Another May Beauty Balance

Yep, already. Though, to be fair, a few are declutters.

In my last beauty balance post, I had 34 items leaving my collection over what came in. The other day, Miss Butterfly informed me she needed a mascara. Since I’ve got some mascara for moments like this, I gave her one, which caused it to leave my collection. In that moment, I figured I’d better pull out my used up items so I didn’t forget to post.

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It was dark and rainy, so the photo is not fantastic. This is 6 more items leaving my collection, I am not counting the sachets but there is a hard to see lump of almost gone soap near them that I am counting. So, 40 items leaving my collection over what has entered it this year.

I used up a full Kiehl’s creamy eye treatment. This is a fine treatment, but I won’t repurchase. I love my belif one far more.

I was pretty close to being done with the hand cream from Morrocan oil. It has the typical morrocan oil scent. I have had this for some time now, it’s been hanging out in my hand bag, but I never seem to use it or even want to use it. So, I’d pulled it out to make certain I used it up. I used it once, and ended up with such an allergic reaction to it that I realized that I always felt ill when I used it, which is why I really never wanted to use it. I was associating the two things subconsciously, but not connecting them properly. I decluttered it to Miss Butterfly.

I also gave her a essence lash princess mascara. She said “This one transfers.” I said “Beggers can’t be choosers.” She said “Eh, I guess it’s fine, I can’t go anywhere anyway!”

There are also some cover FX glitter drops that I decluttered to her. I have made a point to try these out this month, just attempting to find some way of using them, and the reality is, I just can’t. They don’t fit in my routine, they go on patchy, they are too glittery to mix into foundation, they just are NOT for me.

Then there’s a wet n wild eyeshadow primer. I am closing in on finishing my mac paint pot as an eye primer and I wanted to see if this still worked for me so I could avoid purchasing a new one. I opened it up, it has both separated and stinks. It’s gone off, so this one headed into the trash.

And then there was the soap, a homemade bar of soap I used as a hand soap in the bathroom. It was licorice scented and I really loved it! The person who made it no longer makes soap, so it’s not a repurchase. It was the absolute last of its kind.

The two sachets I used very quickly, the estee lauder night repair serum that I like and will use if I can get my hands on it in a sample form but don’t purchase, and a new to me overnight sleeping moisturizer from dermalogica which smelled fantastic, but strong. I might consider repurchasing if I really wanted to treat myself but the reality is, I’d more likely spend less and use cerave instead.

There you have it, a few more items out of my collection. I do have some items from the ulta hair event which was announced right after I made my most recent hair purchases. Nevertheless, while a quarantine did help me reduce the use of many of my hair items for a time, I do go into the office these days, and am using a lot of hair products again. So, a bit of a stock up will be for the best, as there isn’t likely to be another hair event until partway through October.

Partners in Cream Update 4

It’s the 10th of the month, so it’s time for a partners in cream project pan update. I appreciate that I was able to make some progress on my items this month. Here’s where I was last month:

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I had rolled out the contour palette and finished the bare minerals primer. I also knew I’d finish the Skin & Co facial spray (I did, it was in yesterday’s empty post).

Here’s where I am now:

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Now, I’d rolled in the no poreblem primer last month assuming I’d be wearing a lot of powder foundation. The thing is, I actually found that I was using the powder foundation as a topper at work when the masks wore off the foundation on my nose. So, I didn’t really get as much use out of it as I had anticipated. I do plan to experiment with this a little more this month, so I am leaving it in the project. If I don’t make much progress over the upcoming month, I’ll roll it back out and find something else.

The Becca Backlight primer has gotten a lot of use, I really made some solid progress on this.

I made only the tiniest bit of progress on my facial spray, mostly because the vast majority of the month I was finishing up the previous one. We will get a better idea of how far I can go in a month next update.

I am using the it cosmetics matte cc cream quite a bit. I appreciate that it has spf, so on the days I am working from home I am extra protected from the sun when I walk the dogs at lunchtime.

And finally, I am adding a product. It’s really 3, but these are 3 perfume samples that are pretty close to being done. I’d been saving the black opium one for the April wedding we were to attend. Since that didn’t happen, I think I’ll just use it and get it out of my collection. I also have a chanel and a ralph lauren, both of which I like well enough but wouldn’t purchase. I expect it’ll take me 2 months to finish up, as I tend to rotate my perfumes this year. Last year I’d concentrate on one in particular until it was gone, but this year I want variety, and I’ve been getting that even though it takes me longer to use each item up.

In any case, quite decent progress on each item this month, I am looking forward to seeing how the month goes. I am in the office more now, so I have more reasons to wear makeup, but I have really been wearing it regularly anyhow.

