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.

Project Pan 2019 - Update #1

We are a quarter of the way through the year and I have only got through two products.  However, I knew that this year was going to be a slow and possibly difficult year when it comes to using things up.

Let's start with the products I have used up, starting with the Argan Oil hair treatment.  I had stopped using this as a hair treatment as my hair no longer needs moisture added to it and was using it as a body moisturiser instead.  Due to that I actually used this up within the first month.

The Urban Decay lip liner in Ozone was the next product to go.  I've had this product for a long time so I was glad to move this out.  It's a very good product and works very well at keeping the lip product on your lips and only on your lips.  Urban Decay is also cruelty free.  If I was going to buy another lip liner once I've used all my other lip liners up it would be this one as it's very effective and can be used with multiple lip colours.

Another of the roll over products from last year was the NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale.  This is going as slow and steady as it did last year and I should be finished by the end of this year.  It is quite a good product at reducing the colour of my undereye circles, but doesn't give as much coverage as I would like.

The last roll over product is the Living Nature eye liner in Midnight (from 7.1cm to 6.3cm).  As I have been wearing red lipstick every time I wear makeup I have only been doing a line on my upper lash line and no smokey eyes.  That means I haven't used that much of this liner this quarter.

And the red lipstick I've been concentrating on is the Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani lipstick in 714 (from 2.9cm to 1.8cm).  I wasn't sure if I would like wearing this after I had gotten so used to wearing dark lipstick in my last project pan / use up.  But I actually really love this colour, it's actually the colour I have always wanted, especially with it being matte.  However, even though it's matte it hasn't dried my lips out at all.  This will definitely be done by the end of the year and maybe by the end of the next quarter.

The lip liner I have been using with this is the Barry M lip liner in Red or 3 (which I've had for years) (from 6.2cm to 5.3cm).  Despite the fact I use it to fill in all my lips before I put on my lipstick it isn't going down as fast as I thought it would.  The colour is also a very beautiful red and, though a much warmer tone, goes really well with the 714 lipstick.  I expect this to be finished by the end of the year as well.

I hadn't used the NYX Powder Blush in Taupe in over a year and I had forgotten how much I loved it, but as a contouring product not a blush.  It looks really natural, but you don't need to use a lot so it is probably going to be years before this is gone.  The same can be said for the The Balm highlighter in Mary-Lou Manizer.  This is a beautiful highlighter and actually looks quite natural (at least in the way I put it on).  It will take a very long time to use it up, but I'm not sure I'm that bothered about that for either of them. 

Lastly is the Buxom eye shadow palette in Dolly's Wild Side.  These are beautiful colours and very easy to use.  I use Lingerie Lover as the all over shade, Spoiled Sexy as the crease colour, Silk Sheets as an inner highlight, and Wild Nights as a liner for my lower lash line.  I go between Champagne Buzz and Mink Magnet as my main eye shadow colour.  Not surprisingly I've put quite a dent in Lingerie Lover, and there are some little dents forming in Champagne Buzz and Wild Nights.  It will be interesting to see how this goes through out the year.

I haven't even touched the The Body Shop black liquid eyeliner (though I really should with the red lipstick), The Body Shop lip liner in Hot Date, or The Body Shop Matte lip liquid in Tahiti Hibiscus.  I'm not going to touch the lip products until I have finished what I am using at the moment, but I think I'll bring the liquid eyeliner into my daily makeup as a change now and then from the pencil.

So, not too bad a start, though obviously more would be better.  I wonder how the next three months will go.

Project Use Up Update #12

And here we are, the final update on my project use up for 2018.  I didn't get rid of as many products as I had hoped, but I still moved out 14 from this year and I'm happy with that.

Let's start with the last product I managed to use up this year, the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Matte Plum.  I was worried that this won't actually be gone by the time of this post as I didn't have too long to go and this is one of those products that doesn't actually need to be re-applied very often (very good in general, but not when you're trying to use it up).  Like the Rose colour I really liked this lipstick.  It's cruelty free, has very good staying power, it a nice colour, and doesn't dry out my lips despite being matte.  It also smells really nice, which is always good when you're putting it so close to your nose.  I still have other lipsticks to use up and, once they are gone, I would like to try some more natural products so it's unlikely that I'll buy this again.  However, if you are looking for a well priced, matt, cruelty free, long lasting lipstick then I would recommend the Gosh Velvelt lipsticks in Matte.

