Project Pan 2021: Update 4

This is going to be a very quick blog as I only have one product to talk about and I am no were near finishing it. 😂

That product is The Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer.  This is a very beautiful highlighter and I also use it as an eyeshadow.  It suits my completion well and, despite how it looks in the pan, is actually very subtle on my skin.  It's also cruelty free.  Last time I wrote about this I wasn't sure if I was going to keep it, but actually I really like it so it's staying in my makeup bag for now.

And that's it, my last project pan is now over.  I can't believe how many products I actually had when I started this a few years ago, but now I'm down to just a small bag of makeup, no nail polish at all, and one of each for all my toiletries and other beauty products.  I may still get rid of some products here and there when I no longer enjoy using them, but that's it in the active using up of my items.

Project Pan 2021 Update 3

And then there was one.

As I had hoped in the last update I have managed to completely use up the Cien eyeliner pen in Black, mostly by wearing smoky eye looks every weekend.  I've looked everywhere I can think of but haven't been able to find anything on Cien's cruelty free status so it's not really a product I would recommend to anyone.  I also found that, on my eye lids at least, it transferred quite easily, though it was very easy to put on.

So that just leaves The Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer to go.  The chance of me using this product up by the end of the year is unbelievably small and right now I'm in two minds as to whether or not I want to keep it after the end of this project.  I'm not going to lie, I do really like the look of it as an eye shadow in conjunction with a blusher, but do I really need a highlighter in my make-up bag.  I'll keep using it until the end of the year and then maybe take a little break from it before I make my final decision.  It is a beautiful product though.

And that's it, a very short post as there really isn't much to say here.  It's just as well I'm going to do a 'what's now in my make up bag' with the next update otherwise it would just be a paragraph.  Bring on me highlighting absolutely everything for three months.

Project Pan 2021 Update 2

 

And then there were two, sort of.  That's another quarter of a year down and another three months of slow progress on using up these beauty products.  There is a bit of a change to these items, but nothing to do with me actually getting through the products myself.

Let's start with the NYX Blush in Taupe which I have actually decided to just get rid of.  The texture seems to have changed a bit and isn't the easiest to use anymore, with me having to constantly scratch the surface to get any colour on my brush.  It also now seems to go on a bit patchy as well.  If I'm being honest, I'm also getting a bit bored of this product and no longer have an interest in doing a sort of contoured look.  The cool tone of this blush does make it a good product to use for contouring and NYX is cruelty-free, which would normally mean that I would recommend this item.  However, I have heard some pretty bad things about the way NYX do some of their publicity that makes me not really want to use their products anymore.

I've done a much better job of using up the Cien eyeliner pen in Black this quarter than last with the more smoky eye looks I've been doing.  The liner is now down to 1.4cm from 3.1cm and I don't think it'll take me much longer to use it up completely.  This eyeliner does go on pretty easily, but it also smudges and transfers pretty easily too so I won't necessarily recommend it to anyone.

Lastly is The Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer.  It wasn't looking like too much had changed, other than a slightly larger section at the bottom of the visible pan, but then I knocked it (not even dropped it) and a big chunk of the product fell out the last time I opened it.  It's still not going to be gone by the end of the year, but I'm actually alright with that as I've found that I quite like this product.  It gives a very nice and surprisingly natural glow, at least on my skin tone, and is a pretty quick extra step.  I've been using it on my eyelids, over a blush, as well as on the tops of my cheeks to give a slightly shimmery look which actually lasts quite a long time.

So, perhaps a little more exciting project pan update than I was expecting if we were really pushing it.  I knew this year wasn't going to be one where there was a large change in my makeup collection, but 2021 is more about it down to the size I want to end the year with.  Hopefully, by the end of the next quarter, I'll have finished the eyeliner, and then that'll basically be it for the year.

Project Pan 2021 Update 1

As expected this project pan has gone very, very slowly.  In fact, I'm not entirely sure you can see any difference in the products at all.  Admittedly, I'm only wearing makeup a couple of times a week, if I even remember to put it on then, so that's probably not helping.  Prepare to be very underwhelmed.

Despite having to give the NYX blush in Taupe a bit of a scrape as the top layer had hardened and I wasn't picking up any product on my brushes, it doesn't look very different from the starting photo.  I've been using this for contouring and eyeshadow, and I guess the dip in the centre is getting a little deeper, but no pan just yet.  I'm already feeling that this product might be one I can just get rid of at the end of the year without finishing.

