little white truths: Project Pan 2015

Project Pan 2015

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For those who don't know, Project Pan - also known as Project 10 Pan and Project Hit Pan - is a 'movement' that's gaining momentum in cyberspace.

Basically you're meant to pick 10 of your beauty products to use every day, and you're not allowed to buy any new ones until they're all gone. If a product is finished, you select a replacement from your existing stash. People seem to make their own rules (eg some pick only five products; some are just trying to finish things and aren't buying any more for the moment anyway etc), but the general idea is the same: use what you have and finish old products!

There are plenty of other reasons a person might do it (eg some bloggers want to train themselves to really experience a product and finish it before they review it), but that seems to be the general gist.

I must say, I've been umming and ahhing quite a bit about doing Project Pan this year. I have a few reasons for this:

I tend to pick a bundle of products each month that I focus on using anyway (so I can finish them and streamline my stores), so in some ways PP feels a bit superfluous. If you've seen how packed my monthly empties posts have been recently, you'll know what I mean.
My 'how long does it take to finish...?' series of posts are also aimed at getting through products, so there's the superfluous thing again.
What I really need to do is use my 'special' stuff more, and for PP I'd be using the older things and the special stuff will be sitting there getting dusty. I don't want it to go off!
The items I really need to finish are my old Mirenesse products, and since I made the decision not to review or promote any of that brand's products on this blog due to Mirenesse's questionable advertising and general business practices (which I unfortunately discovered only after I'd bought a bundle of its stuff), I wouldn't want to include any of those in PP because I'd prefer to use products that I can say something about that might be useful to others.
Universe willing, in the next month I'll be popping out a baby. So my PP 2015 could go out the window before it's really gathered legs.
I don't like using the same products every day! Even with a 'basic' product like foundation, I tire of things really easily - no matter how good they are - and prefer to have them on rotation. Since I'm on a year-long beauty spending ban, rotating things also helps stop 'the itch' to buy something new. And I don't want to spend the better part of the year itching!

Anyway, in the end I decided to do it, but I'm going to keep things small and focused and tie it in with my 'how long does it take to finish...?' posts because I do think it's useful to know how long things last (and therefore to see why it's not a good idea to have too many back ups of particular products, even your favourites).

I will also include products I don't love but want to get rid of and can't bear to just throw away (as you may know, I really hate waste!), but because I'd prefer to use the stuff I do love, I might use those un-loved products for alternate purposes: eg, with Benefit's Coralista (a big disappointment on my skin), I'll use it as an eyeshadow instead when I want to put something much nicer on my cheeks.

But enough preamble!

Here's the list for Project Pan 2015:

I've tried to include different types of products - otherwise I'd be here for eternity. There's also a mix of products I love but are getting a bit old and need to be used, and ones I just want to see the back of.

You'll note there's no skincare in the bunch, the reason being that I get through that well enough and I'm not so fickle with it. The makeup's the problem!

Erborian BB Creams in Light and Dark

I like these products. Not as much as the Erborian CC Cream, but these are still pretty good (I've reviewed them here). Problem is, I opened them around the end of 2013 and they both have a 12-month shelf life.

What I tend to do with base products like these is use one for a couple of weeks, then rotate to something else. So while these creams have been through plenty of rotations, I'm just not getting through them - plus they're both 45ml in size and I mix them because I'm between colours, so they're lasting forever! There's probably not even a quarter gone from either. But since they're sheer enough to wear as a base for a powder (or even liquid) foundation - and buildable enough to wear alone - I can incorporate them daily and not feel 'tied' to the same base for months.

Then there's the sun protection. At SPF 25++, that makes them good picks for summer. I'm hoping to get through these in three months. That amount of product should last at least six (more, if they weren't so sheer), but I'll be doing a morning and arvo application to keep the sun protection up - and I'll use them on my neck and dec too - so I reckon three months is about right.

Bodyography Oxyplex Pressed Complexion Powder in Amber

I LOVE this product (see my review here). It was a Violet Box inclusion and, as you can see, I've made a pretty big dent in it; however it will take longer than you might think to get through because I mix it with a paler Bodyography powder to use it as a foundation, rather than eg a bronzer (because it's just so good).

Its shelf-life is 36 months and I've still got 24 of those left, but since I have a replacement powder in Cocoa Tan - which I bought because it's my actual colour and I don't need to mix it - I might as well keep going with this one and stop saving it for days when I'm going out in public. I love it. I'm gonna use it every day and feel good! It will make a nice accompaniment for the Erborian BB creams, particularly because they're on the greasy side and need a bit of powder to stop the shine factor.

I reckon I can get through this in around two months: I'm more tanned at the moment so this isn't far from my skin colour and it requires only a little of the paler colour (Wheat) to make it a good match.

Drww Mix & Match Set Vol 2

This was a Memebox inclusion (see review here). The concealer is already on daily usage at the moment because it's part of my 'how long does it take to finish...?' series of posts, so I thought I might as well just get through the entire kit.

It's a good choice because I don't need to wear the same colour on my lips or cheeks every day and can mix and match them. Plus the orange in particular is a good base to put underneath Coralista (below), since that doesn't show up well on my skin and needs some help.

The concealer will last most of January I reckon (as will the gloss), but I've no idea about the tints. Two months? We'll see. Happily the pink tint also works pretty well as a cream eyeshadow (and I can set it with a dusting of Coralista), so I may get through this quicker than expected.