Next lets go for the Barbara Day Even Smoother eye primer in Vanilla.  I actually pulled the stopper out of this one as I noticed the product was beginning to get a bit dry and I wanted to see just how much product I had left.  It turns out I've done pretty well and, though it's difficult to see from the side, when I look down the tube it looks like I've used up around 3/4 of the product.  For the fact that you use so little of it with each application that isn't too bad.  However, I've had this product for over two years and, whilst it still smells fine, I don't want to take any risks with something I'm putting around my eyes, so it's time to get rid of it.  I'm not sure if any of the Barbara Day products are cruelty free (or if you can even get them any more) and it did struggle with the oiliness of my eye lids meaning that the eye shadows did not stay on for a particularly long time.  Due to this, I wouldn't recommend this item to anyone and I won't be getting this again.  I think that eye primers are probably an additional step to putting on my make-up that I don't really need so, now that this is gone, I'm not going to be buying another primer again.

I still have a fair way to go with the Living Nature eye liner in Midnight, though I did make some pretty good progress with it over 2018.  It's a pretty good eye liner and is very soft in texture, but that does mean that it smudges quite easily even if you set it with some eye shadow.  I'll be rolling this one over to next years project use up where I might test out some very dark smokey eyes in the name of using up a product.

The same it true for the NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale.  I have done a pretty good job at using up a lot of this product, but there is still about a 1/5 to go.  It's done a good job at reducing the look of my dark under eyes, but not disguising them completely and doesn't have the best staying power.  However, it has been very easy to use and I'll be rolling this over to next year as well.

Lastly, the Argan Oil hair treatment.  As I'm using a new shampoo bar which is adding a lot of moisture and waxiness to my hair I haven't had to use this hair treatment at all over the last month.  Instead, I've been using it as a not very strong body moisturiser.  I tend to need quite thick moisturisers around this time of year so it's not really cutting it, but that does mean I need to reapply it more then I would any other product and it means it's going down a lot quicker than before.  I will carry on using this until it's gone and I think that I will roll this item over to next year as well.

I also want to have a quick chat about the Urban Decay Naked Original / 1 palette.  I've been using this palette exclusively this last quarter and, whilst I do love the colours, it's getting old and the smell is definitely changing so it's time to say goodbye.  Also, the size of the glitter is a little bit much for me, especially as I'm in my late 30s (highlighted 'fine lines' anyone).  I'm not sure if the new versions are quite so chunky in their glitter and if not I would recommend this palette is you're looking for one with this colour range.  Urban Decay is also cruelty free.  I actually don't feel too bad about getting rid of this palette as I have managed to hit pan on 4 of the colours, so it's had its use. 

And that's it, another year completed.  I had hoped to get rid of 17 products, but it's actually been 14 (with some additional items added along this way) and I'm happy with that.  I've already started thinking about what items I want to go through next year and hopefully that will be the final year that I have to actively concentrate on getting rid of surplus products.  I hope you had a great year using up your products, let me know how you did in the comments below. 😀

My progress throughout the year:

• Project Use Up 2018
• Project Use Up Update #1 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #2 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #3 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #4 
• Project Use Up Update #5 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #6 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #7 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #8 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update# 9
• Project Use Up Update #10
• Project Use Up Update #11

Project Use Up Update #11

The final month is now on it's way and it's very clear now which products I have a chance of finishing by the end of the year and which I really don't.  Whilst I obviously hoped to finish all of this items this time around I'm still pretty pleased with the amount of progress I have got done so far.

Let's start with the got bit.  I have finally used up the MUA lipstick in Raven.  I really like MUA as a brand as the products are pretty good quality for the price and they are cruelty free.  I was also surprised by the fact that I actually quite liked wearing a black lipstick.  Dark colours tend to suit me, but I wasn't expecting black to.  The only thing I didn't like was how glossy this product was, which meant it didn't last very long and tended to get everywhere.  If, for some reason, I decided to get another black lipstick it will need to be matt.  However, if you like black, glossy lipsticks I would recommend this one.  That now only leaves the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Matte Plum to go and I think I can get this finished by the end of December.

Next is the Living Nature eye liner in Midnight.  Progress is slightly slower this month as I don't like doing a full on smoky eye when I'm wearing a dark lipstick.  It's still going down however and I will definitely be a carrying it on to next year's project.  It hasn't got the best staying power and I do find smudges under my eyes, but nothing too bad.

NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale is another slow and steady, and I've managed to take off another section.  I'm pretty sure this will also be another carry over to next year.  The creaminess of this product (an issue in summer) has actually turned out to be a blessing over the colder months and it's definitely holding up better now that the temperature has dropped.

Let's not even discuss the Barbara Day Even Smoother eye primer in Vanilla.  We all know where this one is going.

And lastly the Argan Oil hair treatment.  I've used up all my liquid shampoos and am now testing out a shampoo bar, which has turned out to possibly be a little bit too oily for my hair type.  This means I haven't needed to / wanted to use a hair oil and so progress has slowed right now.  I'm going to leave it for a couple of weeks and see if my hair settles down once it gets used to the shampoo bar as I may need to go back to using a hair treatment.  If it doesn't then I will need to find another use for this product, possibly a body moisturiser, to get it used up.  Either way it's going to be a carry over to next year.