I had actually forgotten how lovely The Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer is.  I'm also using this as a multi-use product, using it as a standard highlighter on my cheeks and under my eyebrows, and as an eyeshadow.  I actually really like the eye look I get from layering this highlighter over the NYX blush and this combination lasts for most of the day, which is unusual for eyeshadows on my eyes.  However, as with the blusher, the pan isn't looking any bigger than before.  Not yet anyway.

The Cien eyeliner pen in Black is the one product I thought would have a more obvious change.  I was just using it to line along my top lashes, but then I realised that if I did a more smoky look, lining all along my waterline, it would use up the product quicker.  So far I've managed to use 0.6 cm and, if I keep that up, it'll be December before I finish it.  However, I've only been doing these smoky looks for the last few weeks, so I'm expecting to be finished with this product before that.

And that's it.  An absolutely thrilling post of a snail's pace project pan. It actually reminds me of the snail in Monster's University who tries to make it to his first class on time at the start of the movie and only gets there when the school year is over.  I'm not really expecting the next post on this to be any more exciting, but it is giving me more of a clear idea of how I want my makeup stash to look moving on from this year and whether I want to keep trying to use up products I don't have any love for anymore.

Project Pan 2021

 

Last year I managed to get rid of the last big chunk of my makeup to get it down to the size I want.  I will admit that I do still have too many blushers, but I do love all the colours and can't really see myself getting rid of any of them any time soon.  I've decided that this will be my last year of actively panning as I don't intend on getting any more makeup, other than mascara, concealer, liner, and lipstick (maybe) when I run out.

This year's project pan will be a very small one but will take quite a while to get through as they are mostly powder products.  In fact, there are only three items in total and they are.....

The NYX blush in Taupe.  I've had this for a while and got it because someone recommended it as a good contour colour.  It is a nice product, but I don't really see myself doing such in-depth makeup application anytime in the future so it would be good to get rid of.  I'll also be using it for eyeshadow and eyeliner, which should hopefully help move it along nicely.

Then there's the Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer.  This is a very beautiful highlighter, though it is cracking a little - probably from all travelling it's had to put up with recently, but again this is probably more than I need for the type of makeup I'll be wearing in the future.

The last product is the Cien (Lidl) eyeliner pen in Black.  I got this as part of a pack when I was buying mascara.  It's a perfectly nice liner and very creamy, but I want to go for something a bit more natural in the future if I have a liner at all.  This is starting at 3.1cm.

And that's it, just three this time.  It is going to be quite a slow-moving process and probably difficult to get these done by the end of the year as I'll only be wearing makeup on the weekends (if I remember).  So we'll see how it goes.

Makeup: What's Left & What I'm Aiming For

As some of you who have been following my blog for a while will know, I used to have quite a lot of makeup.  Not in the vicinity of beauty bloggers, but still a lot for the fact that I only really needed it for my office work - they just looked so pretty.  Over the last few years I've been slowly working my way through these items and am now down to just 10 pieces (not including makeup brushes).  I thought I'd write a quick blog about what these items are and what I intend to do with them in the future.

Firstly, let's start with the eyeshadow.  I am now down to just one palette, the Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani palette, and one eyeshadow, also Urban Decay in Solstice.  Solstice I will always keep as it's just so beautiful and I enjoy putting it on, but the palette I either want to use up or maybe get rid of in the future. I do love Steady and Baby as shadows with a bit of shimmer, Punk to darken up a look, and I use Anaheim, Zone, and Blackout every time I wear makeup.  However, I'm not sure that's enough to keep the whole palette for, especially as I'm getting to the point where I enjoy not putting eyeshadow on at all.  Maybe I'll remove just those eyeshadows at the end of the year, but for now, I'm just going to keep working through it as part of my project pan.

The next two items are items that I will always have in my cosmetics bag and that's mascara and concealer.  Even if I owned absolutely nothing else I would have these two just to use now and then if I was wanting to look a little more polished.  At the moment they're the Wet n Wild's Mega Volume Mascara in Very Black and Essence's Cover Stick in Matt Sand.  They're both budget-friendly, cruelty-free, and work pretty well, though the concealer sometimes looks cakey on my dry skin if I'm not careful. I haven't found my golden products yet so I'll keep testing, but these will carry on being a part of what I use when I use makeup.  I'm also still pondering about whether or not I should get another mineral foundation, though I have to admit I'm enjoying just using the concealer at the moment as it's giving me the amount of coverage I'm wanting right now.  So, for now, that's just going to stay a decision I make in the future.

