Project Pan Update #3 and other products

There was a real worry that I would have almost nothing to show this month, despite wearing make-up practically everyday.  Thankfully, though, there are two items that are being moved out and some not so obvious signs in the eyeshadows I've been working on.

Let's start with the one item I have used up, the Natural Collection Fig Leaf lipstick.  I had decided to work on this lipstick this time as it was the oldest one I owned and, as it's a moisturising formula, I was worried it would go off the soonest.  But, as far as I'm aware, Boots Natural Collection is cruelty free (though please let me know if I'm wrong here.  The colour is a little bit off for my skin tone, but I had bought it for a fancy dress party many years ago and just put different coloured lip-liners to make it wearable.  It is a lovely formula though and, despite being so moisturising I didn't need to put on lip balm, it didn't seem to spread into the lines around my lips.  It also had a relatively good staying power for a very budget friendly lipstick and mattified to a very nice texture and colour.  I may have a look at more suitable colours in this line once this project is over, but I still have a few lipsticks to go right now.

Next is the Rimmel Mind the Gap nail varnish.  I didn't actually get to finish this product, but it just became too gloppy to keep using so I'm counting this as being done.  I love the colour of this nail varnish (I've left it on so you can see it in the photos, but you'll have to excuse the chipping), but I don't like the formula or the brush that comes with it.  It's meant to be good in one coat and dry within 60 seconds - it's not and it doesn't.  Rimmel is also not cruelty free and I am wanting to buy free from nail varnish in the future, so I'm definitely not buying this again.

I've been using the ELF Teal eyeliner to line my upper eye lashes before putting on eyeshadow liner and also to line my waterline.  I really like this eyeliner as the colour is great and quite pigmented, but the formula is a little dry and doesn't stay too long in the water line.  It is taking a while to use, but I'm still getting through it and will definitely be able to use the 2 eyeliners in this project before the end of the year.  I would recommend this eyeliner to those who are wanting a pop of colour, but if you're wanting it for your eyeliner maybe go for a different eyeliner or take this liner with you to reapply. I'm not sure you can get this exact colour anymore in the Essentials Brightening Eyeliner, but they do have other nice colours.

Still working on the Lily Lolo eye primer.  I haven't reached pan yet, but I feel like I'm getting close on the yellow one which I've been using on the areas of my face that are a little red.  Now that I've been using this for a few months I can say that it does a pretty good job.  My eyelids are pretty oily and normally will be free of most eyeshadow by the end of the day, but there is still some shadow left when I come back from work (which is usually 11 hours after first putting it on).  The yellow tone also does a good job of helping to cover the redness, but I'm not sure if it helps keep my foundation on as I haven't tried the foundation without.

Now for the eyeshadows.  I'm still working on the same seven shadows from last month.  The dark grey has not really moved at all, mainly because I keep forgetting to use it, so I really need to make a point of putting it on from now on.  For the rest of the eyeshadows, the pans on the Sephora liner eyeshadow, the Sephora brown eyeshadow, Maybelline white eyeshadow, and The Body Shop Coconut About You have all gotten larger.  The Maybelline silver is still taking a long time to hit pan, despite using it basically everyday (the hole is from me wanting to see how far I have to go).  However, because of the size of the brush I use with this I think that when I do hit pan it'll go pretty quickly.  As for the pink eyeshadow from the H&M palette, the dome is no longer as domie as it was before but this isn't a shadow I have been using regularly as it didn't really go with the Fig Leaf lipstick.  Now that that is all gone I'm hoping to use this shadow a lot more.

Now for the other products (sorry this blog is so long).  As you know from my other posts I'm trying to reduce what I have in all areas of my life and, while I've picked specific items I want to concentrate on for the project pan, I have still been working on other products.  I haven't used all these products in March, but over the last three months, and it doesn't include everything I've used up as I wanted to keep some aside to do a product review on them in a separate post.

Firstly, the Boots Botanics Microdermabrasion Polish Radiat Youth.  I've loved Botanics for many years as they are a little more 'natural' in the products they use and the company apparently tries to reduce their impact on the planet.  According to the back this face scrub is also 'Formulated without parabens' and is 'People tested'.  I found this to be a great scrub, which removed dead skin without drying out my skin.  I found it more effective than other natural face scrubs which have nut shells in them, and this was probably because it has pumice stone in it.  It was as effective as the newer micro beads, but less damaging to the environment.  The only reason I won't be buying this again is because I don't want to use a mechanical scrub anymore and will be using peals instead.

The other items here are testers, most of which I get from Naturisimo when I buy other products.

Firstly, the body moisturising testers.  I did really like the Caudalie Divine Oil and it smelt nice, but Claudia is not recommended on Logical Harmony and so I won't be buying it.  The Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil was also lovely, but it pricy so maybe I'll wait until I have a bit extra cash before looking into getting it, and I also liked the Joik Lemon and Vanilla Body Lotion, but there wasn't enough in the tester to get an actual idea as to what it was like. The Lavera Hand Cream was good, but nothing more than a normal hand cream.  The New Charity Pot is something you can get from Lush for £1 and is general quite a good moisturiser and I've put the Balance Me Moisture Rich Face Cream in this category as I used it with the Charity Pot for moisturising my underarms.  I shave with my evening shower and moisturise instead of putting on deodorant, which I then put on the next morning.  I've had the Balance Me face cream before and wasn't too keen as it felt too thick on my face, but didn't moisturise as much as I was expecting for that.

Secondly, the face products.  The Pai Perfect Balance Blemish Serum Zinc & Copaiba was lovely, as all Pai products seem to be, and did help with some hormonal blemishes I had at the time, but as it isn't something I generally have an issue with I won't be getting this.  The two Lavera face creams were nice, but again not products I would necessarily pick over any other.  The Madara Time Miracle Night Cream was lovely, but also comes with a price tag a little out of my league.  The Egyptian Magic all purpose skin cream was nice, and a cult favourite, and a little goes a very long, but for all the hype I wasn't taken enough by it to want to actually buy it.  It also contains honey products that I'm trying to reduce in my stash.  I have no real opinion on the Caudalie products (S.O.S morning eye rescue and Deep cleansing exfoliator) as there wasn't enough in these testers to really be able to form an opinion on them.  Also, as they are not cruelty free I won't be looking at testing them further.  My favourite product out of these was the Green People Fruitful Nights Night Cream.  It worked really well, made my skin feel really soft, and smelt amazing.  I've actually brought the full product.

The last is the miscellaneous group.  I'm not sure about the Madara Micellar Water and couldn't form enough on an opinion on it with the amount that was there.  I'm thinking about buying the full sized product to see if I can get more of an idea about it, but that will be after all my Bioderma has been used up.  The Caudalie Radiance Tinted Moisturizer in 01 Light was a nice product and had good coverage, but not cruelty free.  I'm not sure about the Lavera Repair and Care Shampoo and, again, there wasn't enough in this tester for me to be able to form an actual opinion on it.

So that's it for this month.  I hope everyone's Project Pans are going well.