My progress so far:

• Project Use Up 2018
• Project Use Up Update #1 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #2 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #3 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #4 
• Project Use Up Update #5 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #6 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #7 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #8 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update# 9
• Project Use Up Update #10

Project Use Up Update #10 and Other Products

So, another month is done and I'm now on the final stretch.  I'm not expecting to use up many more of the products that I have left, but I am glad that's I've finally used up another item after a couple of months of stalling. (Apologies for the lighting in these photos, it's just so dark today it was difficult to get the right light.)

And let's start with that.  This month I had to say goodbye to the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Matte Rose.  I hadn't completely finished it but got ill whilst wearing it.  When I put it on again after getting better I got a really sore throat again, so I decided I had the throw it away.  I only had one more days worth of wear in it so it's not too bad, but a shame to not get the satisfaction of finishing it properly.  I really like this product, it feels good on the lips, isn't too trying, and is a really lovely colour.  Basically, if you're looking for an affordable, easy to find, cruelty free, nude lipstick I would recommend this one.  However, I'm not really intending on buying nude lipsticks in the future and I want to test more 'natural' lip colours anyway so I probably won't buy this again.  I had also hoped to use up my MUA lipstick in Raven this month as well as I had a few extra days off work, but unfortunately I got really ill for a couple of weeks and haven't been wearing lipstick at all during that time.  It would have been fitting to finish it on Halloween, but there's always next month and I do think I'll get it done by then.  I'm not sure if I'll get my Gosh lipstick finished by the end of the year, but I will have at least 1 month to concentrate on it.

I've been doing a lot of smokey eye looks this month and that has helped me use a good amount of the Living Nature eye liner in Midnight.  However, there was also no eye liner wearing whilst I was ill so the progress on this is a little lower then I was hoping for.  This is a really easy eye liner to use, very soft and smudge-able, but that does mean that it's not necessarily the longest lasting eye liner I've ever used and definitely needs setting.  This one is definitely going to be a roll over to next year.

The NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale is going a long quite well.  In fact I've used much more then I was actually expecting.  It seems to be that once I hit the side of the product the rest seems to come away quite easily.  I might even be able to finish this by the end of the year, but I think I'm being a bit hopeful on that front.  It's a lovely product to use as it's so creamy and the colour is actually pretty good for what I want it for.  Just going to keep plodding on this one.

You know the drill on the Barbara Day Even Smoother eye primer in Vanilla.  Slow and steady, slow and steady.  There is light at the end of the tunnel, but this might actually be one of the products I just have the throw away at the end of the year as I've had this for so long and it is going right by my eyes.

The same can be said on the Argan Oil hair treatment.  This is going to take a while to use up, but it is quite a good product and smells really nice so I'm not too bothered if it takes a couple of years to get through.

The other products I used up this month are......

My Jura Diurachs Own Fragrance Hand Cream.  This product is lovely, smells really, really good, and works very well.  I've been using it every day after work and it's definitely helped stop my hands from turning into a leathery, flaky mess.  The only issue with this for some people is that it contains bees wax and I'm not sure if it's cruelty free, though I assume this line would be.  I can't find this hand cream on line so I think you can only buy it on Jura (what a shame, just have to take another trip to Jura).  The packaging is also glass which makes it easy to recycle.

I really like the Lush Dirty Toothy Tabs.  They are very easy to use and a great space saver in your toiletry bag (something very important for me as I have literally been living out of that thing).  The flavour is also good and this product is also vegan and cruelty free.  I would prefer the packaging to not be plastic, but at least it's recycled and recyclable and that's really stuck in my head after I heard someone say 'If you're not buying recycled products you're not really recycling' (which I believe is attributed to Ed Begley Jr).  For convenience these are great and will probably buy them again, especially if I'm travelling, but I love the Georganic products better so those will probably be my main dental products.

The last item is the Younique Moodstruck Epic Mascara.  A friend of mine sells Younique products so I brought this off her when I was coming to the end of my mascaras.  I've probably been using this way longer then you're supposed to use a mascara but the scent of it hasn't changed so I kept using it until the product was basically gone.  This product it lovely and made my eye lashes look really long and think.  It also held them at a sweeping up angle and didn't flake on me (a reoccurring issue I have with most mascaras).  Apparently they are working towards getting a cruelty free status as they don't test their products on animals, but I haven't had confirmation on that yet.  It is a little bit of a pricey mascara as well at £20, but isn't the most expensive mascara out there and it does have a very good effect.  As with the lipsticks, however, I am wanting to go down a more natural route and so it's unlikely I will be buying this product again.

