Only two more months left on this project, hard to imagine I’ve stuck with it for an entire year!

First up, fragrances. I only managed to finish one this month. This is in part because I’ve been sick for a week and a half. When I am sick, I run the danger of associating a fragrance with being sick. So, I tend to just not use them at all until I feel much better.

I finished the Atelier sample. This one is the Vanille insensee. I liked it well enough, and thought I liked it quite a lot until I got sick while wearing it. So, that’s a no for me now. I believe that the Alien sample has just a spray or two left, so I am close on that one. And I did use Black Opium from time to time this month as well.

Let’s do palettes next.

There is the tiniest bit of progress on the darkest contour shade of the sleek palette. I have used the contour and bronzer on the tarte palette very consistently. I’ve used the blush and highlighter far less consistently.

The Mary Kay exfoliator has been used, a bit of progress made. I finished the Mac foundation completely, and you’ll see I’ve substituted in my IT cosmetics illuminating CC cream. I like it paired with the Born This Way foundation, so they’ll both see use this way. I did not make discernable progress on the born this way foundation, I’ve used it perhaps 3 times. The Sin & Co finishing spray did get used, though I think I’ve failed to use it for the past week. I need to get back in the habit. Then we have 3 primers. The No Poreblem has not been used, I’ve concentrated on the Becca and the Porefessional.

I feel like good progress has been made in these photos. Starting with the tarte blush, I have worn away the product around the one side. That’s great progress. I have used half the body butter. I have used the Bare Minerals concealer very consistently, and it’s pretty tough to get product out of at this point. I cannot seem to remove the stopper, so once I really can’t scrape it anymore, it’ll be done. The Thrive Causemetics brightener has been used but there’s no progress that is visible. I finished the Benefit Dandelion Twinkle highlighter completely. The AOA Studios powder is looking cruddy on my face. The weather has changed and I don’t have nearly as oily skin. As such, I am rolling out and not adding another powder. I still don’t see pan in my mac paintpot. The IT cosmetics brow pencil is still going strong, but I think I could use it up by the end of the year. I hit pan in my wet n wild eyeshadow. And finally, lip products. I finished the nudestix. I made progress on the bite lipstick, just a bit. And I made good progress on the MUFE one. But sadly, that one has completely turned, so I have to toss it. I’ve only worn the ofra liquid lip once.

And that’s that, another quick run down of my project pan progress. I am quite pleased with it overall this month.

So here we are at the beginning of September with another team project pan update. There’s been some nice progress this month but I am at that point where I am glad there’s a refresh next month.

Let’s start with the sample fragrances. I can tell you that this category didn’t do well at all this month because more samples came in than left.

Instead of 8 or fewer samples, I now have 9. And honestly, the samples seem to have gotten larger. But I am still working at them and will continue to do so.

I think we’ll get my face palette out of the way. I am working on my Too Faced natural face palette. It’s perfect for this time of the year when I really have darker skin due to having been on vacation. For example, I am generally a mac nw13 but since vacation, I’ve been nw18. The Natural Face palette is one that works so nicely at an nw18. It’s finicky at nw13. I have to be very careful not to overdo it and the highlighters are right out.

I didn’t take a photo last month, so the photo on the left is from 2 months ago. (For the record, I haven’t used the sleek cream contour palette at all, which is why I didn’t take a photo. It’s been over 2 months since I’ve touched it.) I’ve worn away a good bit of the pattern on Sunny Honey. It may not be apparent, but I’ve also got a good dip going on Starlight and nice progress in the other highlighter as well. I’ve used both blushes quite a bit but naturally, those take a long time to see progress on. I’ve also used tropic like it’s hot every single day. This is one of those really wonderful face palettes with a ton of value for money. I think I may have gotten this one at quite a discount, and a little goes a really long way. I love this palette and I am so happy it is in my collection. I will use it one more month and then it’ll go away until next summer.

The rest of the items. Last month I posted progress on lip liners. I didn’t do so this month because I didn’t use either of them at all. Probably not even once. So, no point in taking a photo.