Next are face products and I still have all four of my Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blushes in Vibrant, Pop, Royal, and Genius.  Ideally, I would have only one blush, but I can't decide which one I would choose over the other three and so I'll just keep using these all until they are gone.  I'm also planning on using them as eyeshadows as well once the palette is gone.  However, even with that additional use, I don't think I'm going to need to buy a new blush for the rest of my life.

The next face products are ones I probably don't need but am keeping for now. They are the NYX Blusher in Taupe that I use for contouring (when I bother contouring, which isn't that often) and The Balm's Highlighter in Mary-Lou Mainzer.  The highlighter is falling apart a little bit and when I get back to the UK I'll probably need to put some alcohol onto it and press it back into the pan, but it's working for now and I'll only do that when I really need to.  The reason I'm keeping these two products on is that I do like using them when I choose to do a little bit extra with my makeup and because I intend to also use them as eye products once I've gotten rid of the palette, making them double duty items with the blushes.

Lastly, the brushes.  They always seem quite a lot when I'm looking at them, but I do actually use them all at the moment, bar the foundation brush which I'm keeping until I've made a decision on whether or not I'm going to buy another mineral foundation.  They're going to stay for now, but if I ever find I've stopped using one of them they'll be donated.

In the future, this is what I want my makeup to look like, with possibly a black eyeshadow or eye pencil for eyeliner and maybe a foundation and a lipstick.  Ideally, there would only be one blush item, but we know that's not going to happen.  It's still pretty big and I'll probably downsize it again in the future, but this is at least my makeup goal for the end of 2021.  As for the rest of my beauty products, they've now been paired right down and I'll write a blog on them in the future.

Project Pan 2019 - Update #4

January 2019

This was a quarter of nice surprises when it came to my project panning.  I thought that it would be a quarter where I was working my way through products with a plan to finishing them next year.  However, I actually managed to meet my targets for pretty much all of the items this year.

Starting with The Body Shop black liquid eyeliner.  I really had no idea how far along I was with this, but I actually managed to finished it in November.  By that point it was getting pretty difficult to get product out of the packaging and I needed to dip it in repeatedly to just do one line on my eyelid.   Once I had gotten used to using liquid eyeliner again I really liked this product and the look that it gave me.  It stayed on really well throughout the day even on my oily eyelids, was well pigmented, and the applicator was very easy to use.  The Body Shop is also cruelty free (at least at the moment) and so I would recommend this product it you're looking for a liquid eyeliner to try.  I won't be buying any more liquid eyeliner whilst I try to use up some other products, but I will look at this again once it's time to buy a new eye liner.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for The Body Shop Matte lip liquid in Tahiti Hibiscus.  I had got to the point with this product where it was also getting more difficult to get products out of the packaging, but not enough to really mean that you couldn't get a good lip coverage from it.  However, whilst I really liked the colour on my lips I didn't like the product itself.  This was mainly because I couldn't work out a way of stopping it from going on my teeth, and I tried a variety of things.  I put on very little, I smudged it in, I did the finger through the lips tactic, I licked the back of my lips...….and nothing worked.  It still got on my teeth.  So once it started to get difficult to use I was happy to call it quits.

And now for the product I am really surprised by, The Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer.  I really didn't expect to hit pan on this at all this year, but there it is a tiny little bit of the pan peaking through.  I've started using other areas of the product now to work through it evenly and I'm also still using it every time I put on my makeup as I do really like it.  It looks very bright in the pan and when you initially put it one, but once I've worked it in a little it actually looks surprisingly natural and pretty on my skin.  I don't think I'll put it in another project pan, but I am just going to keep using it until it's all gone.  The Balm is also cruelty free, however this highlighter does contain Mica in it so I don't think I'll buy it again once it's finished (unless the ingredients change or it can be guaranteed that the mica has been ethically sourced).

