little white truths

Back in January, I wrote a makeup inventory post that included my panning goals for 2017 (see here), and I updated those goals in March (see here).

Now that we're nearing the end of the year, I wanted to reflect on those goals and work out whether I met them. Yes the panning year is still on-foot, but I'm so close to finishing off Project Pan 2017 and I've already closed down Pan that Palette for the year - so it feels like a good time to see how I've done. Looking forward!

So without further ado...

Bronzers

At the beginning of the year, my goal was to finish two bronzers and hit pan on a third. I've done better than that so yay! 

I finished one from theBalm and another from Gorgeous Cosmetics earlier in the year, and I've since finished not only my Stila bronzer but also a powder mini from Hourglass and a liquid mini from Nars. Woot woot!

I was able to do this because the three larger bronzers already had good progress before I panned them, and of course mini products are a lot easier to pan so it's no surprise that I was able to knock those out too. I have also hit pan on another full-sized bronzer from Urban Decay, although it's such a tiny bit of pan (I drilled down to achieve it) so I'm not really counting that.

So that's five bronzers I've finished this year, two being minis. Huzzah!

Blushes

I'd aimed to finish two and hit pan on a third, and by March I'd already finished two so I thought I might be able to do another one. 

Since then I've managed to finish a smaller pan of blush via Pan that Palette, as well as theBalm's Hot Mama - although admittedly that's because Hot Mama was so old that it crumbled a lot and also didn't adhere well to the face/eyes so I had to reapply it when I used it.

I also hit decent pan in Becca's Bolero, and I hit pan in two of the blushes from my Hourglass three-pan palette - but I'm not really counting the Hourglass blushes because I focused my brush in the paler parts of those pans (the swirls of Ambient Lighting Powder, as opposed to the swirls of blush pigment) so I wouldn't call it 'real' pan.

In total, I've finished four powder blushes (two being smaller) and I've hit solid pan in a third full-size. I've exceeded my goal here : )

Powder foundations

I wanted to finish two full sizes and I was worried about those because they were 27g each in size (yikes). I'm happy to say that I got there eventually, but gosh it took a long time! 

I also managed to finish a travel-sized powder foundation, so that's three in total.

Liquid bases

By this I mean anything that falls within the liquid foundation, BB/CC cream and tinted moisturiser category.

My goal was to finish four and I'd already finished three by March, so I set the bar higher and aimed to kick out two more tinted moisturisers and two more foundations by the end of the year.

I've done it, and exceeded it: I managed to finish two tinted moisturisers and four foundations. Huzzah! So that's nine base products in total. I was able to do this because the six products I've panned since March were already showing good progress by the time I started panning them.

Primers

Somehow primers have become my largest category this year (they've even beat the number of blushes I own, blushes being my Achilles Heel when it comes to makeup), so this category needs some serious work.

My goal was to finish four (whether full size, travel size or mini), and I've finished four full sizes, one travel size and two deluxe samples - so I've exceeded my goal and finished seven. Huzzah! 

Concealers

I wanted to finish three and I'd already finished two by March so I moved this goal up to four.

I'm pleased to report that I met my goal, so I've finished four full-sized concealers in 2017.

Liquid highlighters

I wanted to finish two and by March I'd already finished one, and I didn't think I would get through any more than two but in the end I finished four, including two full-sized Becca Shimmering Skin Perfectors. Yay! 

Plus I finished two deluxe samples, so I've exceeded my goal and finished four in total.

Powder highlighters

I wanted to finish three of these and by March I'd already knocked out two so I increased my goal to four (whether full size or smaller). 

In the end I finished three full-sizes (note that I finished half each of theBalm's Cindy-Lou and Mary-Lou, and I re-pressed the remains into a single pan so I'm saying that I 'finished' one full-size of those because I technically did: I think that's fair ; )), as well as a travel-size Manna Kadar highlighter via Pan that Palette.

So I did finish four. Yay!

Correctors

My aim was to finish one, and because I have about five uses left of my Becca corrector, I'm including that in this tally because I'll have finished it in 2017 and that was my goal.

So I've met my goal in this category.

Cream face products

I wanted to finish three and I managed to pan two cream blushes and a cream contour duo, so I achieved my goal. Yay to that. I don't use cream face products so it's great to now have zero in my collection.

Cream eyeshadows/primers

I wanted to finish three, and I've already panned three (two dedicated eye primers and one cream eyeshadow) and the fourth - another cream eyeshadow - will be finished within a couple of weeks so we can say that I've exceeded my goal because I'll have kicked out four in 2017. Yay : )

Face palettes

I finished my Hourglass Ambient Lighting Wardrobe earlier in the year and that was my only goal for this category so I've met my goal here too.

Eyeshadows

I wanted to finish twelve eyeshadows and hit pan on six more. In the end I finished twenty-four, which really surprised me - although many of those were getting old and crumbly, and some were also smaller pans so they weren't that hard to finish.

Still, I'm really pleased with this category and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do next year!

Lip products

I wanted to finish twelve and by March I'd already finished ten, so I increased my goal to twenty. Note this includes lipsticks, crayons, lip balms, lip glosses and lip liners - so basically anything that you apply to your lips.

