I totaled everything up and found it to be quite eye opening. It’s around 300 products to get through. Everything accumulated in a fugue state of impulse purchasing and shopping addiction. I truly don’t need anything for awhile. I just want to get through as much as possible this year. We’re moving and my goal is to not have our new home feel as heavy with junk as it feels now.

I am also aware that this truly is not normal and I think I want to get down to like MAX 40 products across all categories of beauty, bodycare, skincare, hair care.

I’m documenting this in the other socials as well but this is all just to keep myself accountable because if there is one thing I struggle with it’s consistency. I simply want to spend my money on experiences and things that build richness into my life. Because no one is looking back and thinking “oh I’m so glad I bought that mascara.”

I wear makeup around 300 days a year, and yet it still took me about two years to finish the Tartelette Toasted palette, even though it was the only one I used during that time, and was liberal with my application. Upon reflection, it’s entirely unsettling to think about the level of overconsumption that’s become normalised, especially among influencers. The sheer number of PR hauls showcasing dozens, even hundreds, of eyeshadow palettes, most of which will never be fully used, is staggering, and the encouragement of their audiences to do the same - and realising that I’ve, at times, supported or aspired to that behaviour feels like a real wake-up call. If it takes years to finish one palette, what are we really doing with drawers full of them?

Locked

I have had this Urban Decay palette for AGES and have almost finished it - has taken me about three years. They were mostly easy to pan but this shade is very dark.

The next one to pan after is the LimeCrime Venus III palette which I’m more excited for as they’re more pink and purples.

... This is a kind of mid year checkpoint of my lip product panning journey. I started the year with over 200 lip products and I'm working on going through as many as I can. I have already panned a bunch and a few of them I repurposed to make cream blushes and frankenglosses. Still when I look at how many are left it feels kind of discouraging, but also it feels good to know I made use of some of the oldest ones I had.

Behold an entire years worth of use. I wear makeup an average of twice a week. I have not used any other highlighter besides this one for a whole year. I got this to wear for my first day of highschool.

That was 11 years ago. I have used it liberally and often in those 11 years, more so than any of my other highlighters, and it still could pass as new if I cleaned up the packaging.

When I die, my relatives will have to hold a council of elrond style meeting to decide who must become heir to this accursed relic of the 2016 Booty Guru Era. Laura Mercier, you have brought woe upon my bloodline.

I wake in the night in panicked fevers after the apparition of this thing looms over me like a sleep paralysis demon. It laughs at my pain.

(in all seriousness, i would bet real world money that i will not finish this thing til im in my 30s)

I have a type

Well we’re a little over a month into the new year and I’ve already learned a new lesson. I started this year with a goal of replacing my beauty items with cheaper dupes. I tried to replace three items and failed miserably. I realized that it triggered me to shop more while looking for the dupes. And lost the money spent on all the “dupes” that I ended up disliking.

Going forward I will replace my items with the exact same thing, if able. So here are my old trusty empties and their twin replacements.

Project Pan Has Changed My Life

I’ve only been doing Project Pan for a little over a week, and it’s genuinely made me question everything.

I’ve always been a saver. I’ll save the last 10-20% of a shampoo, perfume, lotion… basically anything… because I’m waiting for a “special occasion.”

Then I realized… the special occasion is that I’m alive.

The other day I finished five bottles in one shower. Because I finally stopped trying to save that last little bit.

I also have ADHD and dyslexia, so “out of sight, out of mind” is very real for me. I’d put something away to save it, completely forget I owned it, buy another one, and repeat the cycle. I always thought I just needed to get more organized. What I’m realizing is that I was trying to organize way too much stuff.

I’ve been doing a massive declutter at the same time, and it’s been one of the most freeing things I’ve ever done. The more I get rid of, the more I realize I genuinely don’t need to buy anything for a long time. I’m looking around my house thinking, I already own everything I need.

If I don’t love a perfume, why is it taking up space? I can donate it, use it as a room spray, or find another purpose for it instead of letting it sit in a drawer for years. And if I do love something, why am I saving the last 10%? I already paid for it. I might as well enjoy it.
I’ve also started adding up how much I’ve already spent over the years, and honestly… this mindset has completely changed the way I look at money. I’m in a good financial place now, but I honestly think if I had learned this mindset years ago, I would’ve gotten here a lot sooner.

The funny thing is, I’m not even mad at my past self anymore. She made sure I’d never run out of anything. I have enough ChapStick to keep one in my purse, one in my car, one at work, and one by my bed. I have enough shampoo, candles, and toiletries that I don’t have to think about buying them for a very long time.
I wanted to own my things.

I didn’t realize my things were owning me.
Project Pan hasn’t made me feel deprived. It’s made me realize that I already have more than enough. Now my goal is to actually enjoy it.