And that's it.  Let's see what I can get through in November.

My progress so far:

• Project Use Up 2018
• Project Use Up Update #1 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #2 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #3 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #4 
• Project Use Up Update #5 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #6 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #7 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #8 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update# 9

Project Use Up Update #9

This month has seen the same slow steady use up with nothing actually finished as last month.  There has been some good progress in some of the products, mainly the lipsticks, but I think it'll still be a couple of months before anything actually goes.

As before we'll start with the Barbara Day Even Smoother eye primer in Vanilla.  I'm using this every time I wear make up, but again, there's no obvious change from the outside.  I am tempted to actually remove this product from the tube to give me a better idea of how this is doing, I just need to find a container.

You can see how much of the Argan Oil hair treatment has gone, but the progress here is probably just as slow as the eye primer.  As before, I use this every time I wash my hair (about twice a week) so the progress is slow but steady.

I have finally been able to reach the edge of the NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale and will now start increasing the size of this.  I don't think I'll be able to finish this by the end of the year, but I am now on the final run and don't think it'll be long before I need to buy a new concealer.  Do you have any recommendations on more natural concealers worth spending the money on?

I've been using the Living Nature eye liner in Midnight a little bit more by slightly changing the style of my make up.  This has meant that my progress has been a bit better this month then last.  It's still going to be roughly another six months before this is gone, but at least I've worked out how to get through it quicker.

My lipsticks is definitely the area where I've seen the most progress, probably because I've had a week off where I could wear makeup almost every day.  I made sure that I wore the MUA lipstick in Raven as least a couple of times during the week to really work on getting through this one.  There is a possibility that this will be gone by the end of October, but it will need some extra work on that.  The other lipstick I've been concentrating on is the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Matte Rose.  This is a really nice, easy lipstick wear, but it's matte properties does mean that it stays on longer then other lipsticks and, therefore, takes a little longer to get through.

And that's it.  Not a particularly long blog this time, but there is definitely the usual lull in progress you normally get in a project pan around this time of year.  I'm aiming to definitely finish the lipsticks by the end of the year, but I think expecting the other items to be finished is probably a bit unrealistic.

My progress so far:

• Project Use Up 2018
• Project Use Up Update #1 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #2 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #3 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #4 
• Project Use Up Update #5 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #6 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #7 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #8 and Other Products

Project Use Up Update #8 and Other Products

As expected this month has been a no use up on the project front so this is going to be a pretty quick blog.  I have, however, managed to use up other products over this month.  

Let's start with the never ending Barbara Day even smoother eye primer in Vanilla. I've been able to scrape more from around the sides but it still doesn't look like there is much change here.  I'm half tempted to scrap what's left into a jar so I can actually see any changes, but that might be at the end of the year.

Next is the NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale.  I'm still working on one side of the product, which has gone down a bit this month to the point where I think I will have reached the packaging by the end of the coming month.

Still slow and steady on the Living Nature eye liner in Midnight front.

I decided to set a goal of wearing MUA lipstick in Raven at least once a week in the last two weeks in August and that's had a real impact on getting through this product.  I'm going to keep this goal for the next few months and should be able to get this lipstick finished by the end of the year.  Despite using the other two lipsticks over August they don't seemed to have gone down at all.  I am going to try and get these finished by the end of year, but it will be a push.

Lastly the Argan Oil hair treatment.  Now that I've got into the habit of using this every time I wash my hair I'm starting to see actual progress on this product (though I couldn't get a photo that actually showed the line here).  I have excepted that this product will take a few years to get through, but at least it's on its way out.

I'm also putting my Urban Decay Naked original palette into this post as it's the palette I've been concentrating on this year.  I have decided to only use this palette for the rest of the year as I am thinking about getting rid of it at the end of 2018 as the formula is beginning to change.  There is pan on two of the shadows and I think I can hit pan on two others as well.

Now for the additional products.  Let's start with the Georganics Coconut Oil Toothpaste in English Peppermint.  I've really enjoyed using this and it worked well on my teeth.  It wasn't a big deal using the spatula every time I brushed but I would like to try some of their products which don't need the spatula.  This product is vegan and cruelty free, and definitely worth a look.  Right now I am using some Lush toothtabs, but I will definitely return to Georganics  once these are gone.

And there's the Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Sensitive.  This is my third tub of this, I really love it as it is very effective at removing dead skin and making my skin soft.  Sensitive obviously as I have sensitive skin, this is vegan and cruelty free.  I will definitely buy this again, but only after I have finished my other face mask.

My progress so far:

• Project Use Up 2018
• Project Use Up Update #1 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #2 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #3 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #4 
• Project Use Up Update #5 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #6 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #7 and Other Products