So, I added in a face exfoliator, and I made progress but not much. Putting this in my project pan actually made me want to use up a different one first, which is what I did. The becca primer had a lot of progress, though I think there really may have been an air bubble. I got a little of the IT cosmetics cc cream worked through, but the largest progress by far is on my mac prolongwear foundation. I am going to keep after that one as it’s too dark for me most of the year. Still looks great and it is by far my favorite foundation. Sticks to my face so nicely! The Verb texture cream I am using daily but only a little. So, progress is being made, but it’s not fast. And, since I finished my laura mercier setting powder, I am rolling in another, it’s AOA studios setting powder. I like it fine. The container is pretty small, but it’s a nice full container.

Let’s first talk about what I used up. The eyeshadow that I was using to set my primer is gone, the bite beauty lip mask is gone, and the hourglass lip crayon is gone. I am not rolling in a new lippie, I’ll concentrate on the two that remain this month. I am rolling in another setting eyeshadow. My paintpot is still being used almost daily, still haven’t hit pan but I am working on the sides now. The it cosmetics eyebrow pencil is the bane of my existence. Who would have known that one sample size product would last me an entire year of almost daily use? For real, it’ll be a surprise if it is gone at the end of the year. But I continue plugging away at it. The benefit highlighter I made extremely minimal progress on. I’ve been concentrating instead on my face palette. This highlighter will remain in the project until it is gone though, it’s so close. And, finally, I am adding something in. I am adding in my coola setting spray with sunscreen. I think this is a gimmicky product so I just want to use it right up and move it out of my collection. Thankfully it tends to disappear quickly so I don’t really think it’ll take too long.

I am already very much looking forward to next month when I get to roll out products I am bored with and roll in new things. We are also close enough to the end of the year where I am looking into what I’ll do for project pans next year. I really love this year-long one, but I think I will try something new next year to change it up. I am also looking forward to autumn and autumn colors and vampy lipsticks and so on. I love the change in seasons every season, and changing makeup colors to go right with that is so much fun. Cool-toned eyeshadow palettes and dark lips and shawls, I am so eager to enjoy all of that!

I have to admit that the quarterly refresh on this year-long project pan is absolutely what holds the project together. I definitely begin to get antsy about 2 months into a set of products, and what carries me through is knowing that in a month I’ll be able to change out everything I am bored with.

So, first off, no change on fragrance samples, there’s nothing to roll in.

My Cover FX setting powder remains in this quarter. At this point, I am adding in a primer and a hair care item, and also switching out my foundation. The primer I am going to work on this quarter is the becca ever matte primer. I’ve had this in my stash for about a year but never tried it. If I don’t like it at the end of the month, I’ll declutter. I think this is a fair rule for something I’ve never tried before.

The hair item I am adding is Verb Sea texture cream. I like this a little bit, but not much. I can use it about once a hair wash cycle, typically on second-day hair. After that, I need other products to keep my hair looking nice.

The foundation is the IT cosmetics matte cc cream. I plan to combine this with another foundation in my stash, so it may be slow going but I am happy to be able to work on it.

I’ve decided not to bother with adding a concealer. I have only 3 anyhow, and I don’t really need to pan them.

I am, however, adding a facemask this time. I have this glamglow supermud facemask sample and I’d like to get it used up. I only use this in my Tzone and only in the hotter months. So, now is the time! There’s not terribly much left but I haven’t been using it at all so I feel like throwing it in this quarter will help me remember to get it used up and out of my collection. After all, I have plenty of face masks, and plenty of mud masks I enjoy more than this one.

I am adding in my Too Faced Natural Face palette for this quarter. I love these tones on my face in the summer in particular. The Sleek Contour Palette remains. I doubt I’ll hit pan on anything in the Too Faced palette, but I am eager to get some steady use on it. Since it has two blushes, I won’t roll in a separate blush this quarter.

I am keeping my bite beauty agave lip treatment, I am keeping my mac paint pot, and I am keeping my IT cosmetics eyebrow pencil.