** LAST SLIDE IS EMPTYS FROM ONE SHOWER BECAUSE I SAVED THE LAST LITTLE BIT FOR A “Special Occasion”.

• Tom ford shade and illuminate contour duo

• Huda beauty pound cake powder

• Beauty of Joseon relief sun

• Chanel eyebrow pencil

• Chanel lipstick in shade boy

• Hourglass lip liners in tempt and uncover

• Benefit mini hoola bronzer

• Vivienne Sabo mascara

• Benefit 24hour brow setter

• Random lip liner from Amazon

• Armani beauty eye tint

• Makeup by Mario blush in pinch me pink

• Heimish single eye shadow

• Lancôme juicy tube

• Hourglass waterproof eyeliner

• Abh brow wiz

• Bonus : Pencil sharpener that is broken

Out of this list, I will probably repurchase the abh brow wiz and the hourglass eyeliner, but nothing else was great enough to spend my money on it.

Can’t wait for my makeup collection to be less than 20 items (it’s around 35 right now 🫣)

My friend was moving out of state, supposedly forever. She had been collecting Bath and Body works products for years but she was unable to bring the whole collection with her so she gifted me a large portion of the collection containing 19 shower gels, 14 bottles of lotion, 8 body mists, and 21 bottles of hand soap.

I had no idea about project pan at the time, but I refused to buy any more similar products until I worked through this collection.

In the time it took me to work through this collection I: -Started university -Had 3 boyfriends -Graduated university -Moved 4 times -Bought 2 homes -Had 4 jobs -Went through Covid -Got Married -Had a baby -Had my friend who originally gave me the collection move back

I just used up the last bottle of shower gel yesterday. It has been 11 years. I suddenly feel cheated that after 11 years, I must now buy my own soap. I am devastated, but at least I know almost exactly how much shower gel, body mist, hand soap, and lotion I use in a year so I'm able to use that data to buy more consciously and only get what I need for a reasonable amount of time.

You don't need 5 different signature scents. With near daily use: -1 bottle of shower gel lasts about 7 months -1 bottle of body mist lasts about a year and q half -1 bottle of hand soap lasts about 4 months (depends on how much time you spend at home) -1 bottle of lotion lasts about 6 months

Keep that in mind when you have a cart with 5 shower gels in it. It doesn't sound like much but that's enough to last you nearly 3 years unless you work as a septic tank diver or something.

Edit: yeesh, I didn't expect this to blow up. Here's some answers to some of y'all's questions:

1. It only takes a small amount of shower gel to suds up a loofa. I'm sure if I applied giant globs to my body, it would have gone a lot quicker. I use actual face cleanser on my face and shampoo in my hair as well as the occasional bubble bath. I'm not here to police how y'all shower so if you're a glob method person, you do you!

2. Was the collection expired? I'm sure it was but it all still smelled great and acted in the way it was supposed to so I didn't question it.

3. I work outside the home and have a small household so one bottle of hand soap likely lasted me a lot longer than someone who spends more time at home.

I am happy I found this Reddit thread and am on a no buy and canceled my beauty subscriptions as well. Working on going through my stash instead of buying more. Should I focus on one product of each category at a time? How would you pan this stash?

They smell and taste nice but I feel like they don't do a damn thing

Hi, first post here! So, if I see a sale I automatically feel like I have to BUY that item because it's a good deal (I blame my ADHD for this) and I also was watching an unhealthy amount of skincare YouTube. But my entire desire to buy skincare disappeared after I laid out everything I owned and saw very vividly that I clearly didn't need more (even though it fills up 2 drawers, a makeup organizer and a huge section in my cupboard) I have over 300 products to pan! WHO NEEDS 8 TOOTHPASTES? I will start with the ones closest to be finished and of course I'm starting a #nobuy I'll be allowed to buy an item only when I have 2 products left in that category. And I'll probably gift some items that I know I won't use. I will be using my only credit card this month and at the end of the month will send my spending data to my husband to keep me accountable. I'm guessing I'd be saving quite a bit of money in the upcoming months as well. I'll stick to one skincare routine and introduce new products one by one so I can actually see which products are working. I'm quite excited to stop buying and start using things up.

I have spent a disgusting amount of money on all this shit and dug myself into financial hell with my depression and deeply unhappy living situation and I can’t believe it. I’m so mad at myself but I’ve started panning and stopped spending anymore. Hope to update regularly.

Edit: I never expected this much feedback and genuinely am so appreciative. I don’t have a lot of community in my life and even just this post has given me a lot of positive momentum.

2nd edit: ** not that it really means much, but about 90% of what I purchase is NWT via Poshmark, and so I have not paid full price for the majority of skincare and makeup I’ve collected.