Lastly is the NYX Powder Blush in Taupe and it's still going strong.  I use this every time I put on makeup too, as a under cheek natural contour, as an eye crease colour, and under the eyes as a definition shadow.  However, there is still no pan.  I do still really love this product so I can't decided whether I want to roll this over to next year's pan or just put it back into my make up bag to use up like The Balm highlighter.  NYX is also cruelty free, but it also contains the problem Mica ingredient so I won't buy this again either.  I'm also wanting to streamline my makeup in the long run and contouring is probably a step that I will take out without really missing it.

December 2019

All in all this hasn't been too bad a year when it comes to using up my makeup.  It now all fits into my one make up bag, including one relatively big palette.  I'm happy with the progress, but I definitely want to keep reducing it more.  Now that wearing makeup is no longer part of my work life I'm really don't see myself wearing it much at all (apart from doing these project pans) and so even having this number of products seems silly to me.  At the moment I'm working out what I want to put in next year's project pan and I think that that project will probably be my last.

Project Pan 2019 - Update #3

As predicted, this quarter has been a very slow one, not helped by the fact that I've been wearing make up a lot less over the last few months.  That being said I have still managed to get through the couple of items I had hoped for in the last update.  Of the products left two are going to be difficult to actually track progress on as it is difficult to see through the packaging.  So it looks like I'll just have to keep using them until nothings seems to come out of the packaging.  Fingers crossed that happens before the end of 2019.  

Starting with the products I've finished, the Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani lipstick in 714 was the first to go.  If there was going to be a red lipstick I would make myself then this would be it.  It's exactly what I want with the right shade, blue undertones, and a matt finish.  It also has really good staying power with very little transfer.  It's basically the perfect red for me and Urban Decay is cruelty free.  However, having spent many years wearing lipstick all the time I am wondering if that's really something I want to bother with anymore and, once my lipsticks are done, I'm going to go without to see how that goes.  If I do decide to carry on wearing lipsticks I'm probably going to go for more natural ones any way, so it's unlikely I'll be buying this again.  But I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a red lipstick.

The next thing to go was the The Body Shop lip liner in Hot Date.  I actually liked this product a lot more than I thought I would, probably because tea rose is one of my favourite lip colours.  It's also very creamy and easy to apply, though that does mean that it's staying power wasn't the best - at least on the lips.  I have regularly just used it on it's own as a lip colour with some lip balm and have also tried putting it on my cheeks as a bit of a stain (it actually worked really well as a cheek stain so definitely give that a try is you have it).  The end of this lip liner is actually the end of all my lip liners, which I am very happy about and I don't intend on buying anymore lip liners from now on.  If I do get any lip products in the future it will just be a lipstick or stain that I can just use on it's own.  The Body Shop is cruelty free (though it's parent company isn't) and I would recommend this liner is you're looking for something that has a creamy texture to it.

The Body Shop black liquid eyeliner is one of the products where I really have no idea how far along I am.  There is definitely less product coming out on the applicator then when I first started using it (which is actually making it easier to use but does mean that I have to dip the applicator back in more often), but there's no real sign that I'm close to finishing it.  I may just keep using it until the recommend shelf life is up and then stop for hygiene reasons, but I'll see how it goes.  Now that I've got used to using this I actually quite like it and the look it gives.  It does need a couple of coats to make it properly black and it does begin to flake off a little bit by the end of the day, but the applicator makes it very user friendly and it's definitely one of better ones I used in all my time wearing makeup.

Then there's The Body Shop Matte lip liquid in Tahiti Hibiscus, which I have finally got into wearing this quarter.  It's definitely a lot redder than I was expecting from the outer packaging and I quite like it.  When it comes to staying power the Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani lipstick definitely beats it and I did find the lip liquid on my teeth a few times (always attractive), but it is very comfortable on the lips and doesn't seem to dry mine out at all.  This is another one where it difficult to tell how far a long you are and the only indicator I have is that I now have to wiggle the applicator a bit more to get any product out.  I may have to just do the same thing as I'm going to do with the liquid eyeliner and use it until they recommend you chuck it for hygiene reasons.

And lastly the NYX Powder Blush in Taupe and The Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer.  They are both finally beginning to show signs of progress and I can see where the products are beginning to go down.  I still don't think I'll actually see pan by the end of the year but it's good to know I am going through these products, especially as so little is needed with each application.  They will probably both be rolled over to what I hope is going to be my last project pan in 2020.