For lip products, I am going to add in my orange NYX liquid suede lipstick. It’s a great summer shade and I like the formula well enough. For a bullet lipstick, I am choosing my hourglass sample. It’s a fantastic nude color and will go beautifully with anything I wear. And, since it gives me a slightly sore throat feeling that happens with many lipsticks, I want to use it up and get it out of my collection. I am also adding in a nudestix matte lip pencil. I don’t like the formula on this all that much, but it’s a pretty warm toned color and I would like to get it used up and out of my stash.

I’ve added a highlighter I’ve been working on panning on the down-low. As you can see, I am almost done with it. It is benefit dandelion twinkle and it was one of my first highlighters. I really like this one but since I depotted it, it doesn’t have a proper place in my collection and it’s so close to being done! I also added an eyeshadow I’ve been panning on the down-low. That’s a Morphie shade, a cream matte, and I’ve been using it to set my base. I think I could get both of these used up this quarter.

And finally I am adding in a sample size eyeshadow primer sachet. Since I am finding it relatively irritating to keep sachets around, I figure I can get this used up this quarter and then continue on with my mac paint pot.

I am keeping my MUFE lip liner in the project, but I am adding a more appropriately colored liner for my NYX  lip cream and nudestix lip items. And, that’s a NYX item as well, NYX Suede liner in stockholm. It’s an orangier toned lip liner than the MUFE so I think it’ll be appropriate to add in this quarter.

And, that’s it. My quarterly refresh is now squared away and I can get started on all of these items. You may notice I didn’t choose a colored shadow to work on this quarter. This is entirely because I am so enjoying my 3 color challenge each week and I don’t think I’d make much progress on one.

I’ve just finished another month of work on my year-long team project pan. This is the point at which I get to roll in new products as a seasonal refresh. I am eager to do that! But, because I’ll be doing a refresh, I’ll split this into two posts. Today we’ll just look at where I am after this past month. This was a really good finishing month! I am tempted to imagine that many products need 6 months consistent use to finish up, when in my collection. There are many things I was so eager to remove from my collection that I didn’t save them, rather added them directly to my beauty balance posts and then let them go.

As you can see, I used up two perfume samples this month.

I finished up the sample of Coco Chanel Mademoiselle perfume, which I have always really enjoyed. I used to wear it regularly in my 20s, and while it’s not one I really want to own again, I certainly loved the scent during the time I was working through the sample. I also used up the Versace Bright Crystal. This one was easy to use because the scent did not stay with me all day. I ended up putting it in my handbag and refreshing it midday since I couldn’t get it to stick around.

Thankfully there’s nothing rolling in for the fragrance this month, I did not get any fragrance samples because I didn’t really order anything online to receive any samples. This is a great relief to me.

I finished up the cover fx blurring primer. There was soooo much left in the container once I cut it that it took me more than half the month to finish. I really enjoyed this primer so I didn’t struggle at all to keep using it almost daily over almost 6 months of use.

Deva Curl styling cream-I was so eager to get this all used up, but when I was finished, I struggled to find another product that really tamed down the frizz like this did. So, despite the fact I never would have imagined it, this might be a someday repurchase. Not now though, I still have quite a few hair products to get through.

I finished up my Charlotte Tilbury setting powder sample. I ended up scraping it and crushing it and adding it to my cover FX setting powder container as it was not useable once that pan in the sample became too large.

I have been quite enjoying the cover FX setting powder and progress has continued on that as well.

I made steady progress on the IT cosmetics illuminating CC cream, but it didn’t end up showing when I tried to mark it. I have used this almost daily except for while on vacation. I made no progress on the bare minerals powder foundation or serum concealer.

I am rolling out the IT cosmetics cc cream and I am rolling out both bare minerals products. I’ll need to also choose a new hair product and primer. The only thing that stays is the cover FX setting powder.

I made a bit of progress on my sleek contour palette, even hitting side pan, and a nice amount of progress on my cover FX palette. I have decided that finishing powders are absolutely for me, I love how they make the rest of the powder face products look seamless and blended together. But, I am rolling out the cover FX palette. I’ll leave the sleek palette and continue to use it.

