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Monday, May 2, 2016

1st Project 10 Pan of 2016 Finale!

Drumroll please - my first Project 10 Pan of the year (intro post here) has now officially drawn to a close! Can you tell how excited I am? Funnily enough, in April (my fourth month of doing this Project), I started feeling less bored by using the same products day in and day out and was again just enjoying them for their quality and dependability. Anyway... onto my progress!
Above is a flat lay photo from my last update two months ago, at the halfway mark (read my update post here). I had some good progress at that point but was feeling a bit anxious about a couple of products, especially the Stila eyeliner and the Koh Gen Do foundation, which I barely made a dent in despite using it every time I wore make-up. And here are my products at the end of the Project:
Woohoo - 3 products completely used up out of 10 and goals hit on another 4! Let's discuss all the items in detail:

1. Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation in PK-1: My goal was to use half of the bottle, and I got so incredibly close that I'm counting this as an achievement; especially considering the amount of usage I had these past two months compared to January-February. I still really love this base; I can just count on it to match my skintone exactly and look fresh and natural on the skin. My favorite method of application to get the most coverage was to stipple it on with a buffer brush (I use the Real Techniques one).
 2. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light: So my progress on this product has remained rather slow, despite very frequent usage, but I think you can definitely see a larger dip now where I was concentrating my brush. I really enjoy this finishing powder, but I'm now ready to retire it to a drawer and start using something else on the daily.
3. Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in Bluefin: Completely used up! If you follow my yearly make-up empties count on Instagram, you may have seen that I finished this eyeliner about two weeks ago, which made me super happy. I definitely noticed that the last week or two of usage, Bluefin got very dry and even flaky, but I managed to use it up by applying it with an angled brush mostly to tightline. In my experience, eyeliner pencils with microglitter dry out much faster than regular cream/ matte finish.
4. NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base: Done and dusted! It's my favorite eye primer I've tried so far, but this thing is definitely dead now; I used as much as I was able to get out. There's still product at the very bottom of the tube where the wand doesn't reach it, but even if I had one of those handy dandy spatulas to dig it out, it's too dried out now anyway. It's okay - I definitely got my money's worth out of it.
5. NYX Powder Blush in Taupe: That's quite some pan, am I right? What happened (as you can kind of see in the close-up as well) is that I actually hit pan on this contouring powder four times in different areas. For whatever reason, the grid pattern on the powder is much harder pressed and thus more difficult to wear down than the areas in between. The grid lines were actually so hard that they crumbled and flaked off between the areas of clear pan. Anyway; at this point, I'm considering this item well used and ready to leave my collection. I've actually had this product since 2009, and even though I loved it at first, it's no longer a favorite and I'm just not comfortable keeping it around any longer.
6. Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfector in Rose Shimmer: My initial goal was to use this gloss up completely, but I think that was completely unrealistic given the volume of the tube. However, I did make good progress (and finally figured out a way of tracking it: the upper line is from middle of March, the bottom is from two days ago. The tube is also slimmer now from squeezing). My favorite way of using this Lip Perfector is actually more of a balm than a gloss as I have trouble layering it on top of lipsticks due to the super creamy and slippy formula. If anything, it works better applied in a thin layer under another product - exactly like prepping your lips with a balm. I'll try to make more progress on it before the end of the year but we shall see, I have a lot of lip products to go through.
7. Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie: Finished! I wore this lip color probably about 90% of the time, and especially at work. I used up another shade (Peach Parfait) last year, and I think these (now discontinued) Lip Butters are relatively quick to get through. I'm glad to have another lipstick out of my stash, especially that I have other similar shades of pink I can replace Berry Smoothie with.
8. Revlon Superlustrous Lipstick in Cherries in the Snow: There's been steady progress on this bright fuschia red but in all honesty, there was no way I was going to finish even my remaining half of the tube in the span of four months, unless I was wearing it every day. I think from now on, I will no longer be including very bright or vampy lip colors in my panning projects. Yes, having those vivid shades in my projects this time around as well as last year (in my Project Make A Dent 2015) did push me out of my comfort zone a little bit and empowered me to wear a bright lip without a special occasion, but the thing is, I want to enjoy all the different shades of brights and vamps in my stash and swap them out according to my mood, not be forced to wear the same one for months on end. If that means I'll never be getting completely through those bright colors and some will just expire, I'm okay with that - as long as I'm liking and somewhat regularly using all the ones remaining in my collection.
9. Zoya Nail Polish in Jem: I'm calling this nail polish the one fail of my Project Pan. I used it one more time for a pedi since the last update, so I don't think you can even see any more progress. I don't think I'm capable of using the same shade of varnish often enough to see significant progress, unless it's a mini bottle (like in my last year's Project Pan). Lesson learnt for future panning challenges.
Progress after two months of usage, at the beginning of March.
10. theBalm Nude'Tude Eyeshadow Palette: I'm very happy with my progress - I hit pan on three eyeshadows! I also have more significant dips in nearly all the other shades, with some exceptions. I've come to the conclusion that I actually dislike quite a few of the darker shades in this palette, as they all come out the same shade of muddy grey charcoal once blended out on the eyes; I'm talking Sophisticated, Silly and Sleek in particular. I won't be focusing on these three from now on.
Progress after four months of usage.
I'm planning to separate my Pan That Palette challenge from my Project Pans going forward, so you'll see my bimonthly updates in separate posts. My goal for the next two months is to concentrate on the lighter shades from the bottom row, especially Snobby, Stand-offish and Schitzo.
Angled view of my most used shadows from the palette to show the depth of the pans.
I'm satisfied with the results of this project; I consider 7 out of 10 challenging products a good achievement. I have already selected and started using products for my next four-month Project Pan, so be on the look out for the introduction post in a couple days. How are your projects going? Do you have any significant make-up empties to report?