That's it for this update with eight products gone and four left to go.  Obviously I would have hoped that I'd have been further along than this but it's still pretty good progress.  I'm already looking at what I have left in my stash for next year, which I think is actually going to be more of a year of testing things out and deciding what I want to keep rather than a panning project, but more on that later.  The Body Shop liquid eyeliner and liquid lip are the two products I'm really going to be concentrating on now and, fingers crossed, they'll be done in the next three months.

Project Pan 2019 - Update #2

I was expecting this quarter to be as slow as the last so it has been a pleasant surprise that I've managed to get through as many items as I have.  In no particular order.

The NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale is finally gone.  It has taken a little while but every last bit on this product has been scrapped from the pot.  As I said in the previous post it does do a good job at correcting the colour under my eyes, but doesn't provide the type of coverage I normally like.  NYX is cruelty free though.  At the moment I haven't brought another concealer to replace this one as I want to just use my foundation for now until I decide what I'm going to do with my makeup moving forward.  I am tempted by the RMS Beauty Un Cover-Up so that might be my next expensive purchase.

I started doing more smokey looks this quarter which meant that the Living Nature eye liner in Midnight did go a lot faster than before and is now finished.  There was also a lot less product left in this than I thought.  This is a lovely dark black, very smooth to put on, and easy to smudge.  It's also cruelty free.  However, its lasting power is not as good as I would like so even if I do but another eye liner it won't be this.

The Barry M lip liner in Red or 3 was also another product that has also now completely gone.  It got very soft at the end and kept breaking every time I tried to sharpen it, but I think that has more to do with the age of this item rather than the overall quality of the product, which is really good.  It worked really well with the Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani lipstick in 714 but also looked very nice worn on its own.  Barry M is cruelty free and for the quality of the product you get for the price I would recommend this.

The Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani lipstick in 714 is so painfully close to being finished.  Just a tiny bit more, though I know in reality there's still a few days worth of wear.  I do really love this lipstick, in fact I might even go so far as to say it's the lipstick for me.  It's matte without being drying and the perfect blue red tone that's very flattering.  It also has pretty good staying power and Urban Decay is cruelty free.  I am actually looking for more natural lip products, if any, in the future so I won't buy this again for now.  However, it'll always be a favourite.

There is one product that I haven't actually finished but will be getting rid of and that is the Buxom eye shadow palette in Dolly's Wild Side.  It is a beautiful palette and the eye shadows are very good quality, but they just aren't the type of colours I would naturally go for and I don't really feel that the colours suit me particularly well.  I wouldn't really have realised this if I hadn't tried this product for the amount I have this year so I'm glad I gave this a go and I'm not just keeping this palette with me.  It has been well used but it's time for it to go.  I'm going to have a look and see if there is anywhere that I can donate this rather than just throw it away.

I started using the The Body Shop lip liner in Hot Date this quarter.  It definitely isn't as red as I thought it was going to be, more of a darker tea rose, but it's a beautiful colour.  It's also very soft and I seem to be getting through it quite quickly.  It might even be gone my the next update leaving me with no lip liners left and that's something I'll be very happy about.

I also started using the The Body Shop black liquid eyeliner.  It was a bit of a learning curve as it has been many years since I last tried using a liquid liner.  It doesn't help that my eye lids are so sensitive and blink at just about anything.  Needless to say the lines have been sort of thick over the last couple of months, but I am getting better at it.  I don't actually know how much of this product is left so I guess it will be just a blindly use until it's all gone.

The NYX Powder Blush in Taupe and The Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer look pretty much the same as they did in the last update despite the fact that they are both used every time I wear makeup.  I'm hoping to reach pan (though not actually finish) by the end of this year but I'm not going to hold my breath.

As with the last quarter I haven't touched The Body Shop Matte lip liquid in Tahiti Hibiscus just yet as I'm waiting to finish my current lipstick first.  I should definitely get to it in this quarter but whether or not I'll be able to get this finished by the end of the year is another matter.

Yes this has definitely been a good quarter for using up my makeup and it's been very satisfying.  However it does mean that next quarter is probably going to be another slow one.  If I'm lucky I should get two products used up but not much more.  It really has been satisfying to watch my makeup collection reducing to a more manageable size, closer to the product selection I would like to have in the long run.  I think I will still have one more year of this but that should be the last run.