduction
• Project Pan Update #1
• Project Pan Update #2
• Project Pan Update #3
• Project Pan Update #4
• Project Pan Update #5
• Project Pan Update #6
• Project Pan Update #7

Product Review: Mascaras

 

When it comes to makeup mascara has been the one product that I've found it difficult to find a 'natural' alternative that actually works for me. I am not someone who goes for a natural look with mascara (for that I just don't wear any at all) and when I put it on I want to have full, thick, long lashes. As with all my other cosmetic, my aim this year is to only own and use cruelty free mascara, but I'm also trying to find mineral and vegan products. 

 

The first mascara here is a product I have used for years and that is the Natural Collection Lash Build mascara in Black (I've also added the Natural Collection Lash Care mascara in Clear that I've been using for my eyebrows). This is not a 'wow' mascara, but it does thicken your lashes, is fragrance-free, has never stung my eyes (a regular problem I have with sensitive eyes), and stays put all day despite having watery eyeballs and oily lids. It can clump easily, so you do have to do a lot a wiggle motions when putting it on, but it's easy to find and only costs £1.99. Natural Collection is also a cruelty free brand – yay!

  

The next is a cult favourite, the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara. Contained in a surprisingly heavy container, this does give you ridiculously long, thick lashes. It's also very black (which I know sounds weird, but you'll be surprised how gray some mascaras are). The problems I have with this is, once it has dried a little, it becomes a bit clumpy to apply and flakes all over your face. I find myself having to wipe under my eyes regularly during the day and for the price of this mascara I found this a bit irritating. Too Faced is cruelty free.

  

Like the Too Faced mascara the Bourjois Volume Glamour Push Up mascara in Wonder Black starts off great, building lovely, thick, long lashes, but then becomes really clumpy after a couple of weeks. The quality of the Too Faced is definitely better, but price wise the Bourjois is definitely more pocket friendly. I actually started using this with another mascara I'm going to be mentioning later on in this blog, which produced a mascara look I actually liked. Bourjois is a cruelty free brand.

Now to get into the more 'natural' mascaras.

 

The first one I tried in this group was the tester Jane IredaleLongest Lash mascara in Black Ice. I was really excited about this mascara as I have loved other Jane Iredale products. Unfortunately I wasn't overly impressed with this product. It did do some thickening and lengthening to my lashes, but not as much as I would hope for the price of this product. I think if you had short lashes you might notice the difference a little more. On the plus side it didn't irritate my eyes at all and had pretty good staying power. Jane Iredale is a cruelty free brand, but this does cost £26 for the full tube so I don't think I'll be purchasing this again.

 

Next is the one that was my biggest disappointment and that is the BWCFull Volume mascara. I really wanted this to work as I like the ethos behind BWS, but this stung my eyes like you wouldn't believe. I can't remember if it made my lashes thicker or longer, but that it hurt my eyes and I couldn't wait to get it off after work. Such a shame that I can't give you more information, but BWC is a cruelty free company.

 

The Lily Lolo Lash Alert Natural mascara in Black. This is the mascara that I coupled with the Bourjois mascara to get the look I was wanting. On it's own I'm afraid the Lily Lolo isn't much to write about. It didn't irritate my eyes, but nor did it do much else other than slightly darken my lashes. In fact, sometimes my lashes even looked shorter. However, it was great under the Bourjois to help make it less clump and increased its staying power. Lily Lolo is cruelty free.

  

The last mascara is another cult favourite and that is the PacificaStellar Gaze Length & Strength Mineral mascara. Firstly, I have to give them points for the packaging, which is much smaller than most other mascaras despite basically having the same amount of product. The mascara itself is one of the best natural mascaras I've tried, it hasn't irritated my eyes, thickening and lengthening my lashes a little as well as keeping them curled all day. It also hasn't flaked over my face. Pacifica is also a cruelty free brand. However, this hasn't wowed me either and it is also quite pricey at £15.49. I am using a second tube right now, but I think I'm going to try something else once this is used up.

So it looks like I'm going to have to keep looking.

Do you have any recommendations on natural mascaras? If so please comment below.