TeamProjectPan update 1

This year is my whole face project pan, with #teamprojectpan created by the Beauty News youtube channel. The idea is that you pan an entire face of makeup, and if you like, you can switch items out quarterly.

Now, the first thing I wanted to do was work on all the little sample fragrances. Photo below is where I started and where I am now.

I went from 12 to 8!

I can already tell this post is going to be long. Tuck in, here we go with the rest of the face.

I think we can start with face palettes. I decided to work on my sleek cream contour palette since I hadn’t really touched it since I purchased it. And then also work on my hourglass face palette for blush/bronzer/highlight/finishing powder. Another set of where I was and where I am now.

On the cream contour I concentrated mostly on the darkest shade this time around and did manage to hit pan on it. Pretty good progress for a month. I also used the middle two shades, top and bottom, just a bit. I also used the hourglass palette a ton, almost daily. Naturally it is a bit more difficult to see progress there, but if you were to look closely between the two finishing powders, top left and middle, you can see clay pan between them now. So progress is being made! In the second photo is my clinique setting powder which despite being used daily does not show any measurable progress.

Next up a quick photo of the eyeliner progress. I am working on a greenish brown style sepia liner which I don’t love and a L’Oreal infallable nude liner which I like just fine.

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The boxes are my progress. Not much but measurable.

OK, now for the rest of the photos from last month for reference:

And where I now stand.

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I have made a bit of progress on the cover fx primer. The hourglass illusion skin tint is completely gone. I cut the package and got an extra 2 weeks use out of it, keeping it in a baggie to keep it from drying out. The wet n wild is so close to being gone that when I keep it on its side, doing so doesn’t even cover up the scrapes I’ve made with the wand. I can’t imagine I’ll get much more out of it this month.

It’s tough to see my white markings on the hourglass vanish stick foundation, but the tiniest bit of progress was made. The Maybelline age rewind concealer doesn’t show any more product in the container but I still seem to be getting some coverage out of the top so I am not calling it done yet. The bare minerals concealer has been use once or twice but I’ve concentrated on the age rewind instead.

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The Stila eyeshadow is gone, I took the stopper out and used up the remainder and now cannot get anymore out of it. There’s color in the container but I tried to show the side that you can see through. Below that is my clinique eyeshadow I am using to set my base, the pan in that is larger than last month.

The IT cosmetics universal eye pencil I used almost daily. The previous mark wore off, but if you look at the starting photo it was above the indentations in the cap and now it is below.

There’s two bite beauty products, my agave lip mask which I love and stays by my bedside for nighttime use, a bit of progress there. And then there’s my bite beauty amuse bouche lipstick sample size. I used more than half of that last month so I think it’ll be gone in the upcoming month. My other lip products are a nyx intense butter gloss and a smashbox liquid lipstick. There is absolutely no way to share the progress on those, so just know I have bene using them consistently but probably more consistently using the bite beauty lipstick pictured here.

I threw in a photo of my mac paintpot primer but no real progress is shown there. I feel like I won’t see progress until I hit pan. I also have my deva curl styling cream in the photo, a tiny bit of progress has been made. But, I use this only once or twice a week. The longer my hair is the longer I can go between washes. I am down to like twice a week now. And often I like to wash my hair, braid my hair, then day 2 hair is wavy. I do not use this styling product when I braid my hair as it is so smoothing it doesn’t allow the braids to hold as well as other products.

I failed to take a photo of the mary kay satin hands products because I literally never used them. Maybe this month.

Because I’ve finished a couple things or am close to finishing a couple things, I am rolling a few products in. Now, the photo is deceiving because these are all sample sizes. They look large but I assure you they are very small.

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I have two foundation samples. I already know I like the Make Up For Ever foundation as I worked through one of these samples last summer. I have never tried the Tarte amazonian clay foundation. I am also rolling in the tiny bang beauty eyeshadow palette. If I LIKE the palette I’ll try to pan it. If over this month I decide I don’t like it, I am going to give it to Miss Butterfly or one of her friends. I was able to rid my collection of a loose pigment I hated this way, many of her friends are clamoring for whatever I might allow them to take from my collection. I got rid of a makeup brush that I considered too scratchy that way as well, and this young lady was so happy she screeched.

So, that’s it for this month. I am feeling pretty good about this progress, I like how far I’ve come this month and I like concentrating on certain products. It makes early mornings easier when decisions are removed from the equation. I also feel like I am not currently trying to pan anything I particularly dislike, which is quite helpful as well. I mean, I could do without the universal brow pencil but it isn’t bad enough to just remove from my collection. Another two months with basically these products and then I get to consider a switch out. That’s exciting to look forward to as well!