12 comments:

  1. Monika, fantastic job!!! You must feel v. proud.. it is no small feat to use up cosmetics (which I have a sneaking feeling all along is designed NOT to be used up). My "mini" use up project, as I told you on the comment several months back, is going along well, I've been trying to use up mini pots of foundation samples I got here and there. I think I'm down to the last two small pots I've got from Sephora (one I think is Dior BB, another is Cover FX, way too thick but works wonder for substitute of concealer). I look forward to your new Project Pan!

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    1. Claire, I think you're absolutely right - when I look at the size of some blushes or highlighters for example, and the recommended shelf life, there's no way anyone could use them up in that time frame, unless they were a make-up artist using it constantly! Those mini foundation samples last for weeks for me usually; they're very generous at Sephora!

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  2. I have actually finished several Clarins balms, so you will get there. And also that NYX powder. I also have that thebalm palette but I never even use it, I should probably :)

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    1. Haha, thank you - I'm sure I could get there if I just stuck to using that one gloss consistently. But you do get so much more in those squeezy tubes compared to doe foot applicator glosses!

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  3. Amazing job! You've increased my lust for that KGD foundation.

    I can't quite bring myself to do the whole "spatula it out" and "cut open the tube" methods for most products; something about it icks me out.

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    1. You know, maybe for some newer, expensive products, it can be worth to go to the trouble - but in my experience, even removing a stopper makes the product messier and more difficult to use. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to cut a foundation tube open; there'd be product leaking everywhere! I'm too much of a neat freak for that.

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  4. I loved seeing this progress. The pan on that NYX is glorious and I think it's the perfect time to bid it farewell. I'm still swimming in makeup despite downsizing and this makes me want to pan eerrrrrrything.

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  5. I used up the eye liner I selected for my Project dent. I'm still using the Hourglass powder, and I think I see pan! Mascaras dried up, so binned, and there's a lipstick that I'm about to use up. I don't think I can ever hit pan on blushes and eye shadows though! You're a star, Monika!

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  6. Wow, that NYX speaks dedication! I actually have an eyeshadow palette with some serious panning but it overall didn't help with my stash size. Well, I have a backup for it now I want a backup for my backup (it's LE...).

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  7. Wow Monika! I'm impressed and inspired how your Nude Tude Palette and your Nyx Taupe look like. It's a pity that Sophisticated, Silly and Sleek look the same when they are blended out because these are the shades I would use of this palette since I don't like any light shades on my lids. Did you use them (nearly) every day? I also like your idea of marking the bottle from time to time.

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    1. Thank you, Lila! <3 I think that people's preferences for shades in the Nude Tude are entirely dependent on skin tones; on my very fair skin, the lightest shades are the easiest to wear, while the darkest ones are just impossible to use unless it's a very, very small amount in a specific area. I wear make-up 4-5 times a week on average, and yes, I wear this palette every time I do my make-up. It can be a bit boring sometimes but I think over time, I actually got used to reaching for just one palette, and it's not really a struggle anymore!

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    2. I think you're right with your skin tone theory. I am also quite fair, but I don't like wearing shades which are lighter than my skin tone or do not stand out.
      I have tried to use a palette for several weeks, but I got pretty bored :( Perhaps my palette was too small and less versatile than your Nude Tude palette.

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