Though I didn't post the update when intended, I was faithfully working away at my Project Pan items and came to a happy end with that endeavor. I thought I'd share the results and a few thoughts regarding the entire Project Panning-process. To see the start of this Project Pan, click here.
First, the conclusion...in pictures.
As you can see from the photos above, I didn't completely finish each product. Honestly, I'm comfortable and content with that. When I first started this project back in December, my intent was to use as much as possible from duplicate products in my possession. That being said, I never expected to completely use up everything. So you can't get mad at me!
Something I discovered pretty early on in the project, maybe about one or two months in, that I do not enjoy feeling restricted to using a certain amount of products in a certain amount of time. I wasn't even that restrictive when it came to the products, I was able to use and pull in other products in place. However, the pressure of wanting to finish something up by a certain time created a lot of unnecessary anxiety. I'm not about that life.
Very early on in the project, I eliminated the Buxom lip gloss sample and an Urban Decay eye shadow. I just did not see myself using those products at all. I was able to completely use up my Mac lipstick in Verve, along with the Lorac eye shadow primer and the Marc Jacobs Dot perfume roller-ball. I would absolutely repurchase Mac's Verve, however I have a few colors that are too similar to justify purchasing it at this time. I already have another roller-ball and a full-size bottle of the Marc Jacobs Dot perfume, so there's no current need to repurchase that either. I would not purchase the Lorac eye shadow primer, I have other primers and don't use one everyday, so there's really no need for me to go purchase the full size or get another sample of one anytime soon. I got a little more than halfway through The Body Shop's Vanilla Body Spray, but when the five month mark of the project came and passed, I decided to pass it on to a friend. I'd had enough of the scent.
I hit significant pan in four and got an intense dent in one of the matte shades from the Lorac Pro 1 palette. I'm positively jubilant with those results! I wanted to hit pan on as many of the matte shades from that palette as possible, and about two or three months in to this five month project, I realized that I really did not like the palette. Please don't misunderstand; the quality of the shadows are fabulous. Really and truly. I simply got sick of the color selection. I was happy when the five months were over and I could finally turn my attention back to my Viseart palette, which contains a fair better selection of neutral mattes. This realization made me take a more critical look at my eye shadow palettes and singles. When the project ended, I depotted the colors I love from the Lorac Pro 1 and the Pro 2 palette, and housed them in a small Z-Palette. I decluttered several more individual shadows and palettes, by either selling them or passing them on to friends. I am so incredibly happy to have made that decision. It has given me the same feeling of lightness that decluttering my wardrobe did. Below are the shadows I kept from both palettes.
Along with the progress made in my Lorac Pro 1 palette, I almost completely finished the Urban Decay shadow in Kinky. When the five months ended, I did throw this out. I have several other cream eye shadows, there was no sense in keeping it. I hit good pan in the Morphe shadow ES20 and, a few days after taking the above photographs, hit pan on ES76. I still adore these two shadows, so I have kept them and am continuing to use them.
The last product was the It Cosmetics Universal Taupe brow pencil. I didn't complete it, and I'm happy that I didn't. It had developed a weird, white crust around the sides and made the skin under my brow hairs itch. I think it had gone bad a while before I truly notice, which is disgusting. So that little sucker got tossed out to the trash.
Now that I got through a five month Project Pan, I have a lot of mixed feelings, but one solid decision. I enjoyed seeing progress in the products I was using. It felt amazing when I would hit pan and was fulfilling when I finished products completely. However, I also felt trapped and anxious to use those products, rather than being able to really enjoy them. After this whole experience, I can say without doubt that I would not commit to another panning project. I like options, I like change, I like feeling free, and I do not feel bad about that! In fact, not long ago I hit pan on the blush Exposed by Tarte, simply because I genuinely love that blush and turn to it so frequently, rather than because I felt obligated to use it. In turn, that fact alone made hitting pan on the blush feel that much more fulfilling. So that is what I've concluded I'll do from now on: use the things I love until I want a break and rotate another product in, finishing things one at a time and only replacing the products I have the most love and use for. I have concluded that if I have to force myself to use something that I don't enjoy simply because I bought it, it goes against living a simplified life. If something is in my life, it should be because I want it.
Thank you for listening to my long-winded conclusion to my Project Pan-Endeavor, and thank you for returning even though I haven't posted anything in what seems to have been forever! You, that's right you: the one reading this, you are amazing. Have a fabulous weekend, hope to have you visit here again soon.
Till next time, and there WILL be a next time!
Love, Little Mouse
"I'm not about that life." LOL
ReplyDeleteYou go girl!
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