Are you doing team project pan? If so, please let me know so I can follow along!

 

 

TeamProjectPan Intro

Happy new year! New year, new project pan!

Are you all ready for a full year project pan? I think I am up for it this year. Especially this one in particular. Teamprojectpan has been started by the women of Beauty News on youtube. They are really my favorite youtubers to watch, not just beauty news but also their personal channels. I found them originally because I was interested in project panning and stayed for the makeup news.

So, an overview of the project-this is a full face project pan, and it’s a rolling project pan.  When I finish with an item I get to roll another in. And it just keeps going all year. Now, quarterly we can switch things up, and I think this is a great idea. That means that whatever makeup I tend to use seasonally can be rolled in during the quarterly change.

For my personal goal, I want to just kind of see how much of my collection I can work my way through this year. I have built a nice collection now and it’s time to concentrate on using it. For pressed powder products specifically, I will just be looking to hit pan on them and then roll them out and roll something in. If that even happens before a quarterly switch up. I am not convinced it will.

So, I’ve pulled out and documented the items I’ll be concentrating on. Let’s start with perfume. Quite frankly, I want to work my way through ALL my tiny little perfume samples.

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This is all of them lined up on my window. If I do not like one after using it, I am allowed to toss it. Otherwise, I need to use it up. And, the fun little thing I get to do once ALL of these are gone? That’ll be purchasing a regular size perfume of my choosing. A nice little goal. I am actually really loving Ariana Grande’s Moonlight. I spray it each and every time I am out shopping and I never tire of it. I get quite excited over that perfume and I suspect that’ll be my first perfume purchase. But, I can also switch that up if something in that above lineup really wins me over.

On to the other items.

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I have this sleek cosmetics cream contour palette. I bought it when I had no clue what I was doing, and as you can see, I haven’t used it much. So, I think I am going to work my way through that. I also have the hourglass holiday palette because I am a sucker for hourglass. I’ll be using this as my blush/bronzer/highlight. So this palette is to cover all three categories.

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I’ve got both of my Mary Kay satin hands products rolling in from my last project. I am adding, for hair care, the Deva Curl styling cream. This works great if I want my hair to lay sleek and flat. It’s an airless pump so my progress will be headed upward. In the winter, this is great at keeping flyaways and static at bay.

For my primer, I am starting with my cover FX blurring primer. As you can see, I’ve already used a fair bit of it and I would like to continue with it at this point.

Below that is my Clinique setting powder. This is a rollover from a previous project as well, as you can see. Progress is being made but I am ready to finish it right up.

And up in the corner are two almost finished concealers. I figured I might as well pull them both in since they are both so close to being done. One is Maybelline age rewind and the other is bare minerals.

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For eyeshadow, I’ve pulled in a stila glitter shadow. This one is starting to dry up though it’s less than a year old. I had to remove the stopper to get the product out recently. Now is a great time to finish it up. I also left in the Clinique eyeshadow I am using to set my primer base because it’s pretty close to being done and I want it out of my collection. Unlike most powder products, this is one I want to actually finish.

There are three foundations at play here, and that might seem excessive, but it really is not. The wet n wild photofocus and the hourglass illusion are so ridiculously close to being gone it is pointless to bring one in and not the other. The hourglass vanish stick is only being used as additional coverage under a foundation that is a shade match, so I am keeping it in so I keep working at it even though progress is slow.

I have added my mac paint pot as my eyeshadow primer. And the other few products are an IT cosmetics universal eyebrow shade, a bite beauty agave lip mask, and a bite beauty lipstick. I somehow failed to pull in the other two lip items I am planning to use, but it’s hard to see progress on them anyhow. They are new. One is a Smashbox liquid lip and the other is the nyx intense butter gloss I received in the advent calendar.

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And finally, I am adding two liners to the project. I tried to pan the style sepia over the summer. I didn’t finish. But, I’ve still been working at it, and recently a large chunk of it crumbled. So, that really brought me further along. It’s a pretty small liner now and I’d like to finish it up. I am also adding the L’Oreal infallable liner in nude for my water line. I found a good alternative to this though it’s higher end, and instead of setting this aside, letting it dry out, and then not getting use out of it I have added it here so I can move it out of my collection.

And that’s it! It’s a pretty big list, but I really enjoy the idea of rolling through a full face of items. That feels doable.

And, if you’ve read through this far, I do wish you all the best in the new year. And hope that you are able to achieve all your goals as well!