Going by my last panning tally post and also counting the few I've finished since then, I've managed to pan twenty-five - but I do know that I've finished more than this because I've knocked out some outside my panning projects so I may well have panned closer to thirty. Yay!

I find lip products the easiest to pan, and I do also use bad lip balms on my feet (which are very dry), so that's helped with my tally.

In sum

That's all from me! I'm super happy to say that I've met my 2017 panning goals in every category - and not only that, I've exceeded my goals in most categories. Happy days.

Also, I have a feeling that I might have missed a few products (ie, the ones that weren't in panning projects but were finished outside of those), and because I can't be bothered going through absolutely every empties post I've done this year to check - keeping in mind that I do two or three empties posts each month - I can't confirm that my above numbers are exactly correct, but I can say that I've finished at least as many as I've said above.

It's been a good year : )

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x

I only started using this product a few weeks ago, but I wanted to jump online and post about it now because I love it and I can't wait to sing its praises.

Also, it's not one of those products that's eg designed to fade age spots, so you don't need to use it for a long time to see if it does anything. It's just a balm that's meant to soothe irritated skin, so you can tell almost straight away if it works.

It does work. It works well.

La Roche-Posay claims/product details:

• A multi-repairing balm that aims to repair sensitive and irritated skin
• Contains active ingredients that favour skin recovery and soothe dry, irritated areas
• Formulated with panthenol and madecassoside, a skin restorative botanical ingredient derived from centella asiatica
• Panthanol (provitamin B5), soothes irritation and redness, while the soothing properties of madecassoside rapidly aid skin function
• Also contains moisturising lipids to protect the skin while it's vulnerable
• Its rich, soothing texture and antibacterial agents provide ultimate skin relief and protection
• Non greasy, non sticky, dry finish
• Paraben free, fragrance free, lanolin free and white-mark free
• Dermatologically tested and suitable for sensitive skin
• Suitable for the entire family: babies, children and adults
• Can be used for: skin irritations in adults, children and babies; cracks and rough areas; infant redness; dry patches and chafing; intense dryness; superficial burns 
• Can be applied to the body, face and lips
• RRP $15.95 AUD for 40ml, but do shop around

Verdict

This is a brilliant product and I'm so glad I found it. It was given to me by my mum: she received a showbag at a football game (it contained things like tissues, sunscreen and an after-sun mist) and she passed the whole thing on to me because she wasn't going to use it. This was in the bag. Thank golly!

It's a white cream and yes it's a little thick and emollient, but it doesn't have the same balm-like texture I was expecting, given the title. It also spreads and absorbs well - while still leaving a slight, protective barrier on the skin - so I'm not sure that I would even call this a balm because it doesn't behave like any other balm I've tried.

It doesn't have a fragrance although I can detect a very slight, cream-like scent (of course: it's a cream), so I think it should suit those who can't tolerate fragrance in their skincare or who just don't like scented products.

I've been using this overnight for about three weeks now because I've been using some acids and chemical exfoliants - and I've probably been going a bit overboard with those, silly me - so my skin has been a little sensitised and drier than usual. This balm brought my skin back into balance within a few days: I couldn't believe it!

Funnily enough, before this product I was using another balm from Alpha-H and also a thick Alpha-H cream that's meant to be repairing, and this unassuming little La Roche-Posay balm has blown those out of the park. And it's so cheap!

As soon as I apply this, my skin feels very soothed and comfortable. Any dryness or sensitivity I might be feeling vanishes, and after using this every night for three weeks, my skin couldn't be in better shape - so I think it does have a cumulative effect in the sense that it not only targets any discomfort, but it also makes your skin more tolerant and less prone to sensitivity overall.

Indeed, my skin feels so happy when I wake up in the morning and I'm not used to that: with dry skin, I almost always wake up feeling a little dry and tight, but with this, I can almost pretend that my skin is normal. Hallelujah.

Maybe I can start using even more acids now... Yeah ok. Calm down Jane.

On the claims: yes this repairs irritated, vulnerable and sensitive skin; yes it soothes dry skin and targets redness; yes it restores and moisturises; and yes it has a non greasy and non sticky finish.

As for how you can use this, I can't speak to whether it's good for things like chafing and superficial burns because I haven't had anything like that recently (touch wood), but I absolutely agree that it's perfect for intense dryness, cracks and rough areas, and that it works well for dry skin on babies.

Now that I've been using this every night for three weeks and have brought my skin back to a happy place, I'll probably give it a rest and save it for use on the nights when I've used a strong acid or chemical exfoliant - but to be honest, I'd be quite happy to keep using it indefinitely because it's done so much for me. I do want to ration my tube, though, so I don't need to buy a new one!

In sum, I so rarely say 'buy it; you need it' with any product because I reckon some people say that too often (and really, how much do we really 'need' anything?), but if you have dry or sensitised skin - or even if you have normal skin and need something soothing to apply after peels/acids/exfoliants or just being out in the sun - then I think almost everyone would benefit from having this on hand. And because it's so reasonably priced, I'm happy to tell you to run straight to the chemist. Today.

I've given this an HG tag. It works, it's cheap and it's blown the other repairing treatments I've tried out of the water. I've seen that there's also a hand cream and a lip treatment in this line so I'm absolutely going to buy those next time that Priceline has one of its big skincare sales.

Love.