I made so little progress on the liquid lipstick. Steady progress on the tarte amazonian clay blush, steady progress on the IT cosmetics brow pencil, and steady progress on the mac paint pot. I barely used the bite beauty lip mask, I just don’t need it right now. I also barely touched the flower beauty lipstick in coral crush or the peach colored eyeshadow. The only things that will stay next month from this batch is the mac paint pot, the lip mask, and the it cosmetics eyebrow pencil.

And finally, we have my MUFE artist color pencil that I’ve been making some progress on.

The progress was minimal. To be honest, I haven’t been using any lip pencils lately. It’s been one step too much. But, I guess you can see a spoiler that I plan to roll in another one in the project refresh.

It’s been a steady progress type of month, and one where many larger items got finished up after almost 6 months of use. I am very very eager to do my project refresh though, I want to be using some other items! 3 months on color products is definitely pushing my boredom limit.

Are you working on a team project pan? Do let me know, I definitely want to come check it out!

I will just warn ahead of time that this isn’t going to be some fantastic progress month. I did a lot of testing of makeup this month while getting ready for the wedding. The week leading up to the wedding I barely wore makeup. During the days I was wearing makeup, it wasn’t the project pan items. I was also attempting to finish up some sample size items for the beauty balance, leaving me using project pan items even less than usual. I am sure next month will be more effective.

It was, however, lovely and refreshing to have gotten an opportunity to refresh and change out some items at the end of last month. That is really a fantastic way to renew interest in the project.

Let’s start with all the little sample size fragrances. I did use a fragrance this month but then added two more in, so that’s not exactly progress. I currently have 10 little bottles of fragrance.

I’ve been concentrating on the Omnia and it’s pretty close to being done. It is a nice fragrane that does not last through the day for me. If I thought to put it in my handbag and reapply at lunchtime, it would already be gone. But I don’t do that, I use what I keep at work instead.

Last month’s photos above. I’ve used both palettes a bit, the finishing powder in the cover FX palette in particular is developing quite a dip. I bet we see pan on that before the end of this quarter. The highlighters are a little on the dark side for me, I should try them as eyeshadow. The contour is fine, and I have been using the brightener as both an inner corner eye color as well as a regular highlighter. I’ve continued to expand the pan on the sleek palette but slowly. I have used this less because I’ve been using more powder foundation.

This month’s photos:

I had both my bare minerals powder foundations in this project. I finished the original formula and am now left with just the matte formula. I have decided I rather enjoy having the matte formula in my collection so I don’t think I am going to be worrying too hard about getting that one used up this quarter. I’ll just rotate it in when I can.

No dip is seen in the charlotte tilbury powder sample yet, I used the olive oil face mask only once, and the peach colored eyeshadow two or three times only. There’s a tiny bit of progress on the cover fx powder, but I have decided I’ll concentrate on the charlotte tilbury one now. I am still working away on the mac paint pot, no pan yet but I’ve been trying to wear it down pretty evenly. The little clinique eyeshadow I am using to set my base has just the tiniest bit left, I think it’ll be gone next month.

When it comes to lip products I have realized it’s a bit unwise to have chosen two bright coral colors to try to work on this quarter. I have used them both, and I am getting into a bit of a routine now with them. Apply the liquid lipstick in the morning and then when touch-ups are needed, the cream lipstick is great for that. This eliminates the problem of the cream lipstick being a bit sheer as well, with the punch of liquid lipstick under it, sheerness isn’t noticeable. I’ve used the gloss a bunch but I don’t like it. And, the bite lipstick I love, I bet it is gone next month. I am proud of the little progress I made on the flower beauty coral lipstick. (I did not include photos of the liquid lipstick and the gloss, progress cannot be seen.)

Last month I forgot to include a photo of where I am on the it cosmetics eye pencil. No matter, it doesn’t look like I made progress on it this month despite feeling like I used it regularly. So, this month’s update is the same as last month.

Steady progress was made on both the deva curl cream and the cover FX primer. I like both products fine so it isn’t much trouble to use them. I am eager to work on some other hair product at some point though! I feel a bit in a rut right now. It is rather hard to figure out where I am at with the blurring primer. I do think that I used less of it this month because I was using a bare minerals primer with my bare minerals powder foundations.