Benefit's Coralista Blush (3g travel size)

See review here. I was so disappointed in this blush - it doesn't show up well on me at all and looks too cold/icy - so I just want to see the back of it. Fortunately it's only a 3g travel size and not a full item!

I could probably use it as a test product in terms of seeing how long a blush lasts, because I've been using it almost daily (as an eyeshadow mostly) since the beginning of November - I want it out of my collection.

Unfortunately I haven't made much of a dent in it despite having used it so much! If I get through it in three months, I'll be one happy lady.

Be a Bombshell Eyeshadow in Halo

Another Violet Box inclusion, and I've used it maybe twice (so it'll make another good test product in terms of how long things last : ) ).

The problem with this one is that it contains noticeable glitter, which I don't like. Having said this, the glitter isn't the worst I've seen (there's not that much of it, despite how it looks in the pan) and there's more shimmer than glitter chunks.

I've chosen this product because I can use it to highlight eg my collarbones or shoulders if I don't want to wear it on my face - which I won't all that often.

I have absolutely no idea how long eyeshadows last. Forever?! I've only ever finished one duo, and I had to work hard to do that. But a single eyeshadow of 1.5g? Four months? Guess we'll see.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Loose Colour Concentrate in Twirl

Full review here. I like this product, I'm just not using it enough. While it's more shimmery than glittery, it's super metallic and not something I'd wear every day.

What I can do with it however is add it to my primer instead of liquid illuminator, and it gives the same effect. I haven't posted on this but I might at some stage: if you want to create your own liquid illuminator, all you need is a product like this and a moisturiser; mix them together and there you are. Liquid illuminator.

I was using it for this purpose a while ago, so I think there's maybe a third gone from the container. It might last a month? We'll see.

Tonymoly Circle Lens Mascara

This is a dumbarse clear mascara I received from Memebox. I'm using it as a brow gel because I opened it for review purposes and now I just want to get through it and use something else. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just not my favourite product and I don't like the packaging.

A full-sized brow gel normally lasts me around three or four months from memory. So I'll try to be done with this by the end of March.

'Tini Beauty Eyetini Swizzle Stick Eyeliner in Cognac

This came in November's Violet Box and it's a terrible eyeliner (no lasting power) but because it's brown, I can happily use it as a brow filler, which is what I've been doing.

I chose it for PP because it's almost finished (it's a very small size: 0.25g) and having at least a couple of items that I'll get through quickly should help me stay motivated to keep moving things out of circulation as they're finished.

ModelCo Colourbox Eyeshadow in Tahiti

I received this in a Lust Have It box around this time last year, and I've used it maybe three times. It's a deep charcoal and the kind of colour I'll use as an eyeliner. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that single eyeshadows annoy me a bit (that's why there's three of them in this post!) and I tend to reach for palettes of at least three colours instead: so I have a jumble of single shades that aren't getting used and I want to remove them from my collection.

The other thing with ModelCo products is that - unlike eg the Be a Bombshell eyeshadow above - I don't like the pink packaging as a display item on my dresser, so they get shut away in a drawer. At least some shadows I haven't been using are still something I enjoy looking at, but not this one.

I've no idea how long it will take to get through this 1.4g product - it's dark and pigmented and I'll only be using a tiny bit each day. Maybe six months? Ach. Ages, no doubt.

Sweetpea & Fay Liquid Lipstick in Papercut

Full review here. As mentioned, I tend to pick a few products each month to try to finish or at least make a dent in - generally those that have been open for the longest - but this one moved up the list at the start of December because the tube broke (guess that's what happens with cheap packaging ; ) ). You can see the mess on the lid: that's because the neck of the tube has split open, so product spits out whenever you squeeze it. Since the upper contents are likely touching air, I want to finish this quickly before it goes off. It's a colour I like but don't love, so I'll be happy when it's done.

I reckon this will be finished by the end of January. Not only do I get through lip products ridiculously quickly (I have dry lips and spend half my life drinking tea, so my mug is always rimmed in colour), but there's a lot of product wastage happening with this due to the broken container. I'll be glad to move an older lip product into circulation once I'm done with this one.

My Project Pan 'rules'

I'm going to keep things pretty simple and not make PP too difficult (eg by forcing myself to use only one lip product until it's gone).

I'm on a spending ban anyway, so finishing something doesn't mean I can buy something new. What it might mean is that I can open something from the jumble of subscription box products I have sitting there waiting to be used.
I'll attempt to use most of these items almost every day (and some will be used every day), but if I'm eg going out, I can wear whatever the hell I want.
Once I finish a product, I'll add in a new one to the list. I might not keep the list at exactly 10 products, but it will stay at around that amount.
I'll likely stick to makeup products for this and maybe introduce some haircare items, since those are the ones I have trouble finishing off. But there might be an occasional skincare item that slips in if it's nearing expiry.
For some people, PP is about hitting pan only and not actually finishing products. I'd prefer to finish them. But if any product becomes one that I no longer get any enjoyment from using, I'll either turf it or pass it on to someone else if they want it.
I'm not going to go for a full year, but until the first week of October 2015 - when my year-long spending ban ends.

That's it! Have you ever done Project Pan or is it something you'd consider doing? I'd be interested in hearing others' experiences of it : )

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little white truths

Project Pan 2015

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