little white truths

It's nearing the end of the month, so it's time for updates on how my panning projects are going. First up, Pan that Palette 2016. 

If you've been following my challenge, you'll know that I only started this back in July so I'm late to the 2016 party, but I've looked on this year as a way to get my feet wet and learn a few things where Pan that Palette is concerned, since I've never done it before.

On that, if you missed my mini update earlier in the month (see here; and here's my August update), I'll briefly rehash what's been happening: three of my shadows were so old that they had to be re-pressed countless times, and in the end I decided to merge them into one shade in the hope that things would get easier.

Unfortunately, this didn't happen and I wound up with a lavender highlight shade that looks like a bruise on me no matter how I use it, so I've decided that since there wasn't much left in those three shadows anyway (two were from Mirenesse and one 'Tini Beauty), it's time to say goodbye and move on. More on that below.

I've been making steady progress on my Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette.

Here's where it was at the end of August, when I first introduced it to this challenge:

And here's where it is now:

Unfortunately it's pretty hard to see how much I've used, but there's been some definite flattening action across both shades.

I love any Hourglass powder I've tried so far, but these two won't have a permanent place in my collection so I'd like to get through them while they're not too old. Dim Light (the shade I've finished above) is my setting powder of choice, and I've just opened my full size of that but I'm mixing these two in its place when I'm not going out for the day.

Both shades also work well on the eyes and I can combine them if I want to use them as a highlighter. Radiant Light (right) is also a great bronzer-topper, so it gets plenty of use.

I don't think it's possible to finish this palette by the end of the year - and there's no point rushing through something I love that costs this much! - but I'll hold it over for Pan that Palette 2017 if need be.

After my failed attempt at combining those three old shadows, I decided to bring in the next powders I'd always had earmarked for Pan that Palette: my Nars Duo Eyeshadows. I have four of these, which I'm annoyed about because I bought them before I knew much about eyeshadow and didn't realise that they're over-priced and really not that good.

Along with my two Stila palettes, those four duos are the oldest eyeshadows I own so I'd like to use them up before they start deteriorating. I probably won't ever bring Isolde into the challenge because it's not something I'd want to use every day and I have nothing else like it, but each of Portobello, St Paul de Vence and Charade will enter Pan that Palette over this year and next.

Below you can see St Paul de Vence (reviewed here) in the bottom right-hand corner, and the paler half of Charade (reviewed here) to the left of that. The other shadows are from my Stila In the Light palette, most of which I'll also pan over this year and next.

Let's have a look at my progress on the Gorgeous Cosmetics Bronzer first.

Here's how it looked at the end of August:

And here's how it's looking now:

Yay to good progress!

I've been helped along because the damn thing keeps developing a crust that I have to remove, but it's still getting lots of use. Not only am I using it as a bronzer on my face and body, but I love it as a crease colour on the eyes and I've also been known to use it on my lower waterline as an eyeliner.

Next up, my Stila eyeshadows in Bare and Bliss. Here's where they were one month ago (Bare is the cream at the top and Bliss is the brown, bottom right):

And here's where they are now:

It's hard to see any progress on Bare because I haven't hit pan yet and the shade doesn't help (paler colours don't photograph as well), but I won't be surprised if I hit pan during October. I'm using this as my base eyeshadow and I'm also mixing it with Sandstone (below) to make a good brow shade.

Here's Sandstone:

I wasn't going to include Sandstone until later on, but since I'm using it daily now with Bare for my brows, I figured that I might as well. 

The only other Stila shade in my palette is Bubbly, and I'm not including that as part of Pan that Palette for the moment because it's not a shade I want to use every day (I prefer a more subtle highlight on the eyes for a daily look, which I'm currently getting from my Hourglass palette).

Now, for my new inclusions from Nars:

St Paul de Vence is such a rubbish duo - both the formula (sheer, dry, no pigment) and the colour (makes me look like I've had an allergic reaction around my eye area). The peach is super frosty and barely looks peach at all, just reflective.

Needless to say, these aren't getting used as eyeshadows - unless I'm mixing them with other colours. But the darker shade works well as a blush colour, and the peach I can use as a highlight on my face: it emphasises texture so I won't use it on days when I'm out, but for days when I'm kicking around at home, it doesn't matter. I can also use it as a collarbone highlight.

As for the paler side of Charade, this is a much better formula but it's still dry and sheer (so I can't eg use it under my lower lashline because it emphasises wrinkles there), and it's one of those 'nothing' colours that makes a great base or transition shade. I can also use it as a blush colour: it's a little flat on the cheeks but if I layer a wash of Radiant Light from my Hourglass palette over the top, it looks much better.

I can't wait to pan three out of four of my Nars duos, so I'll be moving the other shades in when I finish off my Stila eyeshadows and need replacements for them.

In sum

That's it! My apologies for the slightly choppy start to my Pan that Palette challenge - I hadn't expected to run into so many issues with older shadows crumbling etc - but I think I'm finally finding my stride now and know which shadows will make good subjects for this year's challenge and Pan that Palette 2017.

Do let me know if you're doing Pan that Palette and how you're finding it if so. Any tips would be most welcome: I'm planning on bringing in another, pre-made palette for the challenge next year and am still deciding which one to use - so if you have any ideas on which brands make shadows that are easiest to pan, I'd love to hear!

Speak soon x