You’ll notice that I’ve added in my It cosmetics illuminating cc cream. It doesn’t stick to my face very nicely so I am going to work on using it up. Currently, I am mixing it with other foundations and that seems to be working nicely. I am sure it’ll take me ages to finish that one.

Last month I removed the L’oreal eyeliner from my collection. That was a declutter. I started out using the artist color pencil but then quit because I wanted to use it on wedding day. From here on out progress should be faster. That being said, this is a REALLY nice product. The style sepia eyeliner continues on, but I do think I’ll be done with that next month. Here’s the photo update:

So, overall, progress was made. Nothing particularly notable, except for the bare minerals original foundation. But I do feel rather good about the progress overall. Especially since I know I had to allow for various testing situations and special make up use as well as days of no makeup use.

It’s the end of the month, so it’s update time for teamproject pan, my full face project for this year. I worked pretty hard this month and yet don’t feel like there’s as much progress as last month.

First of all, I didn’t bother to take a photo of the sample perfumes. This is because in the first month I went from 12 to 8, but I only managed to use one this month. I think there was a lot more product in that one container than there was in those other 4 samples.

Now for the face palettes. The last two:

And where I am now:

I actually hit pan on the sleek cream contour on the middle shade. I was using that one hard this month so the pan on that is even larger than what I hit last month on the darkest shade. On the hourglass palette, the pans between the two finishing powders have increased. I’ve been using this palette a ton, but of course, trying to hit pan on blushes and bronzers and highlighters is tougher than finishing powders.

For the style sepia liner and the nude liner, a bit of progress has been made. That style sepia liner is pretty crumbly at this point so when I do sharpen it, I tend to need to sharpen a lot. It’ll be gone pretty soon I think.

From left to right. The cover FX blurring primer I’ve decided I really like. There’s air in it so I probably have more progress than is actually showing. I am surprised at how fast I am moving through it with regular use.

The bare minerals concealer has been touched once or twice only. I just haven’t given it the love I should. I don’t see visible progress.

But, the maybelline age rewind concealer is gone, as is the wet n wild photofocus foundation. I rolled in those sample sizes of make up for ever and tarte last month. The tarte is close to being gone but I’ve only used the make up for ever sample once.

And then there’s the clinique setting powder. Only the tiniest bit of progress seems to have been made. Despite using it regularly! But, last month I couldn’t even get it to show progress at all. So I’ll take it. It really shows how hard it is to get through loose powder. Miss Butterfly uses this just as much as I do. And still, very little progress.

The deva curl cream has more progress than I had expected to be honest. I feel like I barely used it this month. The bite agave lip mask has steady progress, I really love the product. My clinique eyeshadow I am using to set my base has made great progress, I should have marked it. The It cosmetics universal brow is making progress even though I hate it. There’s a lot to go, it’ll be months!

That little bang beauty eyeshadow quad I put in there for the month just to see if I liked it enough to keep it. I was going to give it to Miss Butterfly’s friend if I didn’t like it. But, I do! It’s great, and I am going to keep it in the project this month. I used it quite regularly.

The bite beauty amuse bouche lipstick sample is finished. That was easy! The color looked great on me and it’s such a nice product it was no trouble at all to finish it. And then I did add a photo of my mac paint pot, but I am trying to wear that down rather evenly so it’ll never look like much progress is made.

Not much opportunity to roll stuff in this month, but I am rolling in these two items. The first is bare minerals powder foundation in the original formula. I don’t love this, the matte formula works better on my skin. I want to use it up. I figure since both the foundations are sample sizes currently I’d better hurry up and add another in to finish because I am not positive what I’ve got in the project will carry me through the month. The bonus here is that I tend to use this with the bare minerals concealer I am trying to finish, so pairing them will be incentive to get them both used up.

The other item is a stila lipstick. I bought this last year, I really liked it, and then I promptly started panning other products and just never got around to using it again. I have decided I want to see how far I can get on this in the upcoming month.

Only one month to go before I get the opportunity to fully switch out the products for new ones. That happens quarterly, and I am excited to refresh my focus next month. I think the quarterly refresh may be the part of this that really keeps me focused on the project all  year round.