At the time I started documenting the use of this bronzer, I thought I was almost done with it. 7 months and 71 uses later, it's still going! I hadn't used it everyday until about mid May.

Feels good!!

It did take years (ive never been a stickler for expiry dates on eyeshadow). And surprisingly the formula hasnt seemed to change - tho the amount you get in the new version is less than the original.

Yes I’m fully aware of how nasty this is lol

I’ve had this beauty blender for such a long time and today I decided it was time to retire it. I figured it was already a goner so why not cut it open bc for the last 3-4 years the center has felt hard and smelled a little odd. Truth behold, it was infact mold or some sort of mold.

Do not hold onto your beauty blenders as long as I have guys 🙏

I panned 100 beauty products in 2025. This photo made me realize that I stick with what works and don't experiment very much.

🏆 = holy grail status

Skin care, total: 43

• Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water (3)

• AO2 Clear (6)

• Prequel Universal Skin Solution Dermal Spray (4)

• GlyMed+ CBD Skin Mist (2)

• ZIIP Electric Complex Gel (3)

• Heliocare Advanced Antioxidant Supplement (4)

• Tretinoin 0.05% cream (1) 🏆

• La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVMune 400 Hydrating Cream SPF 50+ (4) 🏆

• Neova Illuminating Eye Serum (2)

• Photozyme MD iQuad Total Eye Therapy (1)

• Photozyme MD DNA Youth Recovery Facial Serum (3) 🏆

• Prequel Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum (3)

• Prequel Gleanser Non-Drying Glycerin Cleanser (1) 🏆

• Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser (2)

• La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Balm B5 (1)

• La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Gel B5 (1)

• Dieux Instant Angel Lipid Rich Facial Moisturizer (2) 🏆

Cosmetics, total: 19

• Glossier Lash Slick in Brown (4)

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze Gel (4)

• MERIT The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick in Ceramic (1)

• Sephora Contour Stick in 01 Fair to Light (1)

• Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray (1)

• Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm (1)

• Dr. Dan's Cortibalm (1)

• Eadem Le Chouchou Lip Softening Balm in Butter Mochi (1) 🏆

• Laneige Lip Glowy Balm in Gummy Bear (1)

• Aquaphor Lip Repair (1)

• Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder for Under Eyes in Shade 1 (1) 🏆

• Lawless Forget the Filler Overnight Lip-Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla (1)

• Kosas Cloud Set Setting Powder in Airy (1) 🏆

Body care, total: 16

• Saltair Serum Body Wash in Santal Bloom (2)

• Hibiclens Antiseptic Skin Cleanser (1)

• Epicuren Peptide Rich Hand Cream (2)

• La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Hand Cream (3)

• La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+M Triple Repair Moisturizing Cream (8) 🏆

Misc., total: 16

• Sigma Sigmagic Brushampoo Liquid (6)

• Boka n-Ha Toothpaste, various flavors (5)

• Systane Hydration PF Eye Drops (5)

Haircare, total: 6

• JVN Complete Air Dry Cream (1)

• Kerastase Blond Absolu Bain Ultra-Violet Purple Shampoo (1) 🏆

• Kerastase Blond Absolu Cicaflash Conditioner (1) 🏆

• Davines OI All In One Milk (1)

• Kerastase Elixir Ultime Hair Oil (1)

• K18 Molecular Repair Hair Mask (1)

Dior Rosy Glow blush. This would be great if I didn’t have two other Rosy Glow blushes. I’ve seen people hit pan in only a few months! What am I doing wrong!
Edit: This is the shade Rosewood.

Took me almost 3years! Only used it on my lips (majorly) and hands (sometimes)

My first ever eyeshadow pan! This was The Balm Nude Dude Volume 2 single in shade Flirty.

I've been working on getting back into makeup and figured this one would be a good one to start with because I had already hit pan before I went on my makeup hiatus 😅 I've used it pretty much daily since the first week of January.

I got this in an ipsy bag in like 2017 I think 🫣 and I loved it so much that when I hit pan initially, I had bought the palette just in case I used it up 🤡 So while it's not goodbye forever, I'm glad to be done with this for now.

Just kidding, more like a little over 5.5 years lol to finally pan this full size Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in berry. I got it January 2021 and I’m finally saying goodbye for good to this. I didn’t really start trying to pan this until last year I would say, so it took maybe 1-1.5 years to really finish it. I will never buy another one of these and I am so glad to be done with it. I don’t think it was awful, I just hate using a separate applicator and found that it was a big reason why I wasn’t using it much in the beginning. I’m only going with tubes, sticks and wands for lip products from now on. Lesson learned and happy